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has taken over this role, affording us the constant opportunity to by explaining that until man was created there had been no one to
experience the original energy present at the Giving of the Torah. appreciate the benefits of rain. When man was created and realized
that rainfall was a matter of life and death, he prayed for it to fall;
Pirkei Avot (6:2) recounts that every day a Heavenly voice issues
from Mount Sinai admonishing the Jewish people to return to a consequently, the rain fell and the trees and plants sprouted.
Torah lifestyle. The Ba’al Shem Tov asks the following: “If there Rashi’s commentary stresses how great a blessing rain is and how
is a voice ringing out every day, why don’t we hear it? And if we conscious humanity must be of this. The paragraph in the Shema
don’t hear it then what purpose does it serve?” He uses his answer though goes one step further by linking rainfall in the Land of Israel
to these questions to convey a profound message: whenever people not only to an individual Jew’s prayers but to his or her actions as
are aroused to improve themselves, change their ways, or return to well. God gave the Land of Israel to the Jewish people, but it must
Torah and draw closer to God, it is because they have in fact heard continually earn the right to remain in the Land by keeping the
the voice from Sinai. Torah.
Scientists have confirmed that as a result of the Big Bang there is There is a beautiful story told about the Ba’al Shem Tov that
a background sound permeating the vast expanses of the universe. sheds light on an additional dimension to the importance of rain,
By analogy, we might say that the Giving of the Torah at Mount but before recounting it a short explanation is necessary. The High
Sinai left a spiritual background noise permeating the world, as this Holiday season, spanning the three weeks encompassing Rosh
unique event actualized God’s purpose for creation. Even though Hashanah, the Ten Days of Repentance, Yom Kippur and Sukkot
people cannot hear the residual sound of the Big Bang, this does not culminates with the holiday of Shemini Atzeret. If one also includes
mean that it is not there. Similarly, just because we do not hear the the previous month of Elul, which was dedicated to prayer and
voice emanating from Mount Sinai, this does not mean that it is not repentance, Shemini Atzeret is the climax of nearly two months of
issuing forth. (See “Shavuot and the Big Bang” in Seeds and Sparks, lengthy prayer and intense introspection. On this holiday, we stop
pp. 215-216.) reciting the prayer acknowledging and praising God for causing the
dew to fall and begin reciting the phrase “Who makes the wind to
During the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the Torah
recounts that the sound of the shofar grew progressively louder blow and the rain to fall.” This marks the seasonal change from the
(Exodus 19:16). Of course, as we all know, when a shofar or trumpet dry summer season to the rainy winter season. The Hebrew word for
is blown the sound gets weaker and weaker as the trumpeter runs “wind” (ruach) possesses the same Hebrew root as the Hebrew word
out of air, yet at Sinai the sound miraculously grew progressively for spirituality (ruchniyut), while the Hebrew word for rain (geshem)
louder. In fact, nowhere does the Torah unequivocally state that the has the same Hebrew root as the Hebrew word for physicality
shofar blast even ended. That sound and, in fact, the Giving of the and materialism (gashmiyut); therefore, there seems to be a strong
Torah have not yet ended. We just need to learn how to tap into that connection between wind and spirituality and between rain and
continuing spiritual reality to experience the revelation on Mount physicality.
Sinai. Chassidic tradition teaches that when the Ba’al Shem Tov When the moment arrived during the synagogue service on
taught his students Torah, they could swear they heard the shofar of Shemini Atzeret to make this transition from dew to rain, the Ba’al
Mount Sinai blowing in the background! Shem Tov would first make a motion with the back of his hand as if
Harkening back to the portion of Vayeishev, the Torah relates pushing something away and utter the phrase “makes the wind to
there that after his daughter-in-law tricks him into having sexual blow.” Then he would bring his hand high above his head and make a
relations with her, Judah publicly admits his sin. The Torah then motion as if forcefully drawing something down and utter the phrase

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