When the Rains Fail: Law, Sex & Power Feminist Approaches to Talmud Jewish Study Center, January 2015

(15) Then Esther told them to return an answer to Mordecai: (16) ’Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me. Neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast in the same way; and so will I go to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.’

(4) Yonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he proclaimed, and said: ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.’ (5) And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

(10) And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which God had spoken of doing to them, and did not carry it out.

(20) Even the beasts of the field pant to You [in thirst]. For the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

(14) Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of ha-Shem your God, and cry unto ha-Shem.

(4) If the seventeenth of Mar-Cheshvan has come without the rain having yet descended, private individuals commence to keep three fast-days. On the night beforehand, they are allowed to eat and drink, and it is allowed [on the fast day itself] to work, to bathe, to anoint the body, to wear [leather] shoes, and to perform the marriage duty. (5) If the new moon of Kislev has arrived without the rain having yet descended, the Beth Din (law court) shall order three public fast days. On the night beforehand, we may eat and drink, and it is allowed [on the fast day itself] to work to bathe, to anoint the body, to wear [leather] shoes, and to perform the marriage duty. (6) If these [fasts] have passed and were not [favorably] answered, the Beth Din shall decree three more public fasts. On the night beforehand, we may eat and drink, but [on the fast day itself] it is prohibited to work, to bathe, anoint the body, wear [leather] shoes, and to perform the marriage duty. Additionally, we lock the bathhouses. If these [fasts] have passed and were not [favorably] answered, the Beth Din shall decree seven more fast days, which altogether make thirteen public fasts. These are more [strict] than the earlier [fast days], because [on these new fasts] we cry out (either with the Shofar or with the added prayer of Anenu), and we lock the shops....

All mitzvot that a parent is obligated to perform for their child: men are obligated and women can be exempt. All mitzvot that a child is obligated to perform for their parents: both men and women are obligated. All positive mitzvot with a fixed time: men are obligated and women can be exempt. All positive mitzvot without a fixed time: both men and women are obligated. All negative mitzvot, whether with a fixed time or without a fixed time: both men and women are obligated, except for not rounding off, not diminishing, and not becoming impure for the dead.

"All negative mitzvot..." -- where do we derive this from? Rabbi Yehudah said in the name of Rav, and thus taught the school of Rabbi Yishmael: The Torah says (Bam. 5:6), "A man or a woman, when they do any sin (committed by) people..." The Torah equates a woman to a man, for all punishments that are in the Torah.

Is this a rule? Eating matzah on the first night of Pesah, rejoicing on the holidays, reading the Torah publicly once every 7 years are all positive time-bound commandments, and yet women are obligated in them! Moreover, the study of Torah, procreation and redeeming the first-born son are all non-time-bound positive commandments, and yet women are exempt from them! Said R. Yohanan: We do not learn from rules…

All are obligated for the four fasts, it is forbidden to violate the restriction. Gloss: Those who are pregnant or nursing, for whom it would be a severe burden, need not fast. Even if it would not be a burden, they are not obligated to fast, except to accustom themselves to following strictures. This of course applies to the three minor fasts, while for Tishe b'Av they are required to complete [the fast].

Pregnant and nursing women fast on Tishe b'Av, just as they complete their fast for Yom Kippur. But they are exempt for the other three fasts, though here it is appropriate that they should not eat to delight in food and drink, but to sustain their offspring.

When reading the Megillah on the 14th or 15th [of Adar], ten are required. And if ten are not possible, then they read individually. Gloss: There are those who doubt whether women are included in the ten.

It is clear that, according to Rashi, women are obligated in three tefillot a day like men, because according to him, the distinguishing factor of time-boundness does not apply to rabbinic obligations, and this is also true for Tosafot, because according to them, the gemara explicitly says that even though tefillah is time-bound, nonetheless because prayers are requests for mercy, women were rabbinically obligated even for the fixed time and their obligation is equivalent to that of men. But for the Rif and the Rambam who do not have the version [of the gemara including] "mercy", they understand women’s obligation to be biblical and non-time bound. Therefore women are only obligated to pray once a day in any formulation that they wish.

