17 Elul: Rain As Earth’s Mikveh by Ander Jones Berasaluce

The rain in July — in Tammuz, in Av — comes like a crescendo ahead of Elul and all that follows. Rain reminds me of teshuvah for some reason. Perhaps as a metaphor or stand-in for teshuvah itself — rain reminds me of repenting, for the full English alliteration — or (and?) — of returning. The cleaning/purifying effect even evokes the mikveh, as rain leaves what it graces a kind of palimpsest of its past, as time’s grime and dust wash off, sometimes in rivulets of pollen. But repent implies a conscious degree of regret, whereas to return refers to the softer losing one’s way, without deliberateness presumed. 

Rain doesn’t seem to come because of an intentional decision, either for or against (and then, the natural question: for or against what? Drought? Monsoon? Drizzle? Dry days? Sunshine? Sleet? Snow? Hail? A finite list of infinite permutations) with the pendulum reckoning for equilibrium. Rather, systems get out of balance, ways get lost, entropy arises and sometimes abounds; the winds that blow themselves off course blow themselves back on, though how quickly or slowly depends on many factors, including whether the winds bring rain in tow.  

Rain, in a sense, could be the Earth’s mikveh: flowing natural waters submerging our Earth, which cannot itself immerse, simultaneously replenishing its own living waters (giving humans our mikvot), so planet and people can enter into another year purified again, with the inherent capacity to bear ourselves on all levels through another year of one of the Divine’s most sacred and important gifts: life.

While watching the rain, especially once Tammuz starts, I contemplate the intentionality with which I want to live out my coming year, to align it better with the Earth and the rest of all HaShem’s creations, so as to live better within the world given to us. I hope that every time it rains this upcoming 5787, I take a moment to remember, reflect, and return if I’m losing my way or have lost it — part of a practice of living throughout the year.