Still raining.

We have been blessed with several abundant rain storms so far this winter, this week's has been particularly impressive. Seasonal watercourses in central Israel are in full flow, some causing local flooding after intense sustained torrential rain. Several roads in our area were closed earlier today as nearby seasonal streams burst their banks. To see this in temperate areas of Israel is incredible. To see how these rains have transformed desert regions of the country is to experience an element of the miraculous: greening arid landscapes and usually dry canyons and stream beds flowing with powerful torrents of rainwater, desert cliffs and mountains temporarily turned into thundering waterfalls cascading down usually barren expanses of rock. This is what we sing about every Shabbat, the Jewish exiles returning home to Zion, Jewish captives streaming back to Israel like flooding seasonal watercourses in the Negev desert. Seeing this blessed rain in the desert is like watching the music video for Psalms 126. We haven't seen water levels like this in several winters, very grateful after last year's dry winter of drought.