The Thrill of Intimacy

Rain doesn’t fall often in Israel. There is a rainy season that feeds the river, tributaries, and the lake, but rain isn’t always in plentiful supply. Some years, the rains are minimal, and the country suffers. The Torah (Deuteronomy 11:11) characterizes Israel as a place where rain is the sole source of our drinking water. Israel has an intimate relationship with rain. People are constantly checking the forecast and calculating the water levels because rain is the only real water source.

This dependence and deep awareness of rain signifies our dependence and deep awareness of G-d. Every time we look at the skies to see if it will rain, we place our bodies in a prayerful posture. Whether we realize it or not, we are looking up. In places like Canada, filled with streams, rivers, and lakes, people rarely look up for rain. They always look down when they seek water. In Israel, people look up to seek this vital lifeline.

This is the unique nature of this land and why G-d gave it to the Jewish people. The very rhythm of life prompts us to think of G-d. We are intimately familiar with G-d because we see His hand in everything. As Ben Gurion once quipped, “In Israel, you have to believe in G-d to be a realist.”

Never in modern history have we seen G-d’s hand and open miracles more clearly than this past year. When Iran dispatched three hundred missiles and rockets toward Israel, they were nearly all intercepted. When Iranian missiles rained down on Israel during Operation Rising Lion, there was much devastation of property, but the loss of only twenty-four lives. Each life is an infinite treasure, but such a low cost of life is unheard of when considering that they hit a hospital, apartment buildings, and multiple schools.

The hospital and schools were evacuated only hours before the missiles fell. These things don’t happen in other countries, only in Israel. In Israel, one is highly aware of an intangible factor that defies all standard predictions and models. It is difficult to deny it in Israel. When one requires water in Israel, one looks up. When one needs security, stability, or prosperity in Israel, one also looks up.

Gratitude
The Torah (Deuteronomy 8:14–20) tells us that awareness of and gratitude for G-d’s gifts ensure we will continue to receive them. If we take credit for our achievements, claiming it is our superior military and air defense, our ingenuity and might, the miracles cease, and we become like all other nations.

It is not a matter of punishment. It is a matter of consequence. No air defense system can provide a 95% seal over a country’s skies. Other countries, such as Ukraine, that make use of the Iron Dome are lucky to get 50% coverage. When we are grateful to G-d for His miracles, He bumps it up to 95%. When we attribute it to our superior systems, He leaves it to the system, which only provides 50%.

Spiritual Rainfall
Divine protection is like rainfall—a spiritual rainfall. Rainfall works like this: groundwater evaporates and rises from the earth’s surface. Once it reaches the atmosphere, it cools and condenses into liquid perspiration. The water droplets collide and grow larger in the clouds until they grow too heavy to remain suspended, and gravity pulls them back down to the earth in the form of rain.

In other words, the clouds feed us what we send them. If we send them healthy water, we are rewarded with healthy rainfall. If we pollute our waters, we receive acid rain.

The same is true for spiritual rainfall. If we send up faith in G-d, acknowledgment, appreciation, and gratitude, it returns to us in the form of cascading miracles—a rainfall of Divine Protection. If we send up ingratitude, conceit, and self-absorption, we receive a downpour of unhealthy, unhappy experiences.

Polluted waters are indiscriminate. Sometimes people in one place are scrupulous about preserving the environment and saving the climate, while people in other places act as terrible stewards and pollute to their heart’s content. Yet the rainfall doesn’t discriminate. Once polluted waters ascend, acid rain can fall anywhere. We are all in it together; our actions hurt others.

The same is true of spiritual rainfall. Miracles don’t only happen in Israel if Jews in Israel believe in G-d and express gratitude for them. Our faith and gratitude here impact the diet of miracles there. If we send up pristine and humble gratitude for G-d’s blessings, Jews in Israel receive a steady diet of miracles. We can help. We can directly impact the protection of our brethren in Israel and around the world.[1]

Our Relationship With G-d
There is another way to wrap our minds around this concept. We used rain as a metaphor; now let’s use a rope. A good rope is comprised of many strands. If one or two strands break, the rope is still sturdy. If many strands snap, the integrity of the rope is weakened. Similarly, if one massive strand tears, the rope can wear thin and break.

The Torah speaks of a rope that ties us to G-d. “G-d’s portion is His people, Jacob, the rope of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9). I translated the Hebrew word chevel as rope. In this context, it is usually translated as lot—Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Igeret Hateshuvah 5), founder of Chabad Chassidism, translated it literally as a rope.

He explained that there is a rope that is tied to us on one end to us and to G-d on the other end. When we pull on the rope, G-d responds. When G-d tugs on the rope, we respond. This is why our prayers are effective. When we pray, we tug on the rope and G-d listens. This is also why we can sometimes experience bouts of inspiration in the middle of a routine day. G-d tugging on the rope, and we feel it.

Now, Chabad Chassidism (Sefer Hamaamarim 5710, p.117) expanded on this concept and taught that this rope is comprised of six hundred and thirteen strands, which are, of course, the commandments of the Torah. When we transgress several commandments, the rope, though technically weakened, can hold. When we transgress many commandments, the rope is impacted. Similarly, if we violate a very serious commandment such as murder, idolatry, or carnal sins, the rope is severely affected to the point of tearing.

Acknowledging G-d’s miracles is a basic tenet of faith. Taking credit for G-d’s miracles is not only selfish and crass but also a denial of G-d’s presence in our lives and tantamount to idol worship. It breaks the rope. Once the rope is broken, our prayers don’t reach G-d, and He becomes unresponsive. It is not a punishment; it is a consequence.

And because all Jews are a single block, if one Jew’s rope is severed, it impacts the general rope that ties all Jewish people to G-d. This is why our lack of gratitude can impact the miracles in Israel, and our faith and appreciation can enhance them.

Fortunately, we can repair any damage we cause. G-d gave us a repair kit called repentance. Whenever we regret our self-absorption and turn over a new leaf, our rope miraculously repairs itself, and we are reconnected. This is because the Jew and G-d are never truly dissociated; on the deepest level, we are always connected. When we repent, we assert our intrinsic connection, and G-d reties the rope.

In other words, our connection is always in place; sometimes it is revealed, and sometimes it is concealed.

[1] My gratitude to Rabbi Yaakov Haber of Ramat Bet Shemesh, who presented these ideas in His recent Tishah B’av seminar.