Rain as Equivalent to (or Greater than?) Torah and Resurrection

In this week’s episode of Honi’s Circle we study a text from Tractate Taanit, that offers great praise of rain by comparing it to Torah and the resurrection of the dead. We see this text as a religious mandate for us to be very concerned with what is going on in the world (including climate change) and not just our mission of connecting with the divine via spiritual imagination. In equal measure we see the metaphor going the other way and that having a felt sense of awe for nature (in the form of rainfall and spring) can strengthen our connection to the Torah and imagining the messianic times. Follow along with the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/541046.1?lang=bi 

What is Ḥoni's Circle?

Ḥoni's Circle is a climate chevruta (partner text study), In which Rabbi Paula Rose and Tamar Libicki explore Jewish texts from the Torah, the Talmud, and Commentaries to grapple with climate change. Rabbi Paula Rose is the associate Rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle, Washington. This Podcast is a project of Congregation Beth Shalom and Ahavat V'Avodat HaAdama, our community's environmental group.