Think this rain is crazy? Read about the flood that made war

Standing by the window and complaining about the rain? Take the time to remember the righteous Noah, Honey the Circle, Deborah the Prophet, and other well-known rainfall and flood stories throughout Jewish history

A flood that hit the Irkutskaya region in Russia overwhelmed this house (Photo: Reuters)

House damaged during a flood in the Irkutskaya region, Russia (Photo: Reuters)

The flood of rains that has flooded the cities of Israel in recent days and the flood that is still ahead of us - brought us back to the sources and reminded of the stories of flood and rains known in the history of the Land of Israel. Among those who came after a drought or after a special prayer, these are the stories of rains that are famous in the Jewish tradition:

Perhaps the best known and best known is the original flood story. In the story in Genesis, Noah starred, who was a righteous man, and the only one who survived a torrential downpour of 40 days. The rains flooded the land, causing the extinction of humanity as they knew it until then, when Noah found a hideout in the box he built, along with his family and many animal species.

The rains and floods also ruled wars. One of the most recognized Jewish leaders was Deborah the prophet who fought in Basra. Sisra's army stands on Mount Tabor, but the Israeli army led by Deborah's army minister - Barak Ben Avinoam - pulled the war to the valley. A sudden thunderstorm shook Sisra's horses and the rain that started to flood flooded the Kishon creek that made the entire Jezreel Valley muddy and put Sisra's war chariots out of use. Barak Ben Avinoam's army, which was not made up of transport vehicles, achieved the advantage and eventually the big victory.

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In cooperation with the Abrahamson Institute

Rain come, get down on me

During the judges' period, rain seemed to play a major role, so Gideon Ben-Joash asked for rain to come as a sign that he had chosen to save Israel. Gideon bought the supernatural signs himself. He put a fleece of wool outside and asked for the nightcloth to dry while the soil around it stayed dry - yes, it did, but Gideon didn't do it and he put another fleece outside when he asked for it to stay dry and the soil around it to be wetted. Only after this happened did Gideon agree to take the position and save Israel.

Another story that appears in Jewish sources and describes many rains that go down after years of long drought is the story of Elijah the prophet on Mount Carmel. The drought began after Isabel, the queen of Israel at the time, killed the prophets of Israel. For three long years the land was completely dry and its inhabitants suffered from severe famine. Only after Elijah the Prophet proved the prophets of the husband and managed to ridicule them did the rain return and saturate the land and the inhabitants.

I'm not moving away

The drought also played a significant role in the familiar and famous story of the Honi Circle, a famous tana that lived during the Second Temple period. The drought that caused the famine led the Jews of the land to turn to Honi and ask him to pray to God. Honi holidayed a circle and stood in it and from there prayed and promised that he would not leave the circle until it rained. Initially, it was raining heavily, but Honi continued to circle and pray that it was raining, and indeed, heavy rain began to fall. The heavy rains caused many damage and Honi continued to circle and pray for the rains until the rains of rain fell.