[Avodah] Not saying Morid ha-Tal

[Zev Sero]

On 6/05/2011 8:23 AM, Prof. Levine wrote:
> This morning after davening a fellow who davens Nusach Sefard asked me why Nusach Ashkenaz does not say Morid ha-Tal. I did not have an answer for him. Can anyone help?

Chazal did not require us to mention or ask for dew or wind, because they
always come, so there's no need to ask for them or to mention them.
Nevertheless some have the custom of asking for dew, so that it should
be livrocho, which is what both NA and NS do in the winter ("vesein tal
umotor livrocho").  And some (NS and Sefardim) have the custom to mention
dew in the summer, even though there's no requirement to do so, and there
is a big advantage to doing so, because it means that if one forgot in
the winter to say "morid hageshem" one needn't go back or daven again,
because at least one said "tal".


-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                      - Margaret Thatcher