[Avodah] Two Rainbows

[Micha Berger]

An interesting tidbit from the Seforno on Ber' 9:13 "vehaysa le'os beris":
    "And it will be as a covenental sign: When the rainbow is double. 
    The scientific experts grew tired of trying to give a ta'am for the
    order of the color of the secondary rainbow, which is the reverse of
    the order of the colors in the primary, usual, rainbow. It will be
    a sign to the righteous of the generation that their generation
    is guilty. As when it says [Kesuvos 77b; about truly righteous
    Levites] never seeing a rainbow in their entire lifetimes. So that
    [the righteous] will pray, rebuke others, and teach the nation wisdom.

So, according to the Seforno, the rainbow that Chazal talk about being a bad
sign is not the usual rainbow, but the second of a doubled rainbow. The
Seforno emphasizes the fact that the colors are reversed. A primary rainbow
has red on the top, outer, curve, and violet on the bottom, inner, one.
A secondary rainbow is about it some distance -- red on the inside curve
(nearest the red of the primary) and violet on the outside.

See the picture
at https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/double-rainbows-rare.htm
Also there is the scientific explanation that the Natural Philosophers
of the Seforno's day apparently despaired of finding.

I don't know why the Seforno mentions the reversed color sequence. Maybe
he considers it a significant part of the symbol.

But in any case, it solves a problem:

We make the berakhah of Oseh Maaseh Bereishis on the primary rainbow,
which is indeed an awe-inspiring and positive thing to see.

A secondary rainbow is rare and therefore more exciting. (Ask
Hungrybear9562, Paul Vasquez, whose excitement about seeing a "double
rainbow" in Yosemite National Park become a viral video.)

But according to Seforno, this reaction is ironic. Seeing a rare double
rainbow is a *bad* thing. But it's not the phonemonon the berakhah is
made on.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 The fittingness of your matzos [for the seder]
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   isn't complete with being careful in the laws
Author: Widen Your Tent      of Passover. One must also be very careful in
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    the laws of business.    - Rav Yisrael Salanter