Rain from Heaven: Science, Meteors, and Ancient Wisdom

The water cycle of the world is one of the wonders of creation. The waters of the oceans evaporate and become clouds that eventually bring rain. In fact, about 80 percent of rainfall occurs over the sea. The rest falls on land, watering the earth.

From there the water continues its journey back to the sea. Some flows through rivers, while some seeps into underground reservoirs. Eventually these waters emerge again through springs or wells, and the cycle begins anew.

This continuous cycle is described in the book of Kohelet: “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers flow, there they return again” (Kohelet 1:7).

In recent years, scientists have made discoveries that shed new light on the origins of water on Earth.

Falling Stars and Space Debris

Many people have seen the phenomenon known as a shooting star, a thin streak of light that quickly crosses the sky. This glowing streak is actually a tiny particle of rock falling from outer space toward Earth. As it travels through the atmosphere, it becomes extremely hot and burns.

The result is a bright trail of fire that leaves observers amazed by the unusual sight.

Every day approximately 10,000 meteors strike Earth’s atmosphere. Together they weigh about 100 tons each day. Over the course of a year, this amounts to about 36,500 tons. Most of these meteors are too small to be noticed.

A Surprising Scientific Discovery

About fourteen years ago, a scientist named Louis Frank shocked many of his fellow astronomers and geophysicists in the United States. He asked an intriguing question: if so many meteors are entering Earth’s atmosphere, why do we not see most of them?

According to Frank, many of these objects are actually remnants of comets made largely of water ice. As they approach Earth, they melt in the upper layers of the atmosphere long before they can be seen clearly. The water they contain eventually falls to Earth in the form of rain.

Several years later, Frank presented new evidence supporting his theory. At a professional conference he showed photographs from spacecraft that appeared to capture small meteors approaching Earth, dissolving in the atmosphere, and turning into rain.

This discovery suggested something remarkable: part of Earth’s water supply may originate from space.

Ancient Discussions in the Talmud

Interestingly, a discussion related to the source of rain appears in the Talmud. In Tractate Ta’anit (9b) we read: Rabbi Eliezer taught that the entire world drinks from the waters of the ocean, as it is written: “A mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground” (Bereishit 2).

Rabbi Yehoshua responded that the waters of the ocean are salty. Rabbi Eliezer explained that the water becomes sweet in the clouds, meaning that only the pure water evaporates while the salt remains in the sea.

Rabbi Yehoshua offered another view, stating that the world drinks from the upper waters, as it is written: “From the rain of heaven you shall drink water” (Devarim 11).

The Maharsha explains that Rabbi Yehoshua agreed that clouds form from ocean water rising into the sky, but he added that rain also comes from the “upper waters.” Together they produce the rainfall that nourishes the earth.

For many centuries these statements seemed mysterious, but as modern science advances, more and more teachings of the sages appear understandable in natural terms.

Knowledge of Astronomy Among the Sages

Various passages throughout the Talmud reveal that the sages possessed extensive knowledge of astronomy.

During the Talmudic era, astronomers believed that only a few thousand stars existed because those were the ones visible to the naked eye. With the invention of telescopes during the time of Galileo, the number increased to tens of thousands. Today scientists estimate that there are trillions of stars.

Remarkably, in Tractate Berachot (32b), Resh Lakish mentions a number for the stars that reaches into the trillions.

Another example concerns the periodic appearance of comets. The astronomer Edmond Halley famously calculated that a comet would return in the year 1758 after observing its earlier appearance seventy years before. Although Halley died before the comet returned, his calculation proved correct, and the comet was later named Halley’s Comet in his honor.

Yet centuries earlier, the Talmud already described a star that appears once every seventy years.

The Precise Length of the Lunar Month

Another remarkable example appears in Tractate Rosh Hashanah (25a). Rabban Gamliel taught that the renewal of the moon occurs after: Twenty nine days, half a day, two thirds of an hour, and seventy three parts of an hour.

When calculated using modern units, this equals approximately 29.53059 days. Modern scientific measurements using atomic clocks estimate the average lunar month at about 29.530588 days, an astonishingly close value.

Rabban Gamliel lived nearly two thousand years ago, long before telescopes or precise measuring instruments existed.

Hidden Hints in the Torah

Jewish tradition also preserves calculations for the lunar cycle that begin from a reference point known as “Molad Beharad,” the first lunar conjunction used as the basis for calculating future months.

Rabbeinu Bachya explains that this concept is hinted at in the very first word of the Torah, Bereshit. According to his explanation, counting intervals of forty two letters in the opening verses reveals the letters forming the word “Beharad,” the traditional starting point for the lunar calendar.

He concludes that this cannot be coincidence but rather a demonstration of the hidden wisdom embedded within the Torah.

Different Types of Stars

In Psalm 148 we read: “Praise the Lord from the heavens… praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all shining stars.”

The Talmud asks whether only shining stars praise God, and answers that in fact all stars praise Him. From this discussion it appears that the sages recognized the existence of stars that do not shine visibly, even though they cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Modern astronomy now searches intensely for such dark celestial bodies, objects that are invisible yet detectable through advanced instruments.

Binary Stars

Another fascinating example concerns binary stars.

In the account of creation we read: “God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars” (Bereishit 1:16).

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi asked why the verse first refers to two great lights but later calls one of them the lesser light. The Midrash explains that originally both were equal, but the moon diminished itself.

Surprisingly, modern astronomy has discovered that most stars in the universe exist in pairs. These “binary stars” orbit one another due to their mutual gravitational pull.

Astronomers estimate that about seventy five percent of stars have one or more companion stars.

Why Do We See Only One Sun

If most star systems contain multiple suns, why does our solar system appear to have only one?

According to the traditional explanation given by Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi nearly two thousand years ago, the moon reduced its role and became the smaller light.

An interesting astronomical fact also helps explain why the sun and the moon appear nearly the same size in the sky. Although the sun’s diameter is about four hundred times larger than that of the moon, it is also about four hundred times farther away from Earth. As a result, both appear almost exactly the same size when viewed from our planet.

It is fitting to conclude with the words of Robert Jastrow, a scientist who once described himself as an atheist but later reconsidered his position:

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He climbs the mountain of ignorance, he conquers the highest peak, and when he pulls himself over the final rock he is greeted by a group of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”