RAIN STORIES FOR ATID NOAM CAMP 5778

Said Rabbi Abahu: The day of rain is greater than the resurrection of the dead, for the resurrection of the dead concerns only the righteous, while the rain concerns both the righteous and the unjust. Rav Yosef disagreed, as Rav Yosef said: since it is equal with the resurrection of the dead -- they fixed it (in the liturgy) with resurrection of the dead. Rav Yehuda said: The day of rain is greater than the day on which the Torah was given.

Because it didn’t rain- what is the reason it did not rain? Because “there is no man to work the soil” and there is no one to realize the benefit of the rains. Therefore when Adam came and recognized that rain was needed for the world he prayed for it, and it rained, and trees and plants began to grow. [translation by Gideon Aronovich]

The Gemara returns to the topic of rain. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Even in years like the years of Elijah, when God decreed that no rain would fall, if rain falls on Shabbat eves it is nothing other than a sign of a curse, as the rain disrupts the preparations for Shabbat. This is the same as that which Rabba bar Sheila said: A rainy day is as difficult as a judgment day. Ameimar even said: Were it not for the fact that rain is needed by people, we would pray for mercy and to annul it, due to the nuisances that rain causes. And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Sun on Shabbat is charity for the poor, who are then able to enjoy the outdoors without suffering from cold. As it is stated: “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 3:20). And Rabbi Yitzḥak further said: The day of the rains is great, as even a peruta in one’s pocket is blessed on it, as it is stated: “To give the rain of your land in its due time, and to bless all the work of your hand” (Deuteronomy 28:12). [...] Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The day of the rains is as great as the day of the ingathering of the exiles, as it is stated: “Turn our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the dry land” (Psalms 126:4), and “streams” means nothing other than rain, as it is stated: “And the streams of the sea appeared” (II Samuel 22:16). And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The day of the rains is great, as even armies stop fighting on it due to the rain and mud. As it is stated: “Watering its ridges abundantly; settling down its furrows [gedudeha]” (Psalms 65:11). As the word gedudim can mean both furrows or armies and is spelled identically with each meaning, this alludes to the idea that during the rainy season soldiers become entrenched in place. And Rabbi Yoḥanan further said: Rain is withheld only due to those who pledge charity in public but do not give it, as it is stated: “As vapors and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of a false gift” (Proverbs 25:14).

(11) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day All the fountains of the great deep burst apart, And the floodgates of the sky broke open. (12) The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.