“Rain and dew for a blessing” Letter from the Editor How Israelite rain is different from all other rain (specifically Egyptian) and why it is important to know the difference Jeffrey Tigay “I will grant your rains in their season”: Biblical promises and calamities Hollow clouds, busy winds, and a thirsty universe: What brings the rains? A Talmudic perspective Abraham Cohen May the rainfall be a lesson (and the story of Elijah) Introduction by Prof. Eliezer Schweid The story of Honi the Circle Drawer: How the miracle-worker brought the rain The Talmud Under the rain all men are equal: "Shout with joy, all the earth" — Sayings by the rabbis The Midrash A letter upon the garden, in purple and blue: Celebration of autumn by the greatest of medieval poets Solomon ibn Gabirol "Happy is the eye that saw all this" : A 15th-century poetic invocation of rain Moses Gabbai Male and female waters : Waters and sexual life; OR The dangers of levity on Sukkot Raphael Patai "He who makes the wind blow and brings down the rain/dew": Praying for rain Julius Greenstone Into the Ark — a modern poem: An endless rain is just beginning Wislawa Szymborska Concrete rain or much ado about nothing?: Hebrew rootword lesson: G-SH-M Dr. Joseph Lowin