Rabbi Onias, a man thirsting and starving to death, travels to Jerusalem, a city that has been burnt to the ground. Everything is desolate and gloomy. He has food and water, but refuses to drink them in case he meets someone more in need than he. On his way, he sees a farmer planting crops. He comes upon the city, and breaks down crying because of the horror of the destruction. He then sleeps, but doesn't wake for 100 years. He wakes, and rejoices that the city is strong again. The crops that the farmer planted were everywhere, the camel he had was a skeleton. He goes to the city and asks where the house of Onias is. They tell him that someone's grandfather was named Onias, and surely enough, Onias meets his grandson. Everyone is alien in their ways, speech, and knowledge, and he feels he doesn't belong and goes back to sleep.
I would like to change this story to a modern version where a young man in Africa hears about the amazing and great country called America. He goes through great lengths to go there, and finally makes it by climbing on a boat that happens to be headed in that direction. He ends up in New York City, rejoices, but quickly realizes that he doesn't really fit in. He realizes that he was much happier with the lifestyle he already had.
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| Busy New York Street sourced via Pexels |
Bibliography:
Jewish Fairy Tales: The Sleep of One Hundred Years By Gertrude Landa
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