city with its
hundreds of domes and minarets that caught the first rays of the sun
each morning, but a vast heap of ruins and charred buildings. Onias
threw himself on the ground and wept bitterly. No human being could he
see, and the sun was setting over what looked like a city of the dead.

"Woe, woe," he cried. "Zion, my beautiful Zion, is no more. Can it
ever rise again? Not in a hundred years can its glory be renewed."

The sun sank lower as he continued to gaze upon the ruined city, and
darkness gathered over the scene. Utterly exhausted, Onias, laying his
head upon his camel on the ground, fell into a deep sleep.

The silver moon shone serenely through the night and paled with the
dawn, and the sun cast its bright rays on the sleeping rabbi. Darkness
spread its mantle of night once more, and again the sun rose, and
still Onias slept. Days passed into weeks, the weeks merged into
months, and the months rolled on until years went by; but Rabbi Onias
did not waken.

Seeds, blown by the winds and brought by the birds, dropped around
him, took root and grew into shrubs, and soon a thick hedge
surrounded him and screened him from all who passed. A date that had
fallen from his basket, took root also, and in time there rose a
beautiful palm tree which cast a shade over the sleeping figure.

And thus a hundred years rolled by.

Suddenly, Onias moved, stretched himself and yawned. He was awake
again. He looked around confused.

"Strange," he muttered. "Did I not fall asleep on a hill overlooking
Jerusalem last night? How comes it now that I am hemmed in by a
thicket and am lying in the shade of this noble date palm?"

With great difficulty he rose to his feet.

"Oh, how my bones do ache!" he cried. "I must have overslept myself.
And where is my camel?"

Puzzled, he put his hand to his beard. Then he gave a cry of anguish.

"What is this? My beard is snow-white and so long that it almost
reaches to the ground."

He sank down again, but the mound on which he sat was but a heap of
rubbish and collapsed under his weight. Beneath it were bones. Hastily
clearing away the rubbish, he saw the skeleton of a camel.

"This surely must be my camel," he said. "Can I have slept so long?
The saddle-bags have rotted, too. But what is this?" and he picked up
the basket of dates and the water-bottle. The dates and the water were
quite fresh.

"This must be some miracle," he said. "This must be a sign for me to
continue m