Honi HaMe'agel (חוני המעגל Khoni, Choni, or Ḥoni; lit. Honi the Circle-drawer) was a Jewish scholar of the 1st-century BCE, during the age of the tannaim, the scholars from whose teachings the Mishnah was derived. During the 1st century BCE, a variety of religious movements and splinter groups developed amongst the Jews in Judea. A number of individuals claimed to be miracle workers in the tradition of Elijah and Elisha, the ancient Jewish prophets. The Babylonian Talmud, and the Jerusalem Talmud both provide some examples of such Jewish miracle workers, including Honi. Circle drawing incident His surname is derived from an incident in which, according to the Babylonian Talmud, his prayer for rain was miraculously answered. On one occasion, when God did not send rain well into the winter (in Israel, it rains mainly in the winter), Honi drew a circle in the dust, stood inside it, and informed God that he would not move until it rained. When it began to drizzle, Honi told God that he was not satisfied and expected more rain; it then began to pour. He explained that he wanted a calm rain, at which point the rain calmed to a normal rain. He was almost put into herem (excommunication) for the above incident in which he showed "dishonor" to God, as if he had imposed himself upon God. However, Shimon ben Shetach, the brother of Queen Shlomtzion, excused him, saying that Honi had a special relationship with God. Two variations of this story appear in the Talmud, in Taanit 19a and 23a. Extended sleep story Two variations of a story are recorded—in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds—in which Honi fell asleep for decades before awaking. The story provides a Jewish version on the theme of a person or persons (as the Seven Sleepers) sleeping for many decades and waking to find a changed world—a theme originating in the story of Epimenides—found in many divergent cultures and traditions, and in modern times associated especially with the Rip Van Winkle story. In the Babylonian Talmud (Carob tree story) The Babylonian Talmud tells the following story, in which Honi slept for 70 years, before awaking and then dying: The lesson that is taken away from this story is that if you give something you will not be alive to see, you are still giving. In the Jerusalem Talmud In the Jerusalem Talmud, the circle drawing story is