Why are they called virile rains? Said rabbi Yohanan: Because they fall with virility. As it is written, "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed, wondrous things without number" and "Who gives rain to the earth, and sends water over the outdoors."

(10) Who does great things beyond fathoming; marvelous things without number.

(9) Who does great things and unfathomable; marvelous things without number; (10) Who gives rain upon the earth, and sends waters upon the outdoors.

(5) No bush of the field was yet on the earth, no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for ha-Shem Elohim, had not made it rain upon the earth, and there was no human [adam] to till the soil [adama].

(3) "Because ha-Shem Elohim had not sent rain upon the earth." (Br. 2:5) The full Name [of God] for a full world; as for creation, as for the fall of rain. R. Shimon b. Yohai said: Three things are equal in importance, viz., land, people, and rain. R. Levi b. Hiyya said: And these three each consist of three letters, to teach that without land there would be no rain and without rain the land could not endure; while without either people could not exist.

(4) Said Rabbi Hosh'aiah: Virile​ rain is potent, as it is equivalent to the act of creation. What is its proof? "Who performs great deeds which cannot be fathomed, wondrous things without number" and "Who gives rain to the earth, and sends water over the outdoors."

Rabbi Aha learns it from this [verse]: "Ha-Shem made the earth with might, established the world with wisdom." "When ha-Shem's voice is sounding, there is a rumbling of water in the skies." 'Sound' can only mean rain, as in "Where deep calls to deep in the sound of Your pipes."

....

(6) Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: It is greater than the resurrection, for the resurrection is for humans and this one is for humans and beasts....

When does all humanity rejoice together? When the rains descend. What is the proof? "The flocks become clothed with karim"; what follows? "Shout unto God, all the earth" (Ps. 66:1): not priests, Levites, or Israelites is written here but, 'All the earth,'

R. Joshua b. Levi said: When rain falls [i.e. in spring], cattle long to rut. What is the proof? "The flocks become clothed with karim etc."? It is a euphemism for: 'Its males [dikraiyah] became heated.'

(10) You have visited the earth, and watered her, greatly enriching her with the stream of God that is full of water. You prepare their corn, just as you prepare the earth. (11) Her ridges, you water abundantly, thereby satisfying its band of people. With showers you make it soft, its growth You bless.(12) You crown the year with Your goodness; and Your paths drip fatness. (13) They drip onto pastures of wilderness; And the hills gird themselves with joy. (14) The flocks are clothed with karim; the valleys cover themselves with corn; They shout for joy, yea, they sing.

(19) My laws, you are to keep: Your animal, you are not to allow tarbi'a [copulation] in kilayim [two-kinds]; your field you are not to sow with kilayim; a garment of kilayim, of shaatnez, should not go upon you.

(16) A woman who comes near any animal for riv'a [mating], you are to kill the woman and the animal...

(1) Thus far is the order of fasts concerning the first revia [copulation / rains]. But plants that dry up, we sound the shofar [i.e. fast] for them immediately.

(2) When does one begin to pray for rain? When the time of the first revia [copulation / rain] comes....

(3) What is considered the first revia? [Rabbi Meir says, "An early one (lit. a firstborn) by the third [of Marcheshvan]; a middle one by the seventh; a late one (lit. a dark one) by the seventeenth...."

(4) When is the second revia? When the time for revia comes, according to R. Meir. But the sages say, Whenever it comes....How much rain should fall to be considered revia? A full vessel measuring 27 cm, according to R. Meir. But R. Yehudah says, the first requires 9 cm, the second 18 cm, and the third revia 27 cm.

Said R. Shimeon ben Eleazar: For every amount that falls from above, the land responds by emitting [poletet] double. As it is written: "Deep calls to deep at the roar of Your cataracts; all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me." [Ps. 42:8]

Why is it call revia / copulation / rain? Because the rain copulates with the earth.

