It’s a question our Sages grappled with, digging deep into scripture and tradition.
The text we're diving into today, Vayikra Rabbah 35, wrestles with this very idea. How many rains are needed for the earth to produce its fruits?
Rabbi Meir, ever the pragmatist, suggests a minimum of two. He bases this on the verse in Deuteronomy (11:14) mentioning “the early rain and the late rain.” For Rabbi Meir, the "early rain" comes in Marḥeshvan (October/November) and the “late rain” in Nisan (March/April). Two good soakings, and you're in business!
But Rabbi Yosei begs to differ. He believes the earth needs at least three rains to really flourish. He agrees on the “late rain” in Nisan, but moves the “early rain” earlier to Kislev (November/December). And he adds a crucial rainfall in between. Three times the charm, according to Rabbi Yosei.
Then Rabbi Dostai ben Rabbi Yanai enters the conversation with a fascinating textual interpretation. He points to Job 37:6: “For He says to the snow: Be on the earth, and the rain He pours down [vegeshem matar vegeshem].” He interprets the seemingly redundant phrase vegeshem matar vegeshem – literally "and rain, downpour, and rain" – as representing three rains. Add to that "the downpour of the rain [mitrot]" mentioned later in the verse, which he counts as two, and you arrive at a grand total of five rains!
The Rabbis, never to be outdone, chime in with a grand total of seven. They take the five from Rabbi Dostai and add "the early rain and the late rain" – the early one in Marḥeshvan and the late one in Nisan.
But the conversation doesn't stop at mere numbers. It shifts to something even more profound: the relationship between Israel's actions and the bounty of the earth.
Rabbi Abahu recounts hearing Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani, in the name of Ḥizkiya, teach that when Israel does the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, He remembers the earth with just one rain, and immediately it produces. The source? Psalms 65:10: “You remember the earth and fulfill its desire, enriching it [tasherena] with abundance." The sages cleverly expound tasherena as related to ta’asrena, meaning it produces one-tenth for you. As we find in Shir HaShirim Rabba 7:11, if you merit it, He will "enrich it" but if you do not merit it, He will "tithe it."
And it gets even more personal. Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Ḥelbo, and Rav Pappi, citing Rabbi Elazar, suggest that sometimes, God brings rain for the sake of a single person, a single blade of grass, or a single field! They find support for this idea in Zechariah 10:1: “Ask rain of the Lord at the time of the late rain: the Lord makes lightning and He will give them a rain shower; for a man, there will be grass in the field.” Notice the singular: "for a man," not men; "for grass," not grasses; "for a field," not fields.
The passage then turns to the idea of blessing. Malachi 3:10 urges us to bring tithes to the storehouse and test God, promising to open the windows of heaven and pour out “an endless blessing [ad beli dai].” Rabbi Yona bar Abba, in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan, explains ad beli dai as something about which it is impossible to say enough [dai].
Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Ḥelbo, and Rabbi Abba bar Kahana, quoting Rav, offer a beautiful image: Our lips will be worn out [yivlu] from saying, “it is enough for us [dayenu]!”
The final thought offers a glimmer of hope for the future. In this world, rains can be a trouble – disrupting travel, work, and daily life. But in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will transform them into a pure blessing. As Ezekiel 34:26 promises: “I will render them and the surroundings of My hill a blessing, and I will cause the rain to fall in its season; rains of blessing will they be.”
So, what do we take away from all this? It's more than just counting raindrops. It's about the intimate connection between humanity, the Divine, and the natural world. It's about deserving blessing, and about a future where even the rain itself becomes a source of unadulterated joy and abundance. Maybe, just maybe, we can start creating that future today.