When it rains in Israel...

Scenario: 9:00 in the evening, kids are asleep ( well, most of them), my husband is out on a job and I have the house to myself. Time to clean dishes!

I set out to do my job happily, thanking G-d I don't have as many dishes to clean anymore, seeing as I left all my cooking appliances in America, save for 2 can openers ( Dairy and Fleish, of course). I think happily about my new second-hand washing machine, just installed a few hours ago, and how I will finally be able to do some fresh loads of laundry.

I'm just about finished when I notice a sound coming from outside, the sound of water splashing against the house before hitting the ground. I panic for a moment, thinking: Please don't let that be my dirty dishwater! ( It could happen.) But I open the front door, and lo and behold I see water pouring down in great streams. How wonderful! Rain, just in time for Sukkot. Thinking fast, I call the dog in. Whew! Nothing worse than the smell of wet dog. I look over at the clothesline sitting in our living room, laden with drying towels. How fortunate that they didn't get put outside to dry! They would have been soaked! I stand in the kitchen quietly, enjoying the gentle sound of rain lapping against the rooftop. How wonderful to be in Israel, in this wonderful yeshuv, during the holiest of all seasons! I tiptoe upstairs to find Dassi still awake. Hey, Dassi! I say. Listen! It's raining cats and dogs out there!

It's one hour later and the rainfall is still going strong. My husband comes home. My G-d! he says. Did you see all that water outside our house?

I know! I say. Isn't it wonderful?

Isn't what wonderful?

The rain!

Rain! What are you talking about? he splutters. Our dud shemesh* exploded!


*solar water heater, situated atop our house, and very large.