Said Resh Lakish: When the heavens cease to bring forth dew and rain they are similar to a woman who is in labor, but does not give birth. Thus said Resh Lakish in the name of Bar Kapara: Closure is said of rains and it is said of a woman. Closure is said of a woman? As it is written: "For Ha-Shem had closed fast every womb" (Br. 20:18). And closure is said of rains? As it is written: "....closing up the skies, so that there will be no rain..." (Dev. 11:17).

Birth is said of women and birth is said or rains. Birth is said of women? As it is written: "She conceived and bore a son" (Br. 30:23). And birth is said of rains? As it is written: "[For as the rain or snow drops from heaven and returns not there but waters the earth] making it give birth and raise" (Yish. 55:10).

Visitation is said of a woman and visitation is said of rains. Visitation is said of a woman? As it is written: "ha-Shem visited Sarah" (Br. 21:1). And visitation is said of rains? As it is written: "You visit the earth and irrigate it" (Teh. 65:10).

There are three partners in a person: the Holy One of Blessing, their father, and their mother. Their father supplies the semen of the white substance, out of which are formed the child's bones, sinews, nails, the brain in their head and the white in their eye; their mother supplies the semen of the red substance, out of which is formed their skin, flesh, hair, blood and the black of their eye. And the Holy One of Blessing gives them breath and a soul and a face and seeing and hearing and speaking and walking and understanding and the mind. When one's time of death approach, the Holy One of Blessing removes that part and leaves [the parts] of the father and mother before them.

(26) God said: ‘Let us make humanity in our image, after our likeness...’.

(1) And Adam knew Chava his wife; and she conceived and bore Kayin, and said: ‘I have created [Kaniti] a man with the help of ha-Shem.’

Therefore it necessarily says, "with the help of ha-Shem": for after the earthling ["adam"] was created from the earth ["adamah"], and the life-giver ["chava"] was created from the earthling, from thence forward, "in our image, after our likeness." No man without woman, and no woman without man, and neither of them without the Shechina.

(23) Moshe stretched out his staff to the heavens; and ha-Shem sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth; and ha-Shem caused hail to rain down upon the land of Egypt. (24) There was hail, and fire flashing in the midst of the hail, exceedingly heavy, the like of which had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

Fire flashing in the midst of the mail. A miracle within a miracle. The fire and the hail were co-mingled, with hail being water! It was in order to do the will of their Creator, that they made peace between them.

(8) Moshe and Aharon were returned to Pharaoh; and he said to them: ‘Go, serve ha-Shem your God! -- Who is it, who is it that would go?’ (9) Moshe said: ‘With our young ones, with our elders we will go, with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and with our oxen we will go -- for it is ha-Shem's pilgrimage-festival for us.’ (10) He said to them: ‘May ha-Shem be thus with you, the same as I mean to send you free along with your little-ones! You see -- yes, your faces are set toward ill! (11) Not so -- go now, O males, and serve ha-Shem; for that is what you seek.’ And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Who is it, who is it that would go? Pharaoh desired that the leaders, elders, and judges should go; the men that would be designated [n.k.bu] by name. But Moshe responded that that the sons and the daughters would go, "for it is ha-Shem's pilgrimage-festival for us," and the mitzvah is upon all of us to celebrate before ha-Shem. Then Pharaoh became angry about the sons and the daughters, and declared he would not send a single child forth, because they would not be offering sacrifices. But he would send all the important men to observe the festival, saying, 'The children and the women shall remain.'

Said Rabbi Yohanan: Three keys in the hands of the Holy One of Blessing were not given into hands of an agent and these are they: the key of rain, the key of a pregnant woman, the key of resurrection....In the Land of Israel, they say: Also the key to livelihood, as it is written, "You give it open-handedly, satisfying all life to its heart's content (Ps 145:16). And why did Rabbi Yohanan not think in this way? He would say, Rain is equivalent to livelihood.

