Posted September 15, 1999 by Rabbi Judy Abrams. Please refer
to Maqom's home page for information about previous passages.
BH
Dear Friends,
As I was studying this week I came upon this story that I thought might be a comfort as we approach Yizkor at Yom Kippur. May you all be sealed for a year of good life!
Once R. Hiyya bar Abba and his associates, and some say it was R. Yose b. Halafta and his associates, and some say it was Rabbi Akiba and his associates, were sitting discussing Torah under a certain fig tree. And each day the owner of the fig tree would awaken early and gather [the ripe figs]. They said, "Perhaps he suspects [that we are taking his figs]. Let us change our place."
The next day the owner of the fig tree came and said to them, "My masters, you have deprived me of one of the commandments which you were accustomed to fulfill with me [i.e., under my tree]. They said to him, "We feared perhaps you suspected us [of taking your figs.]"
The next morning he [thought he would] let them see [why he picked the figs early]. He waited until the sun shone upon them and his figs became worm-eaten. At that time they said, "The owner of the fig tree knows when it is the right time to pick a fig and [at that time] he picks it. So, too, God knows when it is the right time to take righteous from the world and [at that time] he takes them. (Y. Berachot 2:7)