Spring is in the Air

As I sit at my desk contemplating the tasks at hand, all I can see out my window is a blizzard of snow falling, and pedestrians desperately in search of warmth and protection from the harsh elements. Appreciative that I am safe inside for the meantime, I can not help but hope for the smallest sign that spring is somewhere nearby, for the feeling that spring is in the air. If there is a story in the yearly cycle which instills the feeling of hope from a desperate situation, it is the story of Pesach. 

Passover is known by many names, Chag Hamatzot - “Festival of the Matzot,” Pesach - which literally means “to pass over," Zeman Cheiruteinu - “Season of our Freedom,” and Chag Ha'aviv - “The Spring Festival.”  Each name has a very relevant significance.  The liturgy of Pesach is a little more complex.  In particular, the inclusion of Tefillat Tal, the beautiful prayer for dew chanted on the 1st day of Pesach.  What is the significance of including this prayer exclusively on Pesach?

Immediately following Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, just days after examining our deeds and being brought to judgment, we pray for Geshem - rain.  Rain is essential to the land of Israel’s existence.  Six months later at Pesach, we pray for Tal - dew.  This ancient prayer was composed by the medieval poet and liturgist, Eliezer Kalir (c.670 CE), and is a beautiful petition for the blessing of abundant dew for the fields of the Holy Land.  The reasons we pray for rain are obvious - rain is critical to Israel’s water supply and agriculture.  So what is the difference between rain and dew?  Why is dew given equal importance? 

I recently read a very interesting comparative  between Geshem and Tal which uses the body as a metaphor for dew.  We don't have to remind ourselves to breathe or to digest our food, nor do we have to tell our heart to beat at regular intervals. Our respiratory system is set up to work on its own and maintain the body. It is something we take for granted.  Such is the dew - it falls every day, in a regular pattern, at a regular time.  It is dependable and reliable. Dew is present to maintain order in the world, to provide a minimum of moisture to keep the world going.

Rain, on the other hand, is compared to the reproductive system in the sense that the reproductive system is not a passive system.  It requires a creative force, and the results are far from dependable or predictable.  Many things can occur on the way to fertilization.  Fertilization can come in abundance, in over abundance, or not at all. The unknown and the mysterious surround this system.  Similarly, rain is unpredictable, sporadic, and essential to the creation process.  It is not unusual to pray for something we are uncertain will occur.

In an increasingly modern world where we can call Israel from a cell phone, tell our refrigerator to make ice cubes, and order groceries on the computer; who still takes the time to marvel at the simple things so easily taken for granted.  Tefillat Tal teaches us to appreciate the beauty in the natural order of things.  We don't have to tell our heart to beat, nor remind ourselves to inhale and then exhale.  The lesson of tal is that these very things we take for granted require a special appreciation.

This is the lesson of Pesach - to take a step back from a busy world and appreciate the simple beauties of life; to rejoice in the freedom we enjoy everyday living our lives and practicing our Judaism freely; to eat the bread of affliction and recall the plight of our ancestors -- and to look out our window, at a snowy blizzard, with the assurance that spring will eventually be in the air.

Chag Sameach