Kinneret Very Low, reprinted with the kind permission of:
The recent heat wave and scanty rainfall this past winter have combined to create a dangerously low water level in Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).
This winter’s rains raised the level by a total of only 60 centimeters (24 inches) – and 25 percent of that gain has already been lost because of the intense heat. During Pesach, for example, it reached 109F in the area of the Galilee.
This is the fourth straight year that there has been a less than average rainfall in the country, leaving the underground aquifers throughout the country in worse shape than they have been for more than a decade. Officials say the Kinneret is at its lowest in 46 years – since 1962. Israelis may well face water rationing this summer.
My Comment:
The Shema,: (lit. “hear”); the daily declaration of faith, recited in the morning and evening prayers and before retiring for the night.
The second passage is from Deuteronomy 11:13-21, beginning with the word “v’haya.” It declares the Jews‘ acceptance of the commandments and their undertaking to carry out the commandments as evidence of their loyalty to G_d. It talks of the fundamental principle in Jewish belief of reward and punishment that is based on the fulfillment of G_d’s commandments.
Devarim – Deuteronomy
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love HaShem your G-d, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
15 And I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be satisfied.
16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17 and the anger of HaShem be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, so that there shall be no rain, and the ground shall not yield her fruit; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which HaShem giveth you.
From the above verses, that we recite four times a day, it’s quite clear why there have been no rains in Eretz Yisrael.
My beloved brethren, I beg that we all return to our ONE and only G_d in Teshuvah, and start praying that all those harsh decrees against us be forgiven.
