This week we begin the Torah again  from the beginning and read the first Parsha, Bereishit. Hashem creates the world in six days. He ceases work on the seventh day, and sanctifies it as a day of rest.

G‑d forms the human body from the dust of the earth, and blows into his nostrils a “living soul.” From the man , he formed a woman.  Adam and Chava are placed in the Garden of Eden, and commanded not to eat from the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The serpent persuades Eve to violate the command, and she shares the forbidden fruit with her husband. Because of their sin, it is decreed that man will experience death, and that all gain will come only through struggle and hardship. Man is banished from the Garden.

Eve gives birth to two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain quarrels with Abel and murders him, and becomes a rootless wanderer. A third son, Seth, is born to Adam; Seth’s eighth-generation descendant, Noah, is the only righteous man in a corrupt world.

On Thursday is Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan. This month is also called Mar Cheshvan (bitter) because of its lack of holidays or special Miztvot. Coming from the month of Tishrei which was packed with special days, this is a big change. Cheshvan is the month for rain. It is when the Mabul (the great flood) began and is also the time of year in Israel when the rain season begins.

It is customary in some Shuls to say “Veyakov Halach Ledarko- and Yakov went on his way”

After the month of Tishrei which was filled with inspiration and spiritual highs, Chesvan can feel underwhelming and sad. But we must remember that after spending time learning Torah, Yakov too went on his way. The point of the holidays of Tishrei is that they must influence the rest of our year, beginning with Chesvan. That the inspiration shouldn’t leave us as soon as Simchat Torah is over, but rather we take on a practical resolution that will carry us throughout the year.

One reason that the month of Cheshvan was left without any special days is because it is reserved for Moshiach as the time for him to build the Beit Hamikdash will be the most special day of all.

A wedding was set to take place in Israel and, like all weddings, it was carefully planned and scheduled. As all the family members were preparing to come to the wedding hall, raindrops started to fall. And then more and more fell until the sky was dark gray, and the rain was coming down in torrents!

A heavy downpour slows traffic, which meant family members were arriving at the hall later than planned. Eventually, all the family members arrived—wet and stressed. By the time they had all dried themselves and were ready to join the wedding party, there was no time for the family photos, which would now have to be taken afterwards.

The wedding ended late, and only then could the families of the bride and groom begin the photography session that should have happened hours earlier. Finally, the pictures were over, and the families wished each other final mazaltovs and went their separate ways.

Driving towards their hometown, one of the families had to pass a security check. As they stopped, the driver’s wife, Sara, noticed a car stopped at the side of the road with its blinkers on.  Sara asked the security guards why the car was parked there.

He told her that a woman in the car had to give birth earlier than expected and they were waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Sara, who happens to be a professional midwife, quickly ran to the vehicle.

She opened the door and saw a terrible sight. A woman was crying hysterically beside her lifeless baby. Knowing she couldn’t afford to lose a moment, she attempted to resuscitate the infant. She pressed her fingers into the baby’s chest, then quickly and rhythmically, breathed into the baby’s mouth, and repeated this process again and again. She did everything exactly as she had learned, but nothing worked.

Though it seemed helpless, Sara continued to try to bring the baby back to life, and she begged G‑d to help her. Suddenly, she remembered a complication that sometimes occurs at birth. If a baby swallows amniotic fluid that has meconium in it, this can cause respiratory distress in which case the newborn needs resuscitation. Though it seemed too late for that, Sara decided to try whatever she could to save this child’s life. She put her open mouth over the baby’s nose and mouth, and suctioned air from the baby as deeply and thoroughly as she could.

Sara continued doing this over and over, and suddenly saw that the baby’s hand moved. Soon after that, she heard the most beautiful cry in the world, that of the baby she just saved. The baby she was able to save because she was there at exactly the right moment, because she was late for the wedding, because of the rain that caused the pictures to be taken much later than planned.

Yes, the One who makes it rain and determines when it will rain, and how hard and for how long, made it rain that day and evening, bringing down gishmai bracha, “rain of blessing ... rain for life.”