Q&A: Canceling the Prayer for Rain During a Ground Incursion
Canceling the Prayer for Rain During a Ground Incursion
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I saw an article saying that the Chief Rabbi was asked about canceling the prayer for rain in light of the ground incursion. For the sake of discussion, let us assume that God hears prayer. In your opinion, is it correct to cancel the prayer for rain (saying “Bless us” instead of “Bless upon us”) in situations where the Jewish people need there not to be rain, as was the case when the pilgrims were returning home from Sukkot. For the sake of discussion, let us assume the duration of the ground incursion was limited to 14 days, just like the time it took people to return home from the pilgrimage festival to their homes. Or perhaps nowadays we do not have the authority to do such a thing?
Best regards,
Best regards,
Answer
There is no point in asking for rain if you do not want rain. It is not a question of authority, since this is not about changing the wording. You can mumble that you want rain without really wanting it, but then you have not prayed. Of course, you can ask for rain that will benefit us, and leave it to the Holy One, blessed be He, to decide when and how it will be beneficial.
But as you hinted, in my view this whole question lacks importance and meaning.
Discussion on Answer
I wrote that the problem is not a change in wording, not that there is no change in wording here. If you do not mean the request, then mumbling requests is worthless. Therefore even if there is a change in wording here, there is no point in saying it. And this is like the Talmudic passage in Yoma where they omitted “the great, mighty, and awesome God” from the wording of the prayer, even though that is certainly a change in wording. There is no point in reciting a formula that you do not mean and do not think is correct or relevant.
But it is in fact a change in wording:
“And ‘Give dew and rain’ (also the request for rain) is a halakhic obligation to add to the blessing of the years in the Amidah prayer during the winter season, a special request for rainfall.” (From Wikipedia)
In the Mishnah, tractate Ta’anit, chapter 1, mishnah 3, a dispute between the tanna’im is brought regarding whether one begins requesting rain on the 3rd of Cheshvan or the 7th of Cheshvan. The first opinion holds that one waits until the 3rd of Cheshvan and does not begin asking on Shemini Atzeret, because the 3rd of Cheshvan is the season when rain actually begins to fall (“the first rainfall”). However, according to Rabban Gamliel, one waits until the 7th of Cheshvan, because when the Temple stood, many pilgrims would come to the Temple on the festival of Sukkot, and only after the festival ended would they return home. Because of this, the Sages established (according to Rabban Gamliel) that one should wait with the request for rain until fifteen days had passed from the end of the festival, so that the pilgrims living beyond the Euphrates River would have time to reach their homes.