As I read the Haggadah this Pesach, I paused at the recounting of the Ten Plagues. Certainly, then, as today, there must have been skeptics amongst the Egyptians. The cynics probably wandered about proclaiming that the bizarre water turning into blood was a phenomenon that occurred every once in a while; that the fire and hail was just an aberration.
As we look around the world as we know it, we are often tempted into such beliefs as well. Nature runs its course so, well naturally, that we tend to take it for granted and forget that a Divine Being is responsible for it all.
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This past Tuesday, Jews around the world made a change in their prayers. We switched from the winter prayer of “Mashiv haruach umorid hageshem” (He causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall) to the summertime prayer of “Morid Hatal” (He causes the dew to descend). This transition occurs between the Shacharit prayer and the Mussaf prayer on the first day of Passover.
This year in Boise, as we were announcing the change from winter to summer prayers, a hail and snowstorm began falling. We finished the Mussaf service and the snow ceased falling.
I scratched my head at the strange incident.
Maybe G-d was sending a message. Miracles do not occur as openly as they did in Egypt, but G-d still reminds us every once in a while who’s in charge.