It is taught: For dew and for the winds -- the rabbis did not obligate anyone to mention them [in their prayer], though if one comes to mention them, then they mention them. What is the reason? Said Rabbi Hanina: Because they are never stopped up. How do we know that dew is never stopped up? As it is written, "Eliyahu the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, said to [King] Achav, '[I swear by the] life of ha-Shem, the God of Israel whom I serve, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my word.' " And it is [then] written, "Go, appear before Achav, and I will give water upon the earth" -- yet he [Eliyahu] did not mention dew!

(20) So the people shouted, and [the priests] blew with the shofars. When the people heard the sound of the shofar, the people shouted with a great call, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every one straight on, and they took the city. (21) They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, ox, sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. (22) And Joshua said to the two men that had scouted the land: ‘Go to the harlot’s house, and bring out the woman from there, and all that she has, as you swore to her.’ (23) And the young men the scouts went in, and brought out Rachav, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had, all her family they brought out; and they set them alongside the camp of Israel. (24) And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was in it; but the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of ha-Shem. (25) But Rachav the harlot, and her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel, to this day; because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to scout out Jericho. (26) And Joshua charged the people with an oath at that time, saying: ‘Cursed be the man before ha-Shem, that rises up and builds this city, Jericho; with the loss of his first-born shall he lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.’

(29) Achav the son of Omri ruled over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa's [reign as] king of Judah; Achav the son of Omri ruled over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. (30) And Achav the son of Omri did what was evil in the sight of ha-Shem, beyond all that preceded him. (31) And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nevat, that he took to wife I'Zevel the daughter of Etbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. (32) He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. (33) Achav made an Asherah; and Achav did yet more to provoke ha-Shem, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that preceded him.

(34) During his [reign], Chi-el from Beit El build Jericho; with Aviram his first-born he laid its foundation, and with his youngest son S'guv he set up the its gates; according to the word which ha-Shem spoke by the hand of Joshua the son of Nun.

(1) Eliyahu the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, said to [King] Achav: ‘[I swear by the life of] ha-Shem, the God of Israel whom I serve, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my word.’

(1) After many days, the word of ha-Shem came to Elijah, in the third year, saying: ‘Go, appear before [King] Achav, and I will send rain upon the land.’

It is written: "Eliyahu the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, said to [King] Achav, '[I swear by the] life of ha-Shem, the God of Israel whom I serve, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my word.' " Rabbi Berekh-yah said, [these are the two opinions of] Rabbi Yose and the sages. One said, [ha-Shem fulfilled Eliyahu's statement] both for dew and for rain....[If so, then] where was the vow on dew annulled? Rabbi Tanhum of Adra: It is assumes that a vow which was partly annulled is completely annulled. Or: one needs to say that is was because of the son of the widow of Tzarafit: "Eliyahu cried out to ha-Shem and said, 'ha-Shem my God, will you also bring calamity upon this widow whose guest I am, and let her son die?!' " Said Rabbi Yehudah bar Pazi: This is likened to one who stole a physician's case. As he was leaving, his son was injured. He [the thief] went back to [the doctor] and said to him: "Heal my son!". [The doctor] said to him, [First] give me back my case, which contains my medicines, and I will then heal your son. So the Holy One of Blessing said to Eliyahu: Go annul [your] vow against dew, since the dead cannot be resurrected by means other than dew, and I will resurrect the son of the woman of Tzarafit.

And Rava said: The fiery ones of the rabbis, they are like a seed under a hard clod of earth [that is softened by the rain or snow and sprouts], for when he sprouts, he sprouts.

And Rava said: When the fiery ones of the rabbis are angry, it is the Torah that makes him angry, as it is said [Jer 23:29], "Is not my word like fire? says ha-Shem.".

And Rav Ashi said: Any Torah scholar who is not as hard as iron [barzel] is not a Torah scholar, as it is said [Jer 23:29], "and like a hammer that smashes a rock."...

