[Avodah] Saturday 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 Maariv this
Saturday evening, December 4, 2010, corresponding to Motzei Shabbat,
28 Kislev, 5771, the fourth night of Chanukka. The phrase "Veten tal
umatar livracha" - "Give us dew and rain for a blessing" is inserted into
the 9th blessing of the weekday shemone esrei, from now until Pesach.
I encourage everyone to remind friends and family members of this event,
especially those who may not be in shul at that time.

We begin requesting rain in the Diaspora on the 60th day of the fall
season, as approximated by Shmuel in the Talmud (Taanit 10a, Eiruvin 56a).
For more information about this calculation, follow the link below, to a
fascinating article giving a (very brief) introduction to the Jewish
calendar, followed by a discussion on why we begin praying for rain when we
do: 
http://www.lookstein.org/articles/veten_tal.htm (Thanks to Russell Levy for
providing the link.)

Also, in case you have not yet read the number-theoretic explanation of
why Yaakov sent Esav 220 goats in the Torah portion we read 2 weeks ago,
see here: 
http://cheshbon.weeklyshtikle.com/2010/11/goats-and-amicable-numbers.html


Wishing everyone a happy Chanukka,
-Ari Brodsky.

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