כִּי לֹא הִמְטִיר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, עַל-הָאָרֶץ, וְאָדָם אַיִן, לַעֲבֹד אֶת-הָאֲדָמָה.
This, Chazal teach us, is because without man praying for rain, the rain won't fall. Until man was created, there was no rain.For God had not brought down rain on the world, and there was no man to work the land.
If we ever get lost on our unimportance. If we ever start to feel depressed about our place in the world, we can always look to the heavens. It seems like we are just little specks in the scheme of the grandiose universe, but in actuality, the whole universe is nourished by the prayers and actions of the whole of Yisrael.
Rav Avraham Azulai, the great grandfather of the [C]HiDa, (Rav Hayyim David Azulai) explains in his sefer Hesed l'Avraham (1:3) that the supernal realms all have a much greater revellation of the divine light than we do down here, because they serve and worship God without a moment's rest. However, when we serve HaShem down here with great intent and energy, then we draw down such a tremendous influx of divine light in all the worlds that it is an infinitely greater revellation than the natural/normal revellation. Without man, he says, there is no concept of zivug, an intense union of Godliness with the created world.
So, it seems to me that this passuk, (Bereishit 2:5) is the perfect touchstone to remember our place in the world. True, we can't serve HaShem as angels do. But, when we serve God the way we were created to serve Him, the whole world celebrates and enjoys it.
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