May This Be the Year

As I left Simchat Torah services in Safed I looked up at the sky. There was not a patch of blue, just clouds, some grey, others white. The day before we’d had difficult heat compounded with an east wind full of dust. Now the air was clear and cool. Would rain fall?

Just a few minutes had passed since the recitation of the Prayer for Rain. We’d begged and pleaded for rain as a blessing, not a curse, for life and not for death, for plenty and not for want. Would our prayers be answered?

I climbed the steep stairs to my son’s apartment and stood on the balcony with my grandchildren. Did I feel a raindrop? Maybe. Another one? Perhaps. Then I saw the spots on the chair. It was raining!

It didn’t last long and it wasn’t a lot, but it was rain, rain right after we’d requested it. Oh, that it is a sign of things to come. May this be the year our Kinneret fills its banks. May this be the year all our constructive prayers are answered. May this be the year of true peace.

Growing With My Cousin, a good winter read, is available at Jewish bookstores and on line at  http://www.feldheim.com/growing-with-my-cousin.html or

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Cousin-Ester-Katz-Silvers/dp/194635113X/