We beigin adding V’tain Tal u’Matar in “Barech Alenu” this SUNDAY NIGHT AT MAARIV

[Congregation Or Menorah]

Kehilat
Or Menorah
www.ormenorah.com
Rabbi Doug Zelden – Rav
Dov Steinberg - Shul President
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7006 N. California Ave. Chicago, IL 60645

HALACHA CORNER

We begin Adding V’tain Tal u’Matar in “Barech Alenu” This Sunday Night

This Sunday night, December 4th we will begin to say v’tain tal u’matar in the Amida at Maariv!.

According to the Talmud [Taanit 4b], while the rainy season in Israel begins around the time of Sukkot, we don't begin to recite the prayer for rain ("v'tain tal u'matar") until two weeks later (Cheshvan 7). The reason for this delay is to allow those Jews who had travelled to Jerusalem for the holiday to return home before the onset of the rain.

 

However, those of us who live outside of Israel wait even longer to insert this prayer into our daily Shemona Esrei. This is based on the custom of Babylonia, a land of abundant water and therefore a place which did not need rain until the 60th day after the autumnal equinox [Taanit 10a]. In a landmark ruling of the Rabbeinu Asher, he ruled that all of the Diaspora, regardless of their individual needs for rain should follow the custom of Babylonia

[Teshuvot HaRosh 4:10].

 

The only problem is today we know that the autumnal equinox is on September 23rd - and 60 days later is November 22nd. So why do our siddurim say that we begin

to insert "v'tain tal u'matar" on December 4th (or December 5^th in a Solar leap year)?

 

The answer is found in a little bit of history.

In the year 46 B.C.E., Julius Caesar established a 12 month calendar with 365.25 days per year. Every four years, the "quarter days" were converted in to a single added day - a leap year.

 

However, the actual length of a solar year is only 365.24219 days - slightly less than the Julian Calendar. In the short run, this difference was negligible, but over time it eventually caused the seasons to gradually shift away from their proper time.

 

To correct this, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted a new calendar which included two significant changes. The first was an adjustment of 10 days (in other words, when it was instituted October 4th of that year was followed by October 15th). As a result, "v'tain tal u'matar" also shifted from November 22nd to December 1st.

 

The second change was that the rule for leap years was slightly altered, with every century year NOT divisible by 400 losing its leap-year status. Thus, 1600 was a leap year, but 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not. This had the effect of changing the average length of a year to 365.2425 days, a difference that is much less noticeable over time (a margin of error of roughly 3 days in 10,000 years). As a result of this second change, the date for "v'tain tal u'matar" was shifted one day in each of those three years, bringing us to our current date of December 4th (Please note: after 2100, the date will become December 5th).

 

Finally, in the year BEFORE a Gregorian solar leap year, "v'tain tal u'matar" is added from December 5th. The reason for this is that since the Jewish year begins several months earlier (approximately in September), it already factors in the extra day from Rosh HaShana onwards.

 

 

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Or Menorah

www.ormenorah.com

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