[Avodah] Geshem or Gashem?!

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Sat, Nov 05, 2016 at 07:39:44PM +0200, David and Esther Bannett via Avodah wrote:
: What has long bothered me is something else.  Why do the "corrected" 
: siddurim who have geshem also have morid hatal with tal in the pausal 
: form with a kamatz rather than the non-pausal form, with a patach, as in 
: tal umatar?
: 
: I once saw or heard an explanation but, as it involved mysticism which 
: is not something I go for...

Morid hatal could be taken as a reference to the tal shel techiyah. See
Chagiga 12b, where R Yehudah quotes Rav that it's stored at the highest
raqia', called Aravos. The dea that this is the tal we're talking about
here is in Yerushalmi Berakhos 5:2 (vilna 38b), part of which is repeated
in Taanis 1:1 (2a).

In which case, "morid hageshem" is asking for rain, and is just part of
the list. Whereas morid hatal has a subtext of being part of "mechayeh
meisim Ata rav lehoshia morid hatal" shel techiyah.

In any case, while it might be mystical, since it's in the Y-mi and
consistent with the Bavli, the idea has impeccable halachic heritage.

Gut Voch!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "As long as the candle is still burning,
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