Rain Falls in Parched Texas after Farmer Asks for Yeshiva Students’ Prayers

TEXAS (VINnews) – A visit to the Texas border by a group of tri-state area yeshiva students took a turn to the nutty side, when a months-long drought ended just hours after they prayed for rain at the request of a local pecan farmer.

The approximately four dozen boys were campers at Machaneh Retzufos, a program that combines Torah study, travel and adventure and was based this summer out of San Antonio. Hasidic travel blogger and Houston resident Shloime Zionce drove for more than five hours to join the group and to provide insight on the many challenges of the shared border between Texas and Mexico.

After searching Google Maps to find a meeting point for their August 27th trip, Zionce chose Eagle Pass, a location on the border where the massive wall built by Texas Governor Greg Abbott comes to an abrupt end. Little did Zionce know when he arranged to meet with the camp on the Texas 480 loop right near the Rio Grande that they were actually on a pecan farm that has seen more illegal immigrants than its prized crop this year because of a months-long drought.

The camp group was walking near the border wall when Magali Urbina, owner of Heavenly Farms, approached them, wanting to know what they were doing on her property.

“Someone had alerted her that we were there and originally she thought that we were migrants,” Zionce told VIN News. “She has had dead bodies turning up on her farm that wash up from the Rio Grande, and has had people dying on her land from heat stroke because they have been walking for so long.”

Zionce apologized to Urbina, explaining that they hadn’t realized that they were trespassing. As the two spoke, they discussed the border issues which have become so problematic at Heavenly Farms, that it was described as “ground zero” in the ongoing migrant crisis by Fox San Antonio (https://bit.ly/3yV6kDG). Eventually, the conversation segued into the months’-long drought that has devastated Urbina’s crop and has been threatening her livelihood.

Thinking that the prayers of Jewish visitors might be beneficial, Urbina asked the group for their help.

“She asked us to say a prayer for her and we did,” said Zionce.

The group broke out in spontaneous Tehillim, both spoken and sung, with Zionce improvising a special Misheberach prayer for rain, as well as for Urbina – dubbing her Magali bas Angie. Urbina was particularly touched when Monsey’s Yisroel Moshe Rokowsky, a member of the Camp Retzufos group, shared the story of how a drought-ending rain fell on Mount Carmel following Eliyahu Hanavi’s prayers, and when the group made a stop at the family’s Eagle Grocery for cold sodas before a quick visit to Mexico, she asked for another round of precipitation-related prayers. The group was happy to oblige, singing and dancing once again amid heartfelt prayers for rain for the area, classified by one drought-watch website as being in a state of “exceptional drought.”

When Zionce arrived home later that night, he was stunned to see a text message coming in from Urbina.

“It rained for about an hour,” wrote Urbina. “This hasn’t happened in four or five months. I feel so loved by G-D I want to cry. Thank you and Thank G-D. I’m grateful for meeting you all today.”

A Facebook post by the Eagle Pass Business Journal reported that the city was drenched by two to two and a half inches of rain when a thunderstorm blew in from northern Mexico at approximately 8:45 PM that night. According to drought.gov, another 0.73 inches of rain fell on August 31st and 1.03 inches on September 3rd.

“I think everyone was shaken up in a good way and very inspired,” said Zionce. “You daven and you hope it is going to work and when you see it happen, it is very special.”