[Avodah] Fasting for rain

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 08:23:41PM +0200, Ben Waxman wrote:
: Were the rabbinate to call for an obligatory fast, would that obligate
: everyone, meaning Jews in ROW as well? Are they obligated to say the
: add-on in Shema Qolenu?

I understood RMF to be saying that based on the gemara, beis din is chayav
to decree a fast. The concept of obligation is in their duty to make the
decree, not only in the content of that decree. The content is a given.

As per the Rambam's haqdamah to the Yad, nowadays a rav or beis din's
statement is only as binding as the community that accept his authority.
I don't know what you intend ROW to stand for, but if they don't accept
the authority of the CR, the answer would be "no".

BUT, since at this point every beis din carries the same chiyuv to make
such a call to their tzibbur, does it make a difference which BD's decree
they are following?

As for RMF's question... Does the fact that import-export is common,
albeit costly, and that agrarian income is only a small piece of Israel's
overall economy, give BD more room to wait for rain before declaring
taanios?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

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