Tefillah Tips - Rainy Season

As we have passed through all of the holidays and advance towards the winter we have begun to recite Mashiv Haruach Umorid Hageshem – G-d brings forth wind and advances rain- the Geshem-Gashmiut also means physicality, earthly, practical i.e. in the current real world that we live in.

There are two thoughts that come to mind as to why the Talmud instructs us to begin saying this prayer at this time.

• The obvious one is that since at the end of Sukkoth the world is judged and apportioned how much rain will fall all over the earth we now appropriately recite Mashiv Haruach Umorid Hageshem - G-d brings forth wind and advances rain- because the Rainy Season has officially begun.

• Additionally – after the hours and days that we spent in synagogue, at our tables in our Sukkoth….. involved in prayer, repentance and kindness NOW is the time to nurture our hopes, plans and dreams for the year to come. NOW is the time to pour water on the seeds we have planted during the months of Elul and Tishrei.

How many Al Chaytes did we klop on Yom Kippur promising that this year will be different! How many tears flowed from our eyes for past misdeeds and hopes to make them better! For generations great Jews made Kabbalos / Resolutions on Yom Kippur making an accounting for the past and plans for a brighter future if Hashem willed them the opportunity to do so.

Mashiv Haruach Umorid Hageshem- Let’s bring those plans off of the drawing board and into real life. Now is the time to be more careful how we speak to and about friends, relatives and colleagues. Now is the time to put into effect the learning/Torah Study strategies you have been considering. Now is the time to make a commitment to davening/prayer – to be on time and to make the most of Tefilla by concentrating and not talking during shul.

The greatest gifts in life are health and the time to accomplish in G-d’s world. Since you are reading this article, you have been afforded both gifts thus far. May we all enjoy a healthy and productive Rainy Season and actively water the spiritual seeds we have planted and see great crops in the year to come.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Ephraim Epstein