[Avodah] Wednesday Evening begin Prayer for Rain

[Ari Meir Brodsky]

Dear Friends,

	This is a friendly reminder to Jews outside of Israel that our daily
prayers should include the request for rain, beginning with the Maariv
service this Wednesday evening, December 5, 2007, corresponding to the
evening of 26 Kislev, 5768, the second night of Chanukka.  The phrase "Veten
tal umatar livrakha" - "Give us dew and rain for a blessing" is inserted
into the 9th blessing of the weekday shemone esrei, from now until Pesach.
For an explanation of why we start when we do, follow this link:
www.lookstein.org/articles/veten_tal.htm

	In addition, I should point out that the current Jewish calendar
year, 5768, features many of the calendrically exciting events that I
included in my essay about 5765, written three years ago, called "How is
this year different from all other years?"  The essay is available here
http://individual.utoronto.ca/aribrodsky/ but please note that I haven't
updated it since 5765.  Also at the same link are my "Calendar
Configurations for Chanukka" as well as my "Mental Molad Method".

	This reminder is dedicated in memory of Zvi (Harry) Golish z"l, with
whom I enjoyed many calendrical conversations.

Happy Chanukka to all,
-Ari

-----------------------
Ari M. Brodsky
ari.brodsky at utoronto.ca