[Avodah] V'sein Tal Umatar

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Sholom Simon wrote:
> To call for a delay in a rain that hasn't come (autumn)
> isn't as bad as asking it to stop (prematurely) once it
> has started (spring).

I recall hearing something similar. What bothers me is that (in the spring) we would never actually ask for the rain to stop. We would simply refrain from asking for the rain to fall.

It seems to me that if Chazal would have chosen The End Of Adar rather than the First Day Of Pesach, it would be a simple matter for the gabbai to announce, "Remember! Tonight we start saying V'Ten Bracha!" - and what could possibly be wrong with that?

Rather it must be that Chazal were worried about a gabbai who would announce, "Remember! Tonight we don't say V'Ten Tal UMatar anymore, and instead, start saying V'Ten Bracha!" That is the critical bit: the possible inclusion of the words "Don't say V'Ten Tal UMatar".

It seems to me that even though this is merely an announcement rather than a prayer, and that even though the announcement does not call for any sort of negative request but merely calls for a halt to a previous positive request, even that bothered Chazal enough to require us to continue the request all the way to Pesach.

Akiva Miller