Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue

As I write this the seasons are changing. Summer (of a sorts) is turning to autumn. Autumn will in turn give way to winter, winter to spring, spring to summer etc. This seems so natural to us that there seems no reason to think about it or reason to question this seemingly universal and unending truth,

But of course this pattern only seems universal and there are places where it does not truly apply. There are places on the Earth itself where there is no true season; the weather and the apparent position of the Sun in the sky do not change and other places where there are in effect two seasons. If we look beyond the Earth there are places where the very idea of seasons is meaningless. I am often amused when authors insist on designating seasons where there are none. I suspect that it is part of our all too human weakness of only seeing reality only in terms that are familiar to us.

In ancient times this seems to have been of little concern to our ancestors. Our legal texts and liturgy are far more concerned with the possibility that the familiar patterns of our lives would change. The view was that change, when it came, would be for the worse. Rain would not fall, crops would not grow and famine would be their fate. In a land like Eretz Yisrael, a land always on the cusp of famine, this fear was real and immediate. Sukkot was both a harvest festival and a festival whose rituals and prayers seek to invoke Divine dispensation that rain would come in its season. The Mishnah devotes a significant amount of discussion as to how and when one should pray and fast in order to seek rain. But underlying this was a supremely important principle. One was not permitted to ask for more than what was natural and that any such request must be made cautiously. When you look at the Amidah in our new siddur you will see that we have reinstated the ancient practice of praying for rain from Sukkot to Pesach and for dew from Pesach to Sukkot, following the natural patterns of Eretz Yisrael.

The prayer book used by our liberal colleagues chooses to pray for rain and dew throughout the year reflecting the climate of Britain. This teaches the important lesson that two divergent and seemingly opposite views can both be correct, reflecting the same underlying principle.

The great fear however was that man would, in attempting to “correct” nature would inadvertently cause greater suffering than would otherwise be the case. Perhaps the best example of this is the story of Honi the circle maker recounted in the Babylonian Talmud. This had such an impact that it is retold twice, in Taanit 19a and 23a (a similar story in Taanit 23b has Honi’s grandson as the protagonist.) I include the shorter version from the Soncino edition of the Talmud (Bavli Taanit 23a) here for your consideration.

“THE ALARM IS SOUNDED ON ACCOUNT OF ANY VISITATION, THAT COMES UPON THE COMMUNITY EXCEPT ON ACCOUNT OF AN OVER-ABUNDANCE OF RAIN. IT HAPPENED THAT THE PEOPLE SAID TO HONI THE CIRCLE DRAWER, PRAY FOR RAIN TO FALL. HE REPLIED: GO AND BRING IN THE OVENS [ON WHICH YOU HAVE ROASTED] THE PASCHAL OFFERINGS SO THAT THEY DO NOT DISSOLVE.

HE PRAYED AND NO RAIN FELL...WHAT DID HE DO? HE DREW A CIRCLE AND STOOD WITHIN IT AND EXCLAIMED, MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE, THY CHILDREN HAVE TURNED TO ME BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE ME TO BE AS A MEMBER OF THY HOUSEHOLD; I SWEAR BY THY GREAT NAME THAT I WILL NOT MOVE FROM HERE UNTIL THOU HAST MERCY UPON THY CHILDREN. RAIN THEN BEGAN TO DRIP, AND THEREUPON HE EXCLAIMED: IT IS NOT FOR THIS THAT I HAVE PRAYED BUT FOR RAIN [TO FILL] CISTERNS, DITCHES AND CAVES.

THE RAIN THEN BEGAN TO COME DOWN WITH GREAT FORCE, AND THEREUPON HE EXCLAIMED; IT IS NOT FOR THIS THAT I HAVE PRAYED BUT FOR RAIN OF BENEVOLENCE, BLESSING AND BOUNTY.

RAIN THEN FELL IN THE NORMAL WAY UNTIL THE ISRAELITES IN JERUSALEM WERE COMPELLED TO GO UP [FOR SHELTER] TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT BECAUSE OF THE RAIN.

THEY CAME AND SAID TO HIM: IN THE SAME WAY AS YOU HAVE PRAYED FOR [THE RAIN] TO FALL PRAY [NOW] FOR THE RAIN TO CEASE. HE REPLIED: GO AND SEE IF THE STONE OF CLAIMANTS HAS BEEN WASHED AWAY. THEREUPON SIMEON B. SHETAH SENT TO HIM [THIS MESSAGE]: WERE IT NOT THAT YOU ARE HONI I WOULD HAVE PLACED YOU UNDER THE BAN, BUT WHAT CAN I DO UNTO YOU WHO IMPORTUNE GOD AND HE ACCEDES TO YOUR REQUEST AS A SON THAT IMPORTUNES HIS FATHER AND HE ACCEDES TO HIS REQUEST; OF YOU SCRIPTURE SAYS, LET THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER BE GLAD, AND LET HER THAT BORE THEE REJOICE.”

We inhabit a world with many dangers and weaknesses. We have the duty to seek to correct or at least mitigate the effects of these.
May we have the wisdom and the caution to not create still greater dangers and suffering in the process.