Rain, Rain, Rain

It's the rainy season (aka fake winter). I guess in Israel you never really know what this will mean but this rainy season there's actually been rain! ...a lot of it. A few weeks ago I spent the weekend visiting an Otzma friend in Kiryat Shmona, a beautiful city up north that sits in a mountain valley so that anywhere you walk provides a spectacular view. My friend's adoptive family insisted on taking us on a Shabbat road trip to see a couple waterfalls up north. They insisted, it was urgent. And it wasn't just going to be us, we left at 8 am on Saturday morning because people were coming from all over the country. But it wasn't that us or any of the other people were going to see the waterfalls, instead the huge crowds were going for the excitement of the water itself. The water that had arrived with the pouring rain that to me seemed to be never ending.

We couldn't help laughing how excited these crazy people got over water. A friend of ours was told that he couldn't wait even a day to go see these waterfalls, the water might be gone! But of course in just one day the water would not be gone, why were these people in such a fuss? With full knowledge of the water crisis in Israel it was still difficult to grasp how hordes of people could put their families in a car and drive all the way up north in a hurry for a good view.

I heard someone liken the situation to a minor archeological find in the US. Something so ancient, found in the US! Wouldn't swarms of people come to see this hypothetical discovery? Israeli's wouldn't blink twice...they're not exactly short on ancient history. But water, what a novelty, how exciting for it to pour!

And then we saw the waterfalls. We tried to maintain our American nonchalance but couldn't help getting caught up in the excitement. I found myself giddy with delight as I felt the mist from the waterfall on my face and saw the full rainbow it created (look closely to see it in the second photo!). Look at the water! There was something so special about standing with people from all over the country coming to witness this rarity that I no doubt take for granted.

And by standing with I of course mean everyone pushing in typical Israeli fashion to get the best view.

I started to get it. I always understood: they don't have enough water here, it's a big problem, it rained and people got excited. But standing so close to this waterfall, watching the water rush by, the excitement that causes traffic jams worth of people waiting to see the water...it was just so Israeli.