Succoth – Rain! 2009
Hoshanah Rabbah October 9, 2009
The renowned Abarbanel(1437-1508) teaches us that the three major holidays: Pesach, Shavuot, and Succot each represent a stage in building the Jewish Nation. Pesach is the leaving of Egypt and the formation of the Jewish nation, Shavuot is the receiving of the Torah. The holiday of Succot represents the coming into the land of Israel. The first two are very clear but why does Succot represent coming to Israel? Succot is the time where we are judged on how much rain we are going to get in the coming winter. Almost everything about succot is centered on this idea. The holiday of Succot is called Chag Haasif the holiday of harvest because on Succot time we just completed an agricultural year and reaped the fruits of our hard work and another cycle begins. The judgment on rain will determine how much bounty we will merit in in the coming year. Most countries have a bountiful supply of water throughout the year as G-D lets nature provide them water whether they are deserving of it or not. The land of Israel, on the other hand, does not have this luxury. Because of the tremendous holiness of the land there is a different system of rules that apply to it. As the verse says in Deuteronomy 11:12 “a land for which Hashem has high expectations; the eyes of God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year”The amount of water we will get is directly related to our Divine service. Only if we prove deserving of the gift of water we will receive it. The land Of Israel is in another realm altogether. The tremendous spirituality of the Land and Nation of Israel require a very high standard of purity and righteousness. Let us pray that the Jewish nation will live up to its important goal and be a true light to the Nations. Let it be a very rainy and bountiful year!
Please join us in prayer:
Answer us, G-D of the Universe, with the power of mercy the One who chose His people Israel to proclaim His greatness and honor. The One who hears prayer, give rain and dew on the earth, satisfy the entire world from Your bounty and fill our hands from Your blessings and from treasures, the gift of Your hand. Protect and save this year from everything bad and from all types of destructive agents and from all types of suffering and provide it with hope and peace. Have mercy and compassion on us and on all our produce and fruits and bless us with abundant rains that we may merit life, satisfaction, and peace as in the good years. Remove from us plague, the sword, and famine, evil beast, captivity, and destruction, the evil urge, bad and harsh illness and bad and harsh events. Decree for us good decrees from before You, let Your mercy be revealed over Your other attributes, Treat Your children with the attribute of mercy and accept with compassion and desire our prayer. Amen!
Chag Sameyach, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith
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