The Blessing of Rain

The climate of the Land of Israel is “Mediterranean,” which means long, hot, and dry summers followed by cool, rainy winters. Each year, we never quite know how much rain will fall, and our ecosystems and agriculture depend deeply on these showers. Our ancient Rabbis even taught that “a day of rain is as great as the creation of heaven and earth,” and “as great as the day the Torah was given at Sinai.”

This week, we enjoyed a wonderful rainy day—some bursts of heavy showers and some gentle drizzle—and it looks like our students will get to see Israel turn green before returning to the U.S.

Last Shabbat, we spent time in the beautiful Galilean village of Peki’in, where we met Marganit, the last Jewish woman living there, from an ancient Jewish family that has lived in Peki’in for over 500 years.

In class this week, we are studying Israel during the 1950s and 60s—a time of dramatic change. The population more than doubled as Holocaust survivors and 800,000 Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries arrived. The young country developed rapidly, yet also struggled with intense financial hardships and constant security threats along all its borders.

 This period culminated in the Six-Day War, in which Israel faced three armies, prevailed against overwhelming odds, and suddenly doubled in size. Israel offered to return some of these captured territories—the Golan Heights and the Sinai Desert—in exchange for peace with Egypt and Syria, but the offers were rejected, setting the stage for the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Later this week, we will head north to the Galilee and Golan, where we will explore key battlefields from these wars and learn about the strategic importance of Israel’s northern regions. We also plan to hike through the Golan’s beautiful river valleys and spend the night in the charming guest house at Kibbutz Gadot.

We feel truly blessed to be learning together and exploring this beautiful, complex land.