SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020

Sisterhood had some fresh-air fun at Edwin Warner Park. 

We brought masks for social distancing.

Thoughts on ROSH CHODESH CHESHVAN

by Melissa Sostrin

Apparently our prayers for rain were fervent enough to cancel our first Sisterhood hike...

          These days most of us have lawns and gardens and we turn on the sprinklers when our plants are being baked. Here is where I would have plugged rain barrels which catch water from downspouts. The three I have are enough to sustain my garden in Middle Tennessee, but I’m not a shepherd or farmer in the desert as our ancestors were when sufficient rain meant the difference between life and death.

       At Shemini Atzeret the phrase masheev ha’rua’ch u’moreed hagashem, (“Who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall,”) is introduced for inclusion in the Amidah until Pesach. And because we were shepherds and farmers, rain was never far from our thoughts, prayers, and festivals.

       In fact, in Ta’anit 7a Rava said that “Rainfall is even greater than the day on which Torah was given.” In fact, the entire book of Ta’anit is about bringing rain during drought, and it’s from here that the legend of Honi the Circle maker comes. It’s also the source of Avinu Malkeinu, one of our most powerful High Holiday prayers, which includes the words from Rabbi Akiva’s petitions to end a drought. (Ta’anit 25b5).

       In ancient Israel, Sukkot began with the Water Libation Ritual. Imagine a Jewzapalooza with giant candelabras using upcycled worn-out priestly garments as wicks for olive oil lights that illuminated all the courtyards of Jerusalem. Sages juggled fire, and there was singing and dancing accompanied by flutes, lyres, trumpets, etc. And the aravot, or willow, one of the four species shaken in the sukkah, is a symbol of water and growth.

       So, we wanted rain, but not too much which is why prayers for rain in Israel aren’t added until the 7th of Cheshvan giving everybody enough clear weather to make their reverse pilgrimages home.

       And because of our anxiety we temper our prayer for rainfall that will be “for a blessing, not a curse, for life not for death, for abundance, not for famine.”

       As we begin the annual reading of the Torah, Cheshvan includes the story of Noah and a lot of rain! According to the RaDaK, Rashi’s grandson, rain increases in Cheshvan as it’s the month the Great Flood of Noah’s generation began. According to the Tosefta, that arrogant generation scoffed that all they needed G-d for was a few drops of rain. At first, there was light rain giving the people a chance to repent, but then, well, you know...

       The Hebrew word for rain is “geshem” and is the root of “gashmiut” which means physicality. We are sustained by the physical world and the blessing of rain. Without such sustenance we would be unable to fulfill our spiritual potential. The days grow shorter, the moon shines longer-may we be blessed with dew and rain.