Word Prompt – RAIN – Gershon Schusterman

There is nothing more natural – and vital – than rain and it is G-d is who controls the heavenly spigot. That’s why in the winter we pray for rain three times daily. The word geshem, rain, is related to gashmiut, physicality and materiality. The same G-d Who “resides in the seventh heaven” rules the earthly realm as well.

Mother Nature is the One G-d (Hashem Echad) in camouflage. One can marvel at His glorious sunsets and one is humbled when experiencing the tremors of an earthquake. We pay homage to the G-d of nature by the blessings we recite on seeing a rainbow, hearing thunder and experiencing an earthquake.

The Kabbalists see this in the dichotomy in G-d’s names. G-d’s not-to-be-pronounced name, the tetragrammaton, is G-d’s supranatural persona. Elokim, whose numerical value (86) is the same as haTevah (nature), is how He is manifest in the world.

We, the Jewish people, are G-d’s children, as written, “You are children to the L-rd your G-d” (Devarim 14:1). We share both characteristics of our Father in Heaven. Our body is to be firmly grounded and engaged in the world, while serving Him with the physical mitzvot. Our soul, our true identity, rests in our mind and heart.

While we are meant to be in the world, we must remember that we are not of this world.

We have a Divine mission to fulfill. We are here to bring G-d-awareness into our daily lives, by living in a refined, G-dly fashion. In this way we fulfill our calling to be a light unto the nations.