Ravina said, Even so, a person must teach himself [to act] with gentleness, as it is said [Koh 11:10], "And remove anger from your heart [and put away evil from your flesh]."

"The fiery ones of the rabbis" -- a hot young man (as is explained in Tractate Beitzah 7a). An older scholar is not called "fiery", even if he is called one of the rabbis.

"for when he sprouts, he sprouts" -- that once the sprouting begins, it ascends higher and higher; so it is for a wise student, that once their reputation begins to spread, it grows and rises.

"it is the Torah that makes him angry" -- because he has a broad heart in the midst of his studies, and what resides there is more than the rest of humanity. From this we learn that a scholar must be judged [leniently] with a presumption of good intentions.

"like fire" -- that heats his entire body

"iron" -- short-tempered ones, hard like iron.

(8) Ah, Jerusalem has stumbled, And Judah has fallen.... (12) My people's masters are babes, and women rule over them. O My people! Your leaders are misleaders; they have confused the course of your paths.

Achav was [Chi-el's] close friend. He and Eliyahu went to inquire after his welfare in the house of mourning [for his sons]. Achav sat...and said, "Was Moshe's curse not fulfilled -- for it is written, 'If you turn aside and worship other gods....then [ha-Shem] will stop up the heavens and there will be no rain' -- and yet even though men set up idols on every hilltop, [there is so much] rain that they cannot go and worship them! Then shall the curse of Yehoshua [about re-building Yericho], his student, be fulfilled?"

Immediately [upon hearing these words of Achav], "Eliyahu the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, said to [King] Achav, '[I swear by the] life of ha-Shem, the God of Israel whom I serve, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my word.' " He prayed, and the key of rain was given him, he then rose and departed. "The word of ha-Shem came to him: 'Go, turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherit.' ...And the ravens brought him bread and meat each morning... And the brook dried up, because there had been no rain.... The word of ha-Shem came to him: 'Arise, go to Tzarafit [and a poor widow will give you food and water for the duration of drought].... After a while, the son of the freewoman fell sick..."

Eliyahu prayed that the key of resurrection might be given to him, but was answered: "Three keys are not given into hands of an agent and these are they: the key of a pregnant woman, the key of rain, and the key of resurrection." Shall it be said that two are in the hands of the student, only one in the hands of the Rav? Bring [Me] the other and take this one, as it is written, "Go, appear before Achav, and I will give water upon the earth."

Rabbi Yossi taught in Tzefori: "Father Eliyahu was a hot-tempered man." Now, Eliyahu used to visit him, but [after this] he absented himself three days and did not come. When he came on the fourth day, he [R. Yossi] said to him, "Why did you not come before?" He replied, "Because you called me hot-tempered!" He [R. Yossi] retorted, "And before us, you oh Master have displayed your temper."

(12) Now therefore, I pray you, swear to me by ha-Shem, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house—and give me a true token— (13) and save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.’

(4) But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom-tree; and he requested for himself that he might die; and said: ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.’ .... (9) He came to a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of ha-Shem came to him, and God said to him: ‘Why are you here, Eliyahu?’ (10) And he said: ‘I have been very jealous for ha-Shem, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.’ (11) God said: ‘Go forth, and stand upon the mount before ha-Shem.’ And, behold, ha-Shem passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before ha-Shem; but God was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but God was not in the earthquake; (12) and after the earthquake a fire; but God was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (13) And it was so, when Eliyahu heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said: ‘Why are you here, Eliyahu?’ (14) And he said: ‘I have been very jealous for ha-Shem, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.’

(3) 'Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.’ ... (8) When the sun arose, God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said: ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’ (9) And God said to Jonah: ‘Are you greatly angry for the gourd?’ And he said: ‘I am greatly angry, even unto death.’ (10) ha-Shem said: ‘You have had pity on the gourd, for which you have not laboured, nor made it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; (11) and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than one hundred thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?’