Rain. To say it rains a lot in Haifa (at least this year...) is the understatement of the century. We have never experienced so much and such heavy rain in our lives. Because of Israel's unique location, it's particular distance from the equator, the country experiences only winter rains (says Matt after his lecture at Haifa University on climate). That means from spring (around Pesach) to early fall (around Sukkot), the country is dry dry dry. Come the rainy season, Jews around the world begin to add prayers for rain into their daily benedictions. This only really makes sense here in Israel, as most other places where there are Jews (which is actually most places) the rainy season and the prayer "schedule" don't quite line up. Now, that we are in the midst of winter, we are seeing the work of our prayers full force.
The rain here in Haifa (I can't speak for the rest of the country, plus I'm sure it is different) is plentiful and strong. We are not talking tropical rains where there are a few minutes of sun-showers and then beautiful skies. We are also not talking your average thunderstorm. What we have been experiencing here are "super-can't sleep through the night because of the loud noises and bright lights-can't go outside even with an umbrella-wait! that's not rain it's hail-thunderstorms". Your feet will get wet, even in rainboots (which apparently no Israelis own and look at my hunter green rubber rainboots like I have aliens on my feet), your umbrella will get eaten by the winds, and you will surely get drenched by the cars and buses driving by making tsunami sized waves from the puddles on the road. I don't want to complain because this country desperately needs as much rain as she can get (droughts are bad), but at the same time, unless you really like being holed up in the house watching movies (actually that doesn't sound too bad...), it is not fun to venture out anywhere since you know you will then be wet and uncomfortable for the rest of the day.
Some of you may think that Matt's studies - middle bronze age Canaanite religious and cult practices - are not so relevant to today's world. That is, until you experience the wrath of Ba'al yourself. Ba'al, the Canaanite storm-god, specializes in rain, thunder, agriculture and fertility. In the Tanakh/Bible, (I Kings 18), the prophet Elijah summons 450 Ba'al prophets to the Carmel mountain (where Haifa is located) for a God vs. god duel. After the failure of the Ba'al prophets to summon Ba'al to consume their offering, Elijah calls out God, fire shoots out of the sky, swallows up the offering and the winner is crowed (then Elijah slaughters all the Ba'al prophets). Needless to say, there were those who once believed that the rains in the Carmel were the doings of Ba'al.
During one of this winter's torrential downpours, we jumped into a cab to escape the weather. The friendly cab driver welcomed us in and sympathized with us as we rung out our sopping wet clothes into his car. As we began to drive, Matt turned to the driver and joked: "Wow, look at these rains. Ba'al must be really pissed today!" Not quite sure how to respond, the driver looked away and didn't say another word to Matt. I later informed Matt the "Ba'al jokes" should be reserved for those who will have any clue about what he is insinuating... you have to know your audience.
Stay dry out there, Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend,
Stef and Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment