Bar-Ilan University
Parshat Breishit 5773/September 28, 2013
Parashat Hashavua Study Center
Lectures on the weekly Torah reading by the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. A
project of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Paul and Helene Shulman Basic Jewish Studies Center, and
the Office of the Campus Rabbi. Published on the Internet under the sponsorship of Bar-Ilan
University's International Center for Jewish Identity. Prepared for Internet Publication by the
Computer Center Staff at Bar-Ilan University.
987
Rain from Heaven
By Aryeh Arazi*
What did the Lord create first, heaven or earth? This is debated by the schools of Hillel and
Shammai:1
The School of Shammai say: the heavens were created first, and then the
earth, as it is written, "In the beginning G-d created heaven and earth" (Gen.
1:1). The School of Hillel say: the earth was created first, and then the
heavens, as it is written, "Such is the story of heaven and earth when they
were created. When the Lord G-d made earth and heaven" (Gen. 2:4).
The School of Shammai support their argument by a parable and a prooftext: "It is like a
king who made himself a throne, and having made that, he then made his carriage. Thus the
Holy One, blessed be He, said: 'The heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool' (Isa.
*
Aryeh Arazi is Deputy Director General of Students at Bar Ilan University and runs workshops on
leadership and management.
1
This dispute appears in several places, including the Babylonian Talmud, Hagigah 12a, Midrash
Rabbah chapter 1.15, and Yalkut Shimoni on Genesis, 1.4.
1
66:1)." The School of Hillel also cited a parable and a prooftext: "It is like a king who built a
palace, and having built the lower storeys, he then built the upper ones; thus, 'when the
Lord G-d made earth and heaven.'" The point of contention is the primary place of the Holy
One, blessed be He—in heaven, cut off as it were from mankind, with only His footstool
being on earth, as the School of Shammai argue; or on earth, involved as it were with His
creatures and occasionally going up to heaven, as a person sometimes goes to the upper
storey of his abode.
This question can be put in a relevant way for us: when we search for the Divine Presence in
our lives, where should we search: in heaven, with eyes looking upwards in holiness, or in
our daily life, here on earth?
In my humble opinion we can find support for the view advanced by the School of Hillel in a
natural occurrence which some of us might consider trivial: rain, for which we pray on
Simhat Torah. In this week's reading the Torah tells us, "No shrub of the field was yet on
earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the Lord G-d had not sent rain
upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil" (Gen. 2:5). Rashi comments on this
verse (following the gemara in Tractate Hullin):
Because the Lord G-d had not sent rain—Why did He not send rain? Because
there was as yet no human being to till the earth and recognize the good of
rain; but when mankind came and realized that rain is necessary to the
world, he prayed for rain and the rain fell, and trees and grass sprouted.
Rashi says here that rain is a special gift from the Holy One, blessed be He, to all human
beings who pray for it (not only to the people of Israel). Midrash Rabbah on this week's
reading says: "Were it not for mankind, there would have been no covenant with the earth
to bring down rain upon it."
Rabbi Goren, z"l, wrote in his article, "Beriat ha-Olam u-Gevurot Geshamim" ("Creation of
the World and the Greatness of Rain"):2
Rain is not included in the general system of laws of nature established in
the six days of Creation. As Rabbi Johanan says, three keys remained in the
hands of the Holy One, blessed be He, and were not given to emissaries, and
these are they: they key to rain … the key to the birth of human beings and
the key to revival of the dead. All these are accomplished only through
special intervention of the Holy One, blessed be He, and therefore it says in
2
http://www.kipa.co.il/jew/holidays/Simchat_Torah/407.html
2
the next passage (in Chapter 2), "because the Lord G-d had not sent rain
upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil." The reason for this
was that G-d had kept the key to rain in His hands and not given it to the
forces of nature; therefore, it was not included in the original act of
Creation, i.e., in Chapter 1. Only when the Holy One, blessed be He,
integrated mercy with justice, as we read in the beginning of the next
chapter, "when the Lord G-d made earth and heaven" (Gen. 2:4), only then
did it become possible for rain to fall.
Midrash Rabbah says: "Rabbi Simeon b. Yohai said: Three things are considered of equal
weight, and these are they: the earth (eretz), mankind (adam), and rain (matar)." Rabbi Levi
added in homiletic fashion: "and the three of them are each spelled with three letters, to
indicate that if there is no earth, there is no rain, and if there is no rain, there can be no
earth, and if one does not have both of them, there can be no mankind."3 What is meant by
saying they are of equal weight? Several commentaries have been written in an attempt to
explain this far from simple homily.4
In my opinion, this homily precisely parallels the idea of three keys that are exceptions to the
usual laws of nature and require special intervention by the Holy One, blessed be He, as we
read in Tractate Ta`anit 2a: "Rabbi Johanan said: Three keys the Holy One blessed be He has
retained in His own hands and not entrusted to the hand of any messenger, namely, the Key
of Rain, the Key of Childbirth, and the Key of the Revival of the Dead." In the previous
homily, matar refers to rain, adam refers to the birth of man (or the Key of Childbirth), and
earth, from which those who dwell in the dust shall arise, is the Key of Revival of the Dead.
Saying that the three are of equal weight signifies that these three things happen only by
direct providence of the Holy One, blessed be He.
The Sages knew that rain is not to be taken lightly, and said in Tractate Ta`anit:
The day when rain falls is as great as the day when the Torah was given.
The day when rain falls is as great as the day when heaven and earth were
created.
The day when rain falls is great for on it even salvation springs forth and
waxes great.
3
4
Genesis Rabbah 13.3.
For
example,
see
the
article
by
Rabbi
http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/shiur.asp?id=3719.
3
Uzi
Kalcheim,
"Eretz,
Adam,
u-Matar":
No rain falls unless the sins of Israel have been forgiven.
The day when rain falls is great for thereon even the penny in one's pocket is
blessed.
The day on which rain falls is as great as the day of the Gathering of exiled
Israel.
The day when rain falls is great, for thereon even warring armies cease
fighting.
The message is that when we see the rain fall we must remember that it is not an automatic
process that happens with regularity like the rising of the sun, but rather an act of kindness
that the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows on us, His creatures. If we bear this in mind, we
will sense the Divine Presence here, on earth, as in the view of the School of Hillel.
One could visit the tombs of the righteous or congregate in the courts of famous rabbis; one
could give oneself over to fasting and self-denial and search for G-d in the heavens; but one
could also sense the presence of the Lord here, down below, in the rain that quenches the
thirst of the earth. And so we pray, "Make the earth receptive and rain come down from
heaven. Prosper us and save us, our G-d and Rock."5
Translated by Rachel Rowen
5
From Hoshanot for Hoshanah Rabbah.
4