Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
In tefillah, one of the things we often pray for is rain. According to R. Jacob ben Asher (Spain, 700 years ago), the idea of praying for rain comes from our parashah. He says it’s based on two pesukim that are back-to-back: a pasuk all about rain, followed by a pasuk about calling out to God.
יַעֲרֹף כַּמָּטָר לִקְחִי
תִּזַּל כַּטַּל אִמְרָתִי
כִּשְׂעִירִם עֲלֵי דֶשֶׁא
וְכִרְבִיבִים עֲלֵי עֵשֶׂב׃
כִּי שֵׁם ה' אֶקְרָא
הָבוּ גֹדֶל לֵאלֹקֵינוּ׃
May my words come down like rain,
my speech drip like dew,
like showers on young plants,
like droplets on the grass.
For the name of God I call out,
give glory to our Lord!
During the winter months, when crops in Israel begin to grow, we add two special lines to the Amidah asking God to make sure that there is enough rain.
- מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמוֹרִיד הַגֶּשֶׁם (mashiv ha-ru’ah u-morid ha-geshem, “Who brings the wind and causes the rain to fall”)
- This line is inserted in the second בְּרָכָה (berakhah, blessing) of the Amidah.
- We say it beginning with Mussaf on Shemini Atzeret and ending at Shaharit on the first day of Pesah
- וְתֵן טַל וּמָטָר לַבְּרָכָה (ve-tein tal u-matar livrakhah, “send dew and rain for a blessing”)
- This line is inserted in the ninth berakhah of the weekday Amidah.
- In Eretz Yisrael, people start to say it on the 7th of the month of Heshvan. In other parts of the world, people start to say it at Maariv on the night of December 4 or 5 (depending on whether it’s a secular leap year).
- In all places, we say ve-tein tal u-matar livrakhah until minhah on the day before Pesah.
What if you forget?
You might get used to saying the Amidah one way, and then when the season changes it can be hard to remember to add in the lines praying for rain.
According to the Shulhan Arukh (Orah Hayyim 114:4; 117:4), if you forget to add either of these lines, and you’ve completed the Amidah, you should return to the beginning and start over. If you aren’t sure if you said mashiv ha-ru’ah, then for the first 30 days after Shemini Atzeret, you should assume that you said it the old way, and repeat your Amidah. But after 30 days of doing it correctly, you can assume you’ve formed the correct habit, and you don’t have to repeat the Amidah (Remah Orah Hayyim 114:8).
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