Tag Archive for "rain" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘rain’

Ekev: Come, Rain

Posted on: August 6th, 2015 by Alden

The middle paragraph of the Shema comes from this week’s Torah portion, Ekev, which says that rain is a reward for our love and service to G-d. This meditation is on the blessing of rain. I wrote it on a sleepless night in a one-man tent during a rainstorm at a campground overlooking the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee. This piece appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. To listen while you read, click the triangle in the bar below.

Come, Rain
Come, rain,
Pour forth
Upon this barren land,
Upon this barren heart.
The earth is dry,
My chest is withered
And love has fled
For more fertile ground.

Come, rain,
Pour forth
With abandon,
Fill the air with moisture,
Feed the ground with promise,
Let living water
Soak through me,
A gift of heaven,
A gift of holiness,
A fountain of glory,
A well of healing,
A source of power,
Pounding through my thirsty veins.

Postscript: My other prayers about rain include “For Rain,” “The Flood” and “About the Rainbow.” This prayer first appeared on this site on March 15, 2015.

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Come, Rain

Posted on: March 15th, 2015 by Alden

This meditation is on the blessing of rain, which Torah says is a reward for our love of G-d. I wrote it sleepless in a one-man tent during a nighttime rainstorm at a campground overlooking the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). Although the Galilee now is lush due to the rainy season, the Sea is low and rain is a blessing. I wrote the meditation on the second night of a charity hike supporting Tsad Kadima, a wonderful organization that provides education and other services for kids and adults with cerebral palsy. To listen while you read, click the triangle in the bar below.

Come, Rain
Come, rain,
Pour forth
Upon this barren land,
Upon this barren heart.
The earth is dry,
My chest is withered
And love has fled
For more fertile ground.

Postscript: Please consider donating to my Tsad Kadima “Hike for Hope” with this link. It’s a great organization. My other prayers about rain include “For Rain,” “The Flood” and “About the Rainbow.”

Photo Source: Alden Solovy; view of the Kinneret from our campground, March 11, 2015

For Rain

Posted on: November 29th, 2013 by Alden

Israel needs rain, so much so that the Chief Rabbinate is calling for the addition of a prayer for rain to daily prayers. Here’s my version of a prayer for rain, reposted in response to this call to action. I’ve added two lines to the second stanza to emphasize the blessings of rain. Please pray for rain where ever it’s needed and especially here in Israel.

For Rain
Source of life and blessings,
The rains come in their seasons
To feed the land, the crops, the gardens.
The earth abundant, food plentiful, gardens lush.
Sweet, clean water, feeding rivers, filling the sea.
Sometimes too much,
Sometimes too little,
Sometimes not at all.

Fountain of Blessing,
Remember us with life,
With beauty,
With the gift of rain,
The gifts of earth and sky,
Prosperity and bounty,
Blessings upon the land,
Each in its time,
Each in its season,
Each in its proper measure.

Postscript: This prayer first appeared here on December 12, 2010. Other seasonal prayers include: “For Winter,” “For Spring,” “For Summer,” “For Autumn” and “For the New Year.”

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Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons via the Israeli PikiWiki Project

For Rain

Posted on: December 12th, 2010 by tobendlight

“And bestow dew and rain for blessing…” This request is inserted into the 9th blessing of the daily Amidah, known as Shanim (Years), during the months that Israel is most in need of rain. This insertion is tied to the civil calendar and therefore begins on Dec. 5 and is recited until Passover. Here’s my version of a prayer for rain. It appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day.

Fountain of blessing,
Remember us with life,
With beauty,
With prosperity and bounty.
Remember us with the gift of rain,
The gifts of earth and sky,
Blessings upon the land,
Each in its time,
Each in its season,
Each in its proper measure.

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Postscript: Other seasonal prayers that also appear in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day include: “For Winter,” “For Summer,” “For Autumn” and “For Spring.”

Photo Source: PikiWiki Israel

Posts Tagged ‘rain’

Ekev: Come, Rain

Come, Rain

For Rain

For Rain

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