The Blessings of Snow

At an earlier point in my life, I worked as communications director for a group of fifteen rural hospitals based in the small community of Camrose, Alberta, Canada. (http://www.camrose.com/)

Every day at about 7 am, I would climb into my car and navigate my way from the suburbs of Edmonton, to this peaceful agricultural community of 18,000, located about seventy miles southeast of the city.

It was a glorious drive often spent watching the sun rise over fields of wheat, hay and canola.

Because most of the drive was spent on a busy two lane highway, weather was often a factor. One winter, much to my relief, the region experienced minimal snowfall, leaving the fields dry, brown and exposed to the winter winds.

One day, I arrived at work and entered the coffee room at the same time as Edward, Chairman of the Board of the hospital group.

“It’s been a pretty great winter hasn’t it,” I chirped, pouring my coffee from the pot.  “There’s hardly been any snow.”

I expected some kind of nod of agreement from the 70-year-old elder, who also owned a large grain farm in the area.  But that did not occur.

“You spoiled little urban #%^,” he barked much to my shock.  “Don’t you know that without snow there will be a bad crop this year.  And you in your cushy little homes will feel the pinch when you go to the supermarket.”

As I stood with my mouth open, he continued to school me on the finer points of farming, in particular how snow plays a vital role within the cycle of life. 

He noted that snow insulates the ground, creating a blanket of warmth which protects seeds, bulbs and tree roots.  He explained to me how air contained in the snow actually retains heat much like a down comforter.

He added that an accumulation of snow during winter provides water in spring for crop growth.

 “God put snow on the earth for a reason,” he explained, as he continued his lecture.  “Nothing on God’s earth is here by accident.”

And I walked away from the wise farmer, a bit more humble and a bit wiser.

I thought of Ed this week as I looked out my window and marveled at the postcard scene of snow-covered trees,  in the aftermath of yet another snow storm.

A day hasn’t passed during the past month that someone has not commented to me, “Boy, you must be really enjoying all this snow.  Must feel like home.”

And the answer has generally been, “yes, I am enjoying the snow.”  Not because I am a Canadian by birth, but because I have a profound appreciation of how God manages the seasons and the elements to help sustain life.

Snow has a sacred purpose. Yet we in our arrogance can’t help but express our irritation.

We want rich and tasty food in abundance.  We want nice weather – not too wet, not too dry, not too humid, and not too snowy.  Yet as the Torah reminds us, we are guests on this earth. But increasingly, we expect the earth and everything around us to serve us.  

Folk singer Nancy Griffith wrote in her 1987 song Trouble in the Fields.

Now our children live in the city and they rest upon our shoulders.
They never want the rain to fall or the weather to get colder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhXFzM6y-Xc

How true. Indeed, no one likes shoveling snow, nor traffic tie ups nor closures of our public facilities, but let us also recognize that winter with its snow and cold plays a precious role within creation.

The book of Genesis reminded Adam and by extension all of humanity that this is our responsibility to look after the world.  The Kabbalah, our mystic texts, teaches that there were six destroyed worlds before this one.  This, the seventh, is our last.

The book of Job teaches to us embrace life and to listen to nature’s voices.

“Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.” Job 12:7-10

No, we don’t have to love the snow, but let us not curse it either.

God has created this wonderful world. Let us experience and appreciate it in totality.

As Psalm 118 reminds us, “this is the day that God has given us. Let us exult and rejoice in it.”

Whether in sunshine, rain, humidity or snow, this is indeed a remarkable world.

Let us talk less about the weather, and get on with our lives.  Let us hide less from the weather, and instead step into it.

For indeed, God’s world is a miraculous place, snow and all.  Let us rejoice in all that God has created.

As Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us:

“A season is set for everything, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Let us therefore respect if not embrace weather and its glorious landscape.  For indeed, it comes to us with purpose, as a gift from God, the creator of all.

Shabbat shalom v’kol tuv (with all goodness)

Rabbi Irwin Huberman