By Sarah Konigsburg, MACoM Operations Coordinator
A month ago on Shmini Atzeret, the final day of the High Holiday season, we switched from saying מוריד הטל “Who brings down dew” to משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם “Who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall.” That day, we also added the Geshem Prayer for rain. The prayer leader chants this prayer as the final culmination of the petitionary prayers that we have been praying since the beginning of the High Holiday season. In this moment, we transition from the spiritual prayers between us and God, to the physical prayers of rain and hoping for a fruitful harvest in the coming year.
This is mirrored in the ritual of mikvah, which also embodies this duality of the spiritual and physical. During both the holidays and during an immersion, we are elevating our physical bodies to spiritual vessels. We are praying and hoping for a positive future while standing at a time of transition and crossroads, from last year to this year, from the dry season to the rainy season. This reflects the same transitional experience of marking the liminal moment before we immersed to the moment we emerge from the mikvah.
Both these transitional moments of the Geshem Prayer and the personal immersion into the mikvah invoke God to provide water for strength, safety, and healing. During the Geshem Prayer, we invoke our ancestors’ granting of water so that we also merit the blessing of rain. Each stanza either ends with requests of God to either “not withhold water” or “grant the gift of flowing water.” While the prayer asks for rain for crops, MACoM is also dependent on rain for its living water, mayim chayim. This serves as a reminder that these moments of transition are fragile and recognizes our need for external support from the Divine.
As we continue into Cheshvan and the rest of the year, may we hold on to this feeling of spiritual renewal and bring sacred intention into each phase of the year. Let us continue to invoke our tradition and the generations before us, who have prayed these words and similarly turned to water for their strength, safety, and healing. Whenever you find yourself reflecting on your physical and spiritual transitions, we look forward to being able to support you at MACoM.