Gevurot: God's power

Three different ways God revives the dead

Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, written in Spain around 1340) notices that the blessing calls God the "reviver of the dead" three times, and says each one means something different. The first is waking up: a sleeping person is counted as dead, and in the morning God gives his soul back. The second is rain. The third, in the last line, is the revival of the dead at the end of days.

Rain on Sukkot is a bad sign

The Mishnah asks when to start saying "He makes the wind blow and the rain fall." Rabbi Eliezer says the first day of Sukkot. Rabbi Yehoshua objects: during Sukkot rain is only a sign of a curse, so why mention it? Rabbi Eliezer answers that mentioning rain is not asking for it. Rabbi Yehoshua's day is the one we use: the Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) starts at Musaf on Shemini Atzeret.

Why rain and dew count as "might"

The Gemara (the rabbis' discussions built on the Mishnah) says rain falls "with might." Rabbi Yochanan proves it from two verses side by side in Iyov (the book of Job): God "does great things beyond understanding" and "gives rain upon the earth." Abudarham adds a picture: every drop falls from high up, the wind does not scatter it, and it lands where God wants it. He calls that a might like no other. Dew is a great might too, he says: it comes down every single day and never fails.

"Brings death and life" is Chana's line

"King who brings death and life" is built on a line from Chana's prayer (she was the mother of the prophet Shmuel): "Hashem brings death and gives life, lowers to the grave and raises up" (Shmuel I 2:6). Abudarham quotes the Halachot Gedolot (an early code of Jewish law), which says Chana's prayer already holds the themes of the Amidah. It sets this verse beside the blessing that revives the dead.

In one Midrash, Yitzchak says this blessing

In Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (an early book of midrash, the rabbis' stories and teachings), Rabbi Yehuda says that at the Akedah (the binding of Yitzchak, told in the Akedah prayer) the blade touched Yitzchak's neck and his soul left. When God's voice told Avraham to stop, his soul returned and he stood up. Yitzchak understood that this is how the dead will be revived, and said: "Blessed are You, Hashem, who revives the dead."

What Yitzchak needed after his father died

Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk, a Chassidic rebbe in 19th-century Poland, asks why the rabbis tie the blessing about reviving the dead to Yitzchak. His answer begins with grief. Yitzchak knew how great his father Avraham was, and could be comforted only by the thought that a time will come when those asleep in the dust wake up and his father returns to him. So, he writes, Yitzchak set this blessing, and God comforted him with the same promise. Now read "You are trustworthy to bring the dead to life" again.

לא היה יכול להתנחם זולת אשר יבא העת אשר יקיצו ישיני עפר ויחיו המתים וישוב אביו אליו

Not only about the dead

Rabbi Yechezkel Panet, a rabbi in Transylvania (now part of Romania) in the early 1800s, spots a puzzle. The blessing already said "You revive the dead," so why say it again with "great mercy"? His answer is that this time it means the living. He points to the Gemara (the rabbis' great record of discussion), which calls the years that turn from bad to good "years of life." The "dead," he says, are people the moment has pushed down, and God revives them by holding up the fallen and healing the sick.

מחיה מתים אותם שהשעה דוחקם מחיה אותם ע"י שהוא סומך נופלים ורופא חולים

No messenger could do all this at once

The Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah) says God keeps three keys in His own hands and never gives them to an angel: the keys of childbirth, of rain, and of reviving the dead. The reason comes from Rabbi Simon, a sage the Zohar quotes: see God's power. In a single instant, all at once, God revives the dead, brings down rain, supports the fallen, lifts the bent, and sets up and removes kings. No messenger could do that. Notice how much of this list is in the blessing you just said.

בא וראה כחו של הקב"ה, בפעם אחת מחיה מתים... סומך נופלים, זוקף כפופים... והכל בזמן אחד, וברגע אחד

Rain looks like kindness. Why is it called power?

The Gemara says rain is counted among God's "powers" because it comes down with power. Rabbi Chaim of Chernovitz, an early Chassidic teacher whose book was printed in 1820, finds that strange, since nothing looks more like pure kindness than rain. His answer: a big kindness is a strong one. When people turn strict judgment into mercy, through repentance, prayer and charity, the kindness hidden inside strength is revealed, and it comes down with great force.

וכאשר מהפכין ישראל מדת הדין למדת הרחמים בכח התשובה ותפילה וצדקה. אז מתגלה החסד אשר בגבורה

Who can even say it?

The Maharal (Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, who died in 1609) wrote a book called Gevurot Hashem, "The Mighty Deeds of Hashem." He opens the first chapter with the verse "Who can tell the mighty deeds of Hashem?" and gives two reasons nobody can. We cannot grasp how great even one of God's deeds is, and there are endless numbers of them. Now read "Who is like You, master of mighty deeds" again.

ולפיכך ספור שבחו אי אפשר מצד האיכות ומצד הכמות

Why does my shul wait until Musaf on Shemini Atzeret?

The Mishnah Berurah (the standard commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, about 1900) says rain is a bad sign on Sukkot, since you cannot sit in the sukkah in it, so it waits until the seven days are over. Not at Maariv (the evening prayer), since not everyone is in shul. Not at Shacharit either, some write: the leader must announce it first, and he cannot, because the blessing of redemption must lead straight into the Amidah. If you slip and say it at Maariv or Shacharit that day, do not go back.

I daven alone. When can I say it?

Not before the community does. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) says you may not mention rain until the prayer leader announces it, even if you are ill. The Mishnah Berurah says that if you pray without a minyan (a group of ten), as in a small village, wait to say Musaf on Shemini Atzeret until near the end of the sixth hour of the day, about midday, when shuls have surely finished. On Pesach it works the other way: if you pray Musaf after the leader has stopped, you stop too.

I forgot the winter line. Do I start over?

Not always. The Shulchan Aruch says if you remember before the blessing ends, say it right where you are. If you already ended the blessing but have not started the next one, "You are holy," say it then, with no closing line. The Mishnah Berurah says even the single word "Atah" counts as starting. After that, go back to the start of the Amidah: the Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who added Ashkenazi customs) says the first three blessings count as one. But if you said morid hatal instead, you do not go back at all.

What if I say the wrong weather line?

Rain in the summer is the serious mistake. The Shulchan Aruch says if you said morid hageshem, "who brings down the rain," in summer, you go back, even where rain is needed. The Mishnah Berurah says summer rain is harmful. Mistakes with wind or dew are lighter. Saying mashiv haruach on its own in summer, or leaving out just that phrase in winter, does not send you back. The Mishnah Berurah says there is no duty to mention wind or dew at all.

I am not sure which one I said. Do I repeat the Amidah?

It depends on the season. The Shulchan Aruch says that in summer, in the first 30 days after the switch, if unsure, assume you said "rain" from habit and pray again. After 30 days, assume you said it right. The Mishnah Berurah explains that people who say morid hatal, as this siddur does, do not repeat over a doubt in winter, since even dew is enough then. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (a short guide to Jewish law, 1860s), written for people who never say dew, has you repeat within 30 days in both seasons.