Words Like Rain

Moses’ opening words to Israel in Parashat Ha’azinu introduce an epic song of instruction and prophecies for Israel’s future, while also recalling the past.

Moses likens his teachings to rain, dew, a storm, and showers on grass.

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Many commentaries explain how these four kinds of precipitation reflect the tone of Moses’ delivery; dew represents a gentle approach, while rain suggests a stronger manner of speaking.

These are all metaphors for Moses’ words—how the souls hearing him were nourished, how they grew, and how they were sustained. Like life-giving rain, the source of this wisdom is directly from the Creator. The Moroccan sage Or HaChaim tells us that, here in Ha’azinu, rain is also symbolic of the Written Torah, while dew represents the Oral Torah, underscoring the sacred symbiosis between the two.

Moses’ song is also replete with warnings for Israel’s future, but despite the nation’s failings, God will “relent regarding His servants” and save the nation.

As Ha’azinu comes to a close, HaShem tells Moses to ascend Mount Nebo, where he will be shown the Promised Land before his death. The command is given b’etzem hayom hazeh (“on this very day”).

On that day Moses was 120 years old.

The first time we encounter that phrase, “on this very day,” is in Genesis 7:13, when we learn that Noach and his family entered the Ark on the very day the Mabbul (Flood) began. It was 120 years after the Creator issued a warning that humanity must repent of its destructive evil:

“Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.’” — Genesis 6:3

The number of years also suggest a connection to Moses, whose lived for 120 years.

According to Jewish tradition, Noach’s righteous grandfather Methuselah passed away shortly before the Flood. Rashi explains that HaShem delayed the Flood for seven days to allow for the mourning of this righteous man. It also provided a departure time. 7 Days later Noach and his family entered the tevah (Ark), where HaShem sealed them inside for their protection.

We find other connections between Moses and the Flood narrative. As an infant, he was saved from the waters of the Nile when placed in a little tevah (ark), sealed with pitch.

120 years later, the death of Moses signaled that it was time for the Children of Israel to enter Canaan—a land that can be understood as a kind of Ark, offering protection to God’s holy nation.

At the beginning of Ha’azinu, Moses also compares his words to a storm, calling to mind the torrential rains that fell upon the earth for forty days and nights.

Moses made three separate ascents of Mount Sinai, each lasting forty days. He would descend with the second set of Tablets, a sign that God had forgiven the people for the Sin of the Golden Calf.

That was the first Yom Kippur.

When building the tevah, HaShem instructs Noach to cover and seal it with pitch, called kofer in Hebrew. The Hebrew word kofer shares the same three-letter root as Kippur, the second word in Yom Kippur. This linguistic connection evokes the idea of a protective covering, offering a powerful image of HaShem’s atonement for our sins on Yom Kippur.

As I write these words during the Yamim Noraim, the Ten Days of Awe, we can see these parallels between Ha’azinu, the 120 years before the Flood, the 120 years of Moses’ life, and the repentance and renewal during the Ten Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur.

For example, the aforementioned phrase, “on this very day,” also appears in the description of Yom Kippur. Although the Hebrew expression in Leviticus differs slightly from the one used in Genesis and Deuteronomy, the words convey the same idea:

“And this shall be to you for an eternal decree: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work, neither the native nor the proselyte who dwells among you. For on this very day, He shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you; from all your sins before the Lord, you shall be cleansed.” — Leviticus 16:29–30

All of these timely connections remind us of the limited time we have in this life and the importance of seizing the opportunity for repentance, renewal, and drawing closer to HaShem during the High Holy Days.

We also pray during this time for the continued miracle of God’s protective hand over the people of Israel, whose enemies threaten the existence of the Jewish State.

As Yom Kippur gives way to Sukkot, our attention turns from repentance and atonement to the joy of dwelling under HaShem’s protection.

Rain at Sukkot represents blessing and abundance, and Sukkot—with its water libations (Simchat Beit HaSho'evah) in the Temple era—became a festival of joyful gratitude for divine sustenance.

Sukkot and the connection to rain also echoes the future Redemption when the nations will recognize the sovereignty of the Creator, as revealed in Zechariah 14:16-17:

“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate Sukkoth. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain.”

Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch reminds us of an important principle emerging from prophetic words such as these: the treatment accorded Israel will be a measure of the nations’ allegiance to God.