All Thunder and Rain Are Given for the Sake of Jacob

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 115:7

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

Another interpretation: All the voices [thunders] are yours - "and there were thunders and lightnings" (Exodus 19:16); and the rains come in your merit - "at the sound of His giving a multitude of waters" (Jeremiah 10:13). If you chatter idly with your voice [instead of using it for Torah and prayer], the hands are the hands of Esau. And so it says, "Is the LORD among us" (Exodus 17:7) - immediately "and Amalek came" (Exodus 17:8).

Themes

RainPrayerDivine Voice

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Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelOn the Face of the Desert Not on the Whole DesertR. Eliezer Hamodai says: "And the dew layer ascended": (homiletically) there arose the prayers of our forefathers who were buried in the earth, on the face of tTalmud Bavli, TaanitChoni Draws a Circle and Demands Rain From GodMost of the month of Adar had passed, and still no rain. The fields were cracking. The people of Israel sent a desperate message to Choni HaMe'aggel. Choni the Exempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924)Story of Nakdiman bNakdimon ben Gorion was one of the wealthiest men in Jerusalem, and he had made a dangerous bargain. He borrowed twelve wells of water from a Roman nobleman, thExempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924)Nakdimon ben Gorion and the Twelve Wells of RainwaterIn a year of terrible drought, Nakdimon ben Gorion, one of the three wealthiest men in Jerusalem, approached a Roman official and made a desperate bargain. He bExempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924)Hilkiah & the RainAbba Hilkiah, the grandson of Honi the Circle-Drawer, inherited his grandfather's extraordinary ability to bring rain through prayer. But his methods were so peExempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924)Honi Ha-Meagel Slept Seventy Years and Woke to a World That Forgot HimIn a time of devastating drought, the people of Israel came to Honi ha-Meagel, "Honi the Circle-Drawer". And begged him to pray for rain. Honi drew a circle in