Erroneously ascribed to Mark Twain is the phrase:“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” With apologies to Charles Dudley Warner, a friend of Mark Twain to whom the aphorism can be properly attributed, I should like to focus on rain. I do so because Shemini Atzeret is the day each year when we include the prayer for rain. I do so because there are several Yiddish rain-related words that I believe are more than just a drop in the bucket.
Reggen (rain). Ess reggent is proper Yiddish. Ess gayt bald reggenen (It’s going to rain soon) is also most acceptable. Of interest is the Yiddish version of “It’s raining cats and dogs.” Rather than say “Ess geest ah reggen” (It’s pouring rain), our predilection to the Pentateuch has us look to the Torah portion of Noah, so that we use the Hebrew/Yiddish term for flood. “Ess geest ah mahbbul.” (It’s pouring a flood). Long before we let rainy days and Mondays get us down, we were taught Ahz ess reggent, reggent ess oomahtoom (If it rains, it rains everywhere) It’sthe Yiddish equivalent of “misery loves company.”
Shlahksreggen (downpour). The word shlahk has a variety of meanings. Among them: a calamity or disaster, a dovecote, or a sukkah cover to protect the schach from getting ruined by the rain. A shlahksreggen describes a sudden downpour or cloudburst. This is one reason why, at the conclusion of the prayer for rain, there are three phrases of qualification. The first is that the rain should be for a blessing and not a curse. Few, if any, would agree that being caught in a shlahksreggen is a blessing.
Troppen Reggen (raindrops). It has been over 55 years since the American singer B. J. Thomas recorded his hit song “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” It would have been quite a challenge to record this song in Yiddish because an argument would have immediately ensued claiming that it is impossible for raindrops to fall only on one’s head and not on one’s shoulders and arms. Moreover, someone would have chimed in and admonished “Big shot! You can’t wear a rain hat like everybody else?” After dispensing everyone’s two cents, the opening line would have looked like this: “Troppen reggen fahln noch oif mine kop.”
Reggendl (drizzle). Yes, even rain has a diminutive form in Yiddish. However, to avoid compromising the pronunciation, a letter is injected. Rather than transform reggen into reggenl, it was far more expedient to introduce the letter daled. One finds an identical application with the woman’s name Shayndl. The name is a diminutive of the word shayn (pretty). Rather than transform shayn into Shaynl, the letter daled was introduced so that the name became Shayndl. The same holds true for the masculine name Mendl which in all probability would have otherwise been pronounced Menl.
Reggen Boygn (rainbow). Judaism is in no way silent when it comes to rainbows. Our rabbinic sages caution us not to stare at rainbows (Talmud: Chagigah 16a) in that doing so is tantamount to staring at Hashem. On the other hand, there is a bracha to be recited upon seeing a rainbow in which we praise Hashem for remembering His covenant and being faithful to it, as well as for keeping His promise never again to destroy the entire world through a flood. It should be mentioned that there are those who see a rainbow as a gesture of reconciliation. Life is such that there will be a little rain sometime. Blessed are those for whom a rainbow appears after the storm blows through.
Reggen is a necessity of life, particularly in the land of Israel. A shlahksreggen reminds us that sometimes we can have too much of a good thing. A troppen reggen and a reggendl remind us that we can have too little. May we never lose sight of a reggn boygen which reminds us of a most beautiful gesture on the part of Hashem.
Rabbi Shawn Zell has recently returned to New Jersey, after serving at a pulpit in Dallas. He possesses certification in teaching Yiddish. Rabbi Zell is the author of three books.
