{"id":57669,"date":"2019-06-18T17:03:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T14:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=57669"},"modified":"2023-01-11T08:35:08","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T06:35:08","slug":"dont-rain-on-my-harvest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/dont-rain-on-my-harvest\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Rain On My Harvest"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[360,780,839],"acf":{"old_id":"57669","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"244","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"All seven species and thus the whole economy would have been adversely affected\u2026","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In his attempt to consolidate Saul\u2019s rule, Samuel reiterated the principle that the fate of Israel is inextricably tied to the sincerity of their worship of God (see our comments on Judges 2) and offered them a truly convincing sign (\u201cthis great thing,\u201d 16) of its veracity:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call unto the Lord that He may send thunder and rain, and you shall know and see that you have done a great wickedness in the sight of the Lord by asking for a king. (17)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fact that he succeeded and \u201call the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel\u201d (18) only intensifies our perplexity: What is so impressive about rain? Radak, although he lived in Provence, appreciated the proof:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My father, z\u201dl, explained that in the Land of Israel rain does not fall at all during the harvest\u2026 Our sages have said that the 17<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marheshvan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> [in the fall] starts the rainy season. Since rain during the harvest season was a great novelty for them, they took fear and asked Samuel to pray for them lest they die.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Nogah Hareuveni, a leading scholar in the field of botany and the Bible, the period of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sefirat ha\u2019omer<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is intended to coincide with the wheat harvest in April and early May. This brief transitional season between the rainy winter and the hot, dry summer is one of erratic and unpredictable weather; one day can bring scorching winds from the desert, the next day, thunder, lightning, and heavy rains. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During this spring season, seven critically important varieties of grain and fruit (Israel&#8217;s \u201cseven species\u201d) are all particularly at vulnerable stages of development. The olive, grape, pomegranate and date flowers need several successive days of hot weather to open and be pollinated. Wheat and barley, on the other hand, need cool, moist air. The fiery <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hamsin<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> typical of this season can parch and completely destroy the entire grain crop if it comes before the kernels have filled with starch. The same rains that benefit the wheat and barley during their last stages of ripening can devastate the fruit crop. In order to survive, people needed both the grain and the fruit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not surprising, then, that this period would be one of high anxiety and trepidation and suitable for Samuel\u2019s object lesson.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":57670,"id":57670,"title":"isam12-species","filename":"isam12-species.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-species.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/dont-rain-on-my-harvest\/isam12-species\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam12-species","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":57669,"date":"2019-06-18 14:03:20","modified":"2019-06-18 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