Welcome to our daily dose of Bitachon in our Shaar Bitachon series. Chovot haLevavot describes different things to contemplate. One of the greatest things he says, which is the crowning gift of man to living creatures and to growing things, is the rain coming at the right time. And he quotes a Pasuk in Yirmiyahu that the prophet is chastising the Jewish people and he says, "Can idols bring about rain?" Now this is something to really think about. One of those things we just take for granted: it's raining. And as we've said in the past, we've been raised with "rain, rain, go away." Let's look into appreciating the rain. So we start off with most of the world's evaporation happens over the oceans, because that's where most of the rain comes from, not from freshwater lakes. Oceans, as we know, are salty and toxic to most land plants. If the salt rose with the water, the rain would destroy the earth rather than nourish it. The wonder is that the process of evaporation acts as a massive natural desalination plant. It separates the pure H2O molecules from the salt and impurities, ensuring that every drop that falls from the sky is fresh, life-giving water. But that's still not enough. Water vapor in the air doesn't just turn into liquid on its own. It needs a platform to grab onto. And these are the microscopic bits of dust, sea salt, or even bacteria floating in the atmosphere. These tiny seeds that Hashem provides causes that it grabs onto something and creates this cloud. And with that, the vapor gives birth to the raindrop. Another challenge: rain clouds are usually thousands of feet in the air. If a raindrop just fell through a vacuum, gravity would cause it to accelerate to such a high speed it would hit the ground like a bullet, destroying the crops and harming animals. It'd be like hail coming down. But because of the density of our atmosphere and the aerodynamic shape of a raindrop, the drop comes through in a nice 15 to 20 mile an hour speed, and it falls gently enough to water a delicate flower without crushing it. Another important factor: plants need nitrogen to grow. But they don't breathe nitrogen that makes up 75% of our air. They can only take it in through their roots in a liquid form. When lightning strikes, the intense heat breaks apart the nitrogen molecules in the air and they then bond with oxygen and dissolve into the falling raindrops. So rain isn't just water, it's pre-mixed liquid fertilizer that feeds the plant at the exact moment they're being hydrated, similar to vitamin water or any other type of energy drink. Now further, the Chovot haLevavot stresses the words that the rain comes in the right time, the term Yoreh u'Malkosh, early rain and late rain. Rain patterns are dictated by massive global currents and the tilt of the earth. If the rain came at the wrong temperature or the wrong month, it would rot the seeds in the ground or ruin a harvest before it's picked. And this is another wonder of rain coming at the right time. The Radak on Tehillim chapter 147 points out that this chapter starts off that it's nice to praise God. Boneh Yerushalayim Hashem, God is building Jerusalem, Nidchei Yisrael yekanes, bringing in the exiles. And then we switch to Enu l'Hashem b'todah, let us sing to God songs of praise. Hamachaseh shamayim b'avim, Hamachin la'aretz matar. God covers the heavens with clouds and gets the rain ready for the ground. What's going on over here? We're talking about ingathering of exiles and suddenly we turn to the rain? It's actually the Gemara in Masechet Taanit that tells us, sorry, it's a Pasuk in Michah chapter 5 Pasuk 6 that the Radak quotes: והיה שארית יעקב בקרב עמים רבים , the leftovers of Yaakov amongst the nations will be k'tal me'et Hashem, similar to dew, k'revivim alei esev, and like rain. So the comparison between rain and the ingathering... and the exiles. On both of them it says אשר לא יקוה לאיש , you can't hope to people. People don't bring rain and people don't bring in the exiles. The rain symbolizes that direct connection that God has in a supernatural way to creation. With all the predictors of the weather, they're never right. Rain is something that is specifically God-controlled. The Sforno says that specifically on rain we have to be thankful because these are the constants in the world, but they're really wondrous. There's a beautiful Tzror Hamor, Vayikra 26:19, written by Rav Avraham Saba, 1440 to 1510, one of the exiles from Spain and fled Portugal in the 1490s. He tells us on אם בחקתי תלכו ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם , I will give rain at the right time. That's the keyword: the right time. And he says our mitzvot bring rain because rain is something that is directly connected to what we do. And he says גאוננו ותפארתנו ועוזנו ביד שובינו , what was our glory and our greatness and our power when we were taken captive? He's talking about the Inquisition. That we had the power to bring rain at its time when we prayed and it was well known that they accepted us into their lands because they knew that we had the power to bring rain. He tells a story of Rav Chasdai Crescas, 1340 to 1410, with the King of Aragon, who was which is part of modern day Spain, where this Rav Chasdai Crescas lived. He was the leader of Spanish Jewry. And the Jewish community was physically expelled from the safety of the city walls and barred from returning. The ultimatum was clear. Unless the Jews through their prayer could end the drought and bring water, they would be left exposed to the elements, starvation and so on. And Rav Chasdai gathered everyone in prayer and he opened his drasha with the following words, lanu hamayim, the water is ours, referring to a discussion in Bereishit 26:20 with the argument between the shepherds of Gerar and Yitzchak's shepherds. And the point is lanu hamayim, the water belongs to us. We have the power to bring rain. And sure enough it rained. The power of rain is something directly connected to our tefillot and it is because ultimately Hashem is the one behind the rain. And that's another important thing to concentrate on.