Weather in Israel is generally one of the most boring topics imaginable. For months and months of every year, our weather doesn’t change. Hot and dry today…and hot and dry tomorrow. From March to November, it rarely rains. The “absolute” cut off in the Spring is usually the holiday of Passover. And if by chance it does rain, it’s typically a short drizzle in a few places around the country.
Today, it poured. Facebook is filled with comments about the rain. Floods in the desert regions; hail reported in the center and north of the country. Thunder and lightening heard (and seen) throughout the country, including this stunning picture taken by Chavah Meira Benzion.
What is amazing, of course, is both the timing and the “ferocity” of the storm. Photos posted by YNET show hail the size of golf balls in Dimona and collapsed trees in Tel Aviv. In the southern Israel, in Lahav, it snowed enough to cover part of a sidewalk and in Rechovot and Rishon LeZion cars drove through rivers of water. A video shows it raining INSIDE a mall in Rishon, as was a theater in Tel Aviv.
And as the day closed, I heard that yet another country was rushing to announce that it was moving its embassy to Jerusalem. Joining the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, and Romania, the Czech Republic announced it too would soon move its embassy to Israel’s capital. More are expected in the coming weeks before the US Embassy’s announced opening on May 14.
So, to add a new twist to the old phrase, when it rains, it pours – here in Israel, we should be saying – when it rains, embassies move to Jerusalem! On the other hand, though we probably won’t get much more rain in the coming weeks, several other countries probably will make their announcements.
So insanity may reign in some parts of the world, but here sanity rains!
Video of the Rain – Reprinted with Permission from Buzznet
https://www.facebook.com/Buzznet.co.il/videos/983730528462512/
