Parshas Noach - Rainbow Supplement

After the Mabul, the Torah speaks a lot about the rainbow. The Gemara in Maseches Chagigah also speaks about rainbows. The Poskim too discuss rainbows at great length. What should a person do if he sees a rainbow? The first thing is to make a Bracha. The Bracha is בא"י אמ"ה זוכר הברית ונאמן בבריתו וקים במאמרו. Is a person allowed to tell others about the rainbow when he sees it? The Mishna Berura in Siman רכ"ט says ואין כדאי להגיד לחבירו שיש קשת משום מוציא דבה. The Mishna Berura does not say that it is forbidden to tell others, rather that it is not כדאי if it is plain gossip. However, the Seforim say that if one tells others in order to publicize Hashem’s kindness or in order to bring people to do Teshuva, then it is surely permitted.

The Seforim bring a very interesting Halachic Chinuch question. One day, in the middle of class, a boy went out to take care of something. While he was out he noticed a rainbow. When he came back into class he announced that there is a rainbow in the sky, should the Rebbi stop the class from learning in order for everyone to look into the sky, see the rainbow and make the Bracha? What is the Halacha? The Meforshim say that surely the boy was wrong for disturbing the class. There is no Heter in the world for that, unless it is an emergency Chas V’shalom. ע"ש ודו"ק.