The Rain

Shemini Atzeret 5784: Baruch El Elyon - The Blessing of Water

Baruch El Elyon, my grandmother’s favorite Shabbat Zemer

On Shemini Atzeret in the musaf (additional) service, we add in a special piyyut (liturgical poem) asking God to remember each of our ancestors and their associations with water (Rebeccah watering Eliezer’s camel at the well, Rachel and Jacob at the well, Moses crossing the sea, Miriam’s well in the desert, etc.). In doing so, we ask God to bring water in the rainy season in Israel this year. We then start saying the line, “mashiv haru’ach u’morid hagashem” (God who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall) in our daily amidah prayers through the beginning of Passover and the end of the rainy season. What’s important to notice here is that we are not asking for miracles - we’re not praying for a summertime rain shower in the desert. Rather, we specifically pray for rain in its season, acknowledging the way of the world and nature while hoping for sustenance and success. 

שֶׁאַתָּה הוּא ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמוֹרִיד הַגָּשֶׁם
לִבְרָכָה וְלֹא לִקְלָלָה (אָמֵן!)
לְחַיִּים וְלֹא לְמָוֶת (אָמֵן!)
לָשֹׂבַע וְלֹא לְרָזוֹן (אָמֵן!)

She’atah hu Adonai Eloheinu mashiv haru’ach u’morid hagashem
Livrachah v’lo lik’lalah (Amen!)
L’chayim v’lo l’mavet (Amen!)
|Lasova v’lo l’razon (Amen!)

For you, God, are the one who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall:
May it be for a blessing and not for a curse - amen!
May it be for life and not for death - amen!
May it be sustaining/satiating and not thinning - amen!

Sometimes rain is seen as something negative. On Sukkot if it were to rain we have to eat inside instead of out in the sukkah. But rain and water are a source of blessing! Of opportunity! Of growth! How many other things in our life might we originally view as disappointments that might actually be sources of blessing, opportunity, and growth in our lives?

My favorite melody to use to sing the Geshem prayer is baruch el elyon, a beautiful Shabbat zemer. It was my Grandma Adrienne’s favorite song and we would sing it whenever we were together. This is the only recording I could find of the melody we used for the text, but I hope it brings you a sense of joy, blessing, and opportunity as we make our way through Sukkot!

Shabbat Shalom and Moadim L’Simcha,

Josh Warshawsky