Rain, which functions outside of the normal laws of nature, reminds you Who is running the system

“Because in another seven days, I will make it rain on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will erase all the beings that I have made, off the face of the earth.” (Bereishis 7:4)

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he gemara (Berachos 33) calls rain “gevuros geshamim” and mentions it together with techiyas hameisim. Why does it use the adjective, gevurah (strength), and what’s the connection to techiyas hameisim?

The Gra (Aderes Eliyahu, parshas V’zos Ha’brachah) explains that the name Elokim indicates the function of nature, and this is the Divine Name used in the creation of the world. It was during Maaseh Bereishis that the laws of nature were set up. In fact, the gematria of the name “Elokim” is equivalent to the word “hateva” (nature).

Nature functions with a precise exactitude that is perfectly predictable. Scientists who master these precise laws, for example, can tell you exactly when an eclipse took place 1,000 years ago — down to the second — and they can accurately predict when the next one will take place.

Rain however, doesn’t function according to the parameters of nature (Rav Moshe Twersky, Hashem yikom damo, Vayigdal Moshe).

I love a good storm! Rushing  wind, claps of thunder, streaks of lightning (okay, from a distance), and then rain pounding the streets and sidewalks, washing away all the yesterdays for a new clean tomorrow. As kids, during summer thunderstorms, we’d go outside to our covered front porch and let the wind blow through us, looking up at the threatening gray sky, the clouds scuttling low across.

Rain is unpredictable. Sometimes there are dry spells, sometimes there are wet spells. Even when you know for sure that it’s going to rain, no one can tell you exactly where and when the first drop will hit. That’s why, says the Gra, rain is called “Gevuros Hashem — the Strength of the Name of Hashem” [and not Elokim].

Nature is predictable, and allows for the possibility of forgetting that there is a Baal Habirah, a Creator. But rain, which functions outside of the normal laws of nature, reminds you Who is running the system.

That’s why, continues the Gra, gevuros geshamim was put together with techiyas hameisim. Techiyas hameisim is also something that cannot occur within the parameters of nature and is beyond human understanding.

But then I moved to Eretz Yisrael, where for more than six months a year, there are bold, blue, sunny skies with barely any wisps of clouds. Summers feature the same bright, hot forecast, day after day.

There’s definitely comfort in the consistency, like less uncertainty in The Great Do We Take an Umbrella Debate. But it also leaves no room for surprises or changes, no anticipation for what’s-today-going-to-bring? My kids have no memories of taking in the tempest. By the time the winter rainy season rolls around, it’s too cold to stand outside and have the wind slice you in two.

Rabbeinu Bechaye and other Rishonim distinguish between two types of rain. Some explain that this is indicated by the two different words that we find for rain in the Torah: geshem and matar. There is a type of rain that functions as part of the laws of nature, and there is another type that functions outside of that system. As it says, (Vayikra 26:4): “I will give you your rain in its time.”

Chazal explain that HaKadosh Baruch Hu sometimes makes the rain come down in a specific time, either to bring about tremendous blessing or chas v’shalom otherwise. Whereas the first type of rain functions primarily within the cause and effect of natural law, the latter is totally a function of spiritual cause and effect.

But never say never. One morning this summer, we woke up to wet streets and cars streaked with dusty streams. Had it rained in the middle of the night? Waiting with the kids for their bus I watched everyone walking around with a perplexed frown: How could it have rained?

It must have been some mistake. Maybe a burst pipe? But as we stood waiting for the bus to make an appearance (weather-related lateness?), the sky turned gray and huge drops filled the air, pounding the sidewalk. The desert dust flew, and the birds cawed in distress at the disruption of their daily routine.

Rain. Rain in June. Rain when there should not have been rain. This was one storm that made me uneasy. Why was it raining? What message was being sent from Above along with those tear-shaped drops of rain? Despite the heat of the day, I shivered.

 (Originally featured in Family First, Issue 864)