Zion - The Home of Our Life \ Rabbi Uzi Kalchaim zt"l
Sukkot
Zion - The Home of Our Life
Rabbi Uzi Kalchaim zt"l
Summarized by students
Dedicated to the memory of
Asher Ben Haim
1. The Home of Our Life
2. A Daily Attachment to Zion
3. Let It Rain - On Israel
4. “This Is Not Our Rain”
The Home of Our Life
When, in our prayers, we recite, “Have mercy upon Zion, for it is the home of our life”
(Haftarah blessing), we are not merely recalling a Zion of the past, our homeland and
breeding ground, a land which became the foundation of our national life and culture, and to
which we are bound through our inherited fate. Rather, we are speaking about daily life.
Throughout the period of our exile, we made a practice of relating all of our daily life activities
to the land of Israel. We looked expectantly to our future there, just around the bend. We
lifted our eyes to the mountains, hoping that we might see a bearer of good tidings
approaching. In what follows, we shall see how the entire Jewish life order was bound up
with the concept of rain in Israel.
A Daily Attachment to Zion
Let us begin by mentioning a number of well-known characteristics regarding our attachment
to Zion:
1. To Face the Land of Israel - Prayer
Jews have always prayed while facing Jerusalem. All of the synagogues in the world have
been built according to this principle. In the west they faced east; in the south, north; in the
north, south. We have always faced the land of Israel. We learn this from Daniel the Prophet
who prayed before the windows which were opened in the direction of Israel, as it is written,
“They shall pray to you by way of their land” (Berakhot 30a).
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Zion - The Home of Our Life \ Rabbi Uzi Kalchaim zt"l
Sukkot
2. Daily Sustenance - Grace After Meals
After eating a meal we recite the “Birkat HaMazon,” or Grace After Meals, in the course of
which we thank God for granting us “a land which is desirable, good, and spacious,” and ask
that He “rebuild Jerusalem, city of the Holy Sanctuary, speedily, in our days.”
3. Establishing a Home - Marriage
During the joyous marriage ceremony we place ashes on the upper forehead of the groom,
and we break a glass in remembrance of the Temple's destruction. This teaches us that no
joy is complete so long as Jerusalem sits in ruins. The last of the seven wedding blessings
reads, “Let there soon be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the
voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the
bride.” This is an expression of our hope and desire that Jerusalem, barren and childless,
should speedily merit the joyful reunion of her children in her midst.
The righteous R' Yitzchak Levi of Berdichev would write upon his children's wedding
invitations that the marriage ceremony will be taking place in Jerusalem on such-and-such a
date. However, he would add in a footnote that if we do not merit such good fortune, the
wedding will be held in Berdichev on the said date.
4. In Death, in Mourning, and in Resurrection
To a mourner we say, “May God comfort you together with the other mourners of Zion and
Jerusalem,” and in burial we place soil of the land of Israel upon the head of the deceased.
However, not only are death and mourning connected to the land of Israel, even the
resurrection is connected to Israel: the custom is for the deceased to be buried with his legs
directed toward the land of Israel (Chatam Sofer, Yoreh Deah 332). This custom is based
upon the verse, “Lead us upright to our land.”
Let It Rain - On Israel
Now, let us consider how the expression “Zion, the home of our life” relates to rain. We shall
see that there is a very interesting distinction in our daily Amidah prayer between
“mentioning rain” (hazkarat g'shamin) and “requesting rain” (she'elat g'shamim) in Israel and
abroad. We begin to mention rain in our prayers from Sh'mini Atzeret, and this is true both in
Israel and abroad. However, when it comes to requesting rain, there is a difference. In Israel,
we begin to request rain from the 7th of Cheshvan, but Jews of the Diaspora begin sixty
days after the autumnal equinox. This is based upon the well-known talmudic division
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Zion - The Home of Our Life \ Rabbi Uzi Kalchaim zt"l
Sukkot
between Israel and Babylon (Ta'anit 10a). Rabbenu Asher is of the novel opinion that in light
of this distinction, we can conclude that each Diaspora land requests rain at a time that
accords with its own specific needs. However, most authorities do not accept this position
and recognize only one distinction - that between the Land of Israel and the rest of the
Diaspora.
Rabbi A.I. Kook was asked an interesting question by the Jews of Argentina (Orach Mishpat
24). There, the rainy season lasts from Nisan until Tishrei - i.e., our summer is their winter,
and they need to pray for rain when it is summer in Israel. They asked Rabbi Kook what they
should do in their circumstance. The Rabbi answered their query as follows: We find that all
Jews begin praising God for rain at the same time - Shmini Atzeret. This is because the
essence of our praise for God is based upon the land of Israel. Through rain, His greatness
and might are revealed, and therefore all Jews mention God's might in accordance with the
seasons of the Land of Israel, no matter where they are. Only with regard to requesting rain
is there a distinction between the Land of Israel and the Diaspora; but within the Diaspora
itself there are no inner divisions.
From here we can understand that prayer and supplication revolve around the land of Israel.
That is, not only via daily prayer, Grace After Meals, and wedding blessings have Jews tied
their fate to Zion, but even on the level of national existence, by mentioning rain in our
prayers - the act of mentioning rain is tied to the land of Israel.
“This Is Not Our Rain”
Let us bring a relevant story here which the late R' Neryah zt”l relates in Moadei HaReiya”
(p. 137) in the name of the author Yitzchak Ziv-Av:
“I heard this story from a Zionist leader who, as a child in Russia, accompanied his father to
the synagogue one Shmini Atzeret. As they recited the prayer for rain the child said to his
father, “But, Papa, it's raining outside...why are we praying for rain?”
From under the prayer shawl came the father's stern response, “Child, this is not our rain!”
This story did not receive its full significance until many years later. In the midst of a political
whirlpool, the son understood that his father was able to see beyond his own situation, a
situation in which even the rain was foreign. He was able to see his true world, a world which
though not graspable nevertheless existed! His prayer for rain expressed a sub-conscience
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Zion - The Home of Our Life \ Rabbi Uzi Kalchaim zt"l
Sukkot
belonging to something beyond his present existence, and more concrete than any
existence.
From here we receive a good understanding of the words “Have mercy upon Zion, for it is
the home of our life” - the Land of Israel is the focus of our life and being. Mentioning rain
begins in the land of Israel. Even requesting rain is tied to the land of Israel, and this is the
meaning of “Zion” - “the home of our life.”
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