The Rain in Spain: Jewish Thought, Practices and Transmissions

Abstract

The link between rains, religion and prayer, as well as individual charisma, is ancient. This paper looks at some late medieval and early modern reverberations on this topic. They are of interest because of the intensity and prominence of the subject in the contemporary evidence. They also allow us to observe the rich coalescence of different areas of Jewish thought on the same subject: liturgical jurisprudence, poetry, calendar, family and other traditions. They also present us with the possibility of adding and comparing contemporary Christian perceptions to the Jewish ones. They raise the question of different Jewish perspectives on prayers and rains.