Significant Natural Events in Eretz Yisrael

11 Tamuz 5775

I would be remiss if I did not comment on the very strange and unusual weather occurring presently in Eretz Yisrael.

I'm twenty years here and I've never seen anything like this. For the past week, it has felt more like fall than summer. I could almost hear the shofar-practicing of Elul. Instead of the crystal clear deep blue skies of mid-summer, the sky has been so full of clouds that the direct sunlight was mostly blocked.

We commonly have high winds around my house near the edge of Wadi Qelt, but last night the wind storm that was raging around midnight sounded like it would beat down the exterior stone walls. This morning, I hear there is rain in Jerusalem and reportedly elsewhere around the country, too...

Strange summer weather hits Israeli coastline

Rain from Haifa to Ashdod, strong winds and a raging sea: inclement weather has hit Israel at the end of June.

All I can think is that it's a reflection of the turmoil in Shamayim over world events and how they are going to play out in this blessed, holy land.

Earthquakes are infrequent, but they do occur. I've felt 3 and 4 pointers. There was once even a 5.0 near the Dead Sea. But no one I know felt the one which occurred over Shabbat (5.5), even though the news reported that it was felt from far south in Eilat to as far north as Nahariya near the Lebanese border. 

That brought to mind what one of the rabbis said about the coming war - that it would start in the south and quickly move to the north. I read that it was centered in the area that some tradition says the Red Sea split for the Children of Israel. Egypt was also said to be very shaken by it. 

All I know for sure is that nothing happens by accident. Everything is by design. And therefore, everything that happens holds a message for us. Heaven is speaking. Are we listening?