The clouds began moving in over Yerushalayim with candle lighting on erev Shabbos and the temperatures began dropping. At about midnight, an extremely loud burst of thunder was heard, as if it opened the skies and Baruch Hashem, that began a Shabbos of heavy rainfall, the likes of which have not been seen in the capital for a long time.
The rains lightened from time to time, but there were periods of extremely heavy thunder showers accompanied by cold temperatures and strong wind gusts. The storm is expected to continue through motzei Shabbos and rain is still expected in the north and center, along with unseasonably cold temperatures on Sunday.
Some 20 centimeters (8 inches) of snow fell on Mount Hermon on Shabbos and heavy rains were reported in the northern areas as well.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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3 Responses
Chasdei Hashem! We who are having a very wet winter have no appreciation for what this dry one has meant in Israel.
Kayn YIRDU!
A few extra “added benefits” from this rain:
1) First and foremost, no cars were seen driving this Shabbos. (Even though we live in a very frum city – about 99% Shomer Shabbos, still on the outskirts of town we see a few cars nebech each Shabbos.
2) Another way to thank Hashem. At 7:50 AM Shabbos morning I’m looking at the rain outside, and I’m worrying about getting wet when I’ll be going to shul in 10 minutes. But unbelievable, at 8:00 as I’m walking, the skies clear up and I don’t get wet at all. During davening I’m looking out the windows, and it’s raining again. But on the way home from shul, guess what, it stopped raining. Hashgocha Protis!
3) A chizuk to learn Torah more shtark. Rashi in the beginning of פרשת בהעלותך says that the posuk “ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם” refers to when it rains Friday night and noone is walking outside, and this brocha is due to being עמלים בתורה