God’s gift of rain is conditional on the fulfillment of our covenantal duties. God holds the key.
By DAVID NEKRUTMANrain(photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org)
It’s official – the Israel Meteorological Service is predicting that rainfall will be lower than in previous years, resulting in a crisis in the country’s water supply. The Kinneret is 20 centimeters lower than last month, and has passed all red hazard lines. The water sources of the Taninim Stream have reached their lowest ebb ever.While Israel may be known as a “land flowing with milk and honey,” it is not a country surging with water. According to the Talmud, if no rainfall has occurred after the 17th of Cheshvan (the month in which this article was written), individuals can take it upon themselves to fast and pray. If by next month no rain has fallen, we have a communal crisis.Rain in the Promised Land plays an essential role in the covenantal relationship between God and the Jews. Not only do we live in a country that depends on Him for rain, but God’s gift of rain is conditional on the fulfillment of our covenantal duties. God holds the key.On the third day of creation, the Bible states: the earth brought forth vegetation, herbage yielding seed (Genesis 1:12). Yet, in Chapter 2 of Genesis, it says “No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.” The Talmud in answering the apparent contradiction says that the vegetation was just below the surface, and only when man was created to pray for rain did all the foliage materialize. From this we learn that God desires prayer.The first prayer in history was one for rain; however, it did not fall until Adam asked for it. Imagine that! Blessings are waiting just around the corner, but they won’t come until we pray for them.Jewish custom culminates the High Holiday season with a special liturgical prayer for rain on the festival of Shemini Atzeret (the eighth day of Succot). Rabbinic tradition teaches that on this holiday the world is judged regarding rain for the upcoming year.The need to look heavenward for rain in the Promised Land is accentuated in our daily Shema prayer: “If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the Lord your God and serving Him with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season... Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. For the Lord’s anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain” (Deuteronomy 11:11-17).Despite all our technological advancements, we cannot control the elements. Our human power is limited, and we must recognize that our very lives are a gift from God. Rain in Israel serves as a reminder of our covenant with God.In the month of November, members of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths gathered in Al-Walajah, a Palestinian village between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, to pray for rain. This brings to mind the Midrashic dictum that rainfall is greater than the giving of the Torah, for the Torah was a joy for Israel only, but rain gives joy to the whole world, including the birds and animals, as it is said: “You take care of the earth and irrigate it.” (Psalm 65:10)As watchmen on the wall for Zion, I beseech you to assemble prayer groups around the world and pray for a rainfall that will be a blessing for Israel – one that will allow Deuteronomy 28:12 to be fulfilled: “God shall open for you His storehouse of goodness, the heavens, to provide rain for your land in its time, and to bless all your handiwork. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.”David Nekrutman is Executive Director for The Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding & Cooperation in Efrat, Israel
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