Is raining on Sukkot a sign of curse according to Judaism?This question arose in our wake following the current wave of local rains that has fallen across the country over the past two days.
According to the Mishnah, rain that falls on Sukkot is like a slave who served his master and brought him a cup of drink, but the master was pleased with serving this cup and even poured it over the slave's face. The analogy is that raining on the holiday actually expels us from sitting in the sukkah, thus showing that G-d is fed up with the observance of our holiday mitzvah and does not want it at all.
Pouring rain in the streets of Netanya || Shmuel Buchris
The person who answered the question of the significance of the rain falling on Sukkot was Rabbi David Stav, chairman of Tzohar and co-chairman of the Or Torah Stone network, who told Israel Hayom: "Any rain that does not allow sitting in the sukkah is a sign of curse, but some say that all this is said only regarding the first night of Sukkot." In other words, the current rainfall that did not occur on the first night of Sukkot is not a curse sign, both because of this taste and because it does not really interfere with sitting in the sukkah later in the day." At the end of his speech, Rabbi Stav added: "The blessings and curses are in our hands and depend on our actions and not on rain."
Rabbi David Stav (archive), photo: Yoav Ari Dudkevich
Rabbi Yoni Lavie, one of the leaders of the Kahal organization, a lecturer for youth, parents and teachers on educational and Torah issues, and presenter of a weekly program on Kan Moreshet radio, also responded to a question from Israel Hayom: "Although the sages noted that rain on Sukkot is like a person whose employer poured the dish he served him on his face, but this is not the kind of rain we have today, it was just a tiptophone. That didn't really expel the people from the sukkah and didn't really harm our sukkot, it's rain that reminds us of the fact that we are on the way to winter and that we expect blessing rains in winter."
Rain in the streets of Jerusalem during Sukkot (archive), photo: Tzachi Miriam
Rabbi Lavi added: "As a rule, on Simchat Torah, we will begin to mention in prayer the need for rain, and later we will also pray and ask for rain, and we hope for blessing rains in winter. I also heard from Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l that the whole point of the curse on Sukkot is whether the rain falls before the beginning of the holiday at all, while rain during Sukkot is a test of whether a person has martyrdom for the mitzvah, especially when the rain is light," the rabbi concluded.
Rabbi Yoni Lavi, Photo: Marva Harush
Rabbi Prof. Neriah Moshe Gotel is the head of research at the Torah and Medina Center in Nitzan and rabbi of the Redlich Synagogue in the Givat Shaul neighborhood. He previously served as president of Orot Yisrael College, responded to Israel today and said, "Does the rains that fell this year on Sukkot express, God forbid, a sign of a curse? As a rule, we do not share in the hidden, but in this regard, the subject appears explicitly already in the Mishnah. Commentators explained that the sign was not said until the first rain, one that was not preceded by additional rain. Such a case, of the beginning of rains on Sukkot, is indeed a "sign." Not so if rains have already preceded, as in the present case, then this is not a "sign". They added that Adraba "has nothing to do with it and the fulfillment of will, blessing and almsgiving is."
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