We are now in pesukim of Perek Shira. Today's pasuk
is the song of rain. It's from Tehilim
68,10 (סח י)
גְּשָׁמִים אוֹמְרִים. גֶּשֶׁם נְדָבוֹת תָּנִיף אֱלֹהִים
נַחֲלָתְךָ וְנִלְאָה אַתָּה כוֹנַנְתָּהּ
The rains say,
גֶּשֶׁם נְדָבוֹת /Rain of generosity (nidava
means gift, something you don't deserve).
תָּנִיף אֱלֹהִים /God will wave
נַחֲלָתְךָ וְנִלְאָה
/your inheritance is thirsty ( or tired)
אַתָּה כוֹנַנְתָּהּ/ You will establish
In many texts, when we ask for rain it says we should be blessed
B'Gshmei ratzon/rain
of goodwill, beracha/blessing, U'nedava/ and generosity, and the Avudarham says that the source for the term Nedava
comes from this pasuk-Geshem Nidavot/Rain of generosity.
What does 'Rain of generosity' mean? The Radak tells us that
in the previous pasuk it says "Eretz Rasha, the earth quaked and the heavens
gave rain"- referring to a negative rain, falling on our enemies. Here, it
says Geshem Nedavot, which means a rain of generosity, a
positive rain.
The Malbim says this refers not to the Jewish people at large, but to
a specific event that occurred to David Hamelech when he was camping in the
desert. They were extremely thirsty, and rain came down upon them. This was Geshem
Nedavot, the rain of chesed, that came upon David Hamelech.
The Emek Davar, in Vayikra 22,29 quotes this pasuk
that uses the words rain of nidava and God should wave, and says
that David Hamelech said (referring to when we had a Bet Hamikdash) that if we need rain, we should bring a Korban Nidava,
which is a korban Toda/ a thank you offering that will bring rain. And
when you wave it, that will also bring berachah. If we need dew,
we'll wave it. So the activities that we
did in the Bet Hamikdash is what brought the Beracha.
Here the term Geshem Nedavot
does not mean a rain that God is giving benevolently, but rather that
the rain is coming to due to the benevolent acts of the Jewish people in
bringing their korbanot.
The Sefer Parashat Derachim, in his 21st derush offers
an entirely different understanding of this term- rain of generosity. It
says that every rain that comes to us is the rain of generosity.
We shouldn't think that rain is something natural, that's
just going to come upon us just like
that. No. Every raindrop is an act of generosity on the part of God, that we
don't necessarily deserve. It's not built into the
system. We take it for granted, but rain is God's generosity to the world.
Furthermore, he says the pasuk refers to נַחֲלָתְךָ/God's inheritance, and explains that when it comes to Nachlatcha, which is
Eretz Yisrael, Attah/You
God, give the rain that comes upon Eretz Yisrael. That means the rain that
comes to other places comes through a Shaliach/ messenger, but when it
comes to the rain of Eretz Yisrael,
it comes directly from Hashem, and that's why it says, נַחֲלָתְךָ וְנִלְאָה אַתָּה כוֹנַנְתָּהּ /You establish it.
As we said, rain is a general symbol for God's intervention/Hashgacha
in the world. When Hashem becomes upset, as it says in Keriyat Shema, God
stops the rain. But If you follow my statutes, the rain will come at the
right time. This means that the Hashgacha
that happens in Eretz Yisrael is handled directly by God. That's אַתָּה
כוֹנַנְתָּהּ and its actually a pasuk
in the Torah in Devarim יא,יב
אֶ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה
אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ דֹּרֵ֣שׁ אֹתָ֑הּ תָּמִ֗יד עֵינֵ֨י יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ בָּ֔הּ.. אַחֲרִ֥ית שָׁנָֽהֶA
land that God is constantly checking on.
The eyes of Hashem are on it. There
is a special special Hashgacha Pratit,
a special eye, so to say, that is given to Eretz Yisra'el.
The song of the rain is that it understands the generosity of God and
how God deals directly with Eretz Yisrael. That's the song of the rain.
