A Rainbow, the Land of Israel & the Half-Full Glass

This morning, while I was taking care of my daughter, I glanced out of my apartment window (that faces Jerusalem), as I always do, to get a sense of the weather. I tend to look towards Jerusalem when gauging the weather for the day, because that's where I work, and it's amazing how the weather can be so different between where I live, and Jerusalem, only a few miles away.

In any event... when I looked outside the window, I was privileged to see a big, beautiful rainbow, crossing the Judean / Jerusalem hills (To see more pictures of the rainbow, click here).

It's all too easy, living in Israel, to get caught up in all of the negativity that one is inundated with by the media everyday. There seem to be endless challenges facing the Jewish People and State here in Israel (many of which I discuss at length through this blog), and if one doesn't make an effort (myself included), it's easy to see the glass as being half-empty - to only see the clouds.

Upon seeing a rainbow, one is forced to look past the clouds, look past the rain, and to focus on the beauty of the world, or nature and of creation. I am fortunate, living where I do, that rainbows are not a rare occurrence, but I am happy to receive these reminders of how lucky I am to be living in the Land of Israel as often as possible.

The blessing that a Jew says upon seeing a rainbow also gives us reason to be hopeful:

Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe, Who remembers the covenant and is faithful to all promises.

Today, upon seeing the rainbow, I remembered that as difficult as things may seem, the Jewish People and State have a glorious future ahead of them, a special destiny to fulfill, and I am happy knowing how fortunate I am to be living in the Land of Israel, the Land chosen by Hashem for the nation chosen by Hashem, and am able to be a part of it all.

Israel
Zionism
Judaism