VeTen Tal U-Matar

 

What is So Holy about the 4th
(or 5th or 6th) of December?  Some Insights into

the Interplay between the
Calendar and the Liturgy

 

by

Dr. Moshe Sokolow

Dear Teacher:

In this unit, we will
inquire into the basic outline and formation of the Jewish calendar and then
explore the details of the liturgical insert on behalf of rain: VeTen Tal U’Matar.  You should find this material suitable for a
variety of disciplinary purposes, including tefillah, holidays, algebra, geography, astronomy, Jewish History, and
comparative religions.

I.

THE JEWISH CALENDAR - GENERAL
OBSERVATIONS

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A.

SOLAR vs. LUNAR

 

 

Both the solar and
lunar cycles figure prominently in the Jewish calendar.  As RAMBAMstipulates
(Kiddush haHodesh 1:1): The months are lunar, but the year is solar.

 

 

As he explains, the
 mitzvahof kiddush
ha-hodesh (Ex. 12,2)
requires lunar months (note that the English word month derives from the
word moon, just as the Hebrew word yerah, a synonym for hodesh, derives from yare’ah(moon) – while the mitzvah to observe Pesah
during the Spring (Deut. 16,
1) requires solar years.

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B.

INTERCALATION

 

 

Since the duration
of a solar year is 365 ¼ days, while that of a lunar year is only 354 days,
it became necessary to intercalate, or merge the two calendars, through an
halakhic process called Ibbur haShanah.  As RAMBAMcontinues
(1:2):

 

 

i.e., Since the
solar year exceeds the lunar year by about eleven (11) days, as soon as about
30 extra days accumulate we add one month, making a 13-month long leap
year.

 

 

The ordinary
Jewish year (peshutah), as a result,
consists of either 353 days (haseirah) or
355 days (kesidrah), depending
upon whether the months of Marheshvan and
Kislev are 29 days each, 30 days
each, or one is 29 and the other 30. 
The arrangement is based upon a series of fixed adjustments, called dehiyyot(postponements),
which govern the scheduling of certain key holidays.  Rosh
haShana, for instance, cannot begin on either Sunday, Wednesday or Friday

while Pesach cannot begin on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday .

Each year is
designated by an abbreviation (simanei kevi’ot),
identifying its length, and indicating the first day of these holidays. The
year 5758, for instance, is
identified as:HKZwhich means that Rosh haShana beginson
Thursday (H),Pesah on Shabbat (Z), and the year is
ordinary (Kesidrah) with 29 days in Heshvan and 30 in Kislev.

 

Note:

Consider the
following:  At the rate of 11 days per
year, in 10 years’ time the lunar and solar calendars will drift apart by 110
days.  If Pesah began one year, let us
say, on April 15th, ten years later – without adjustment – it
would fall on December 25th!

 

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Since the leap
month adds 30 days to the year, it is instituted approximately every three
years, according to a simple algebraic
formula: 30 x (representing the added month) = 11Y (the days lost per
year).  Its solution:  X=7, Y=19 (210=209); seven out of every 19
years are leap years, according to the formula: 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17,
19).  Each 19-year cycle is called a
lunar cycle, or minor cycle, while every 28 years complete a solar, or "major
cycle.  (This is why birkhat haHamahis
recited every 28 years.)

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C.

JEWISH AND MUSLIM LUNAR CALENDARS
COMPARED

 

 

A contrast to the
intercalated Jewish lunar calendar is provided by the Muslim calendar,
which is also lunar, but not adjusted. 
Since it repeats the same number of days (354) year after year, two
interesting results occur:

(1)        Unlike Pesah and Sukkot which
are seasonally fixed, Muslim             holy
days – like the month of Ramadan – fall during widely             divergent seasons of the year.  (In Jews and Arabs, S. D.

            Goitein tells of the confusion and
consternation with which the

            earliest Muslim travelers to
Scandinavia greeted the strikingly

            different prospects of keeping a
daylight fast during the 6             months
of night or the 6 months of day.)

(2)        Muslims age faster than Jews.  When a Jew celebrates his 33rd

            birthday according to the Jewish
calendar, a Muslim born on the

            same day will be celebrating his
34th birthday according to the

            Muslim calendar.

 

Note:

Take the
front page of any issue of the Jerusalem
Post and show the students how it is dated according to three
different eras and calendars:  Jewish,
Muslim and Christian.  If they have
already studied medieval history and know that the Hijra – which marks the beginning of the Muslim era – occurred
in the year 621, then you can illustrate the difference between calendars
this way:  Subtract 621 from the
current Christian year and compare the result (1997-621 = 1376) with the
current Muslim year (1418).  See that
the same elapsed time counts for 42 more Muslim years than Christian or
Jewish.

 

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In this context,
there are several abbreviations they ought to recognize:

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(1)

Christian years are
designated A.D., Anno Domini,
Latin for years of the lord – referring to the (mistaken) notion that Jesus
was born in the year before 1.  (He
was really born in the year 4 B.C.E., which stands for the Common Era, a
reference to the conventional dating system established by the Romans.)

 

(2)

Muslim years are
designated A.H., Anno Hejri, Latin
for years of the Hijra (which we explained above).

 

(3)

Jewish years are
designated A.M., Anno Mundi, Latin
for years of the world, referring to the creation which took place,
according to our tradition, 5749 years ago.

II.

Tal U-Matar:  THE PRAYER FOR RAIN

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A.

MISHNA AND GEMARA

 

 

The Mishna stipulates (Ta’anit 1:3):

i.e., on the 3rd
of Marheshvan we pray for
rain.  Rabban Gamliel said:  On the 7th of the month, that
is 15 days after the festival (of Sukkot), in order to allow the tardiest
Israelite to reach the Euphrates.

According to Rabban
Gamliel (whose opinion prevails), the prayer for rain in the Land of Israel
is delayed only long enough to give the last pilgrims time to reach the
furthest boundary (with Syria) from Jerusalem before they would be caught by
the anticipated winter rains.  (Were
there no pilgrims, we would surmise, this prayer – like mashiv ha-ru’ah itself – would commence immediately
after Shemini Atzeret.)

 

           

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Outside of Israel,
however, the practice differed, as the Gemara (to that Mishna) explains (Ta’anit 10a):

i.e., Hananiah
said:  In the Diaspora (we don’t
begin) until the 60th day of the season.

 

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B.

RAMBAM’S CODIFICATION

 

 

These two laws were
codified by RAMBAM as follows (Tefillah
2:16):

i.e., From the 7th
of Marheshvan we insert the prayer for rain into the blessing for the Years
whenever we mention rain (i.e. until Pesah).  This is in the Land of Israel, but in
Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt and nearby or similar places, we pray for rain on
the 60th day of the Tishrei
season (i.e., the autumnal equinox).

 

 

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C.

SEASONS (TEKUFOT)AND HEMISPHERES

 

 

First, a word about
the seasons.  There are four seasons
to the year, corresponding to the four quadrants of the ellipse which
describes the path the Earth takes in its revolutions around the sun.  The following chart describes the seasons:

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Northern Hemisphere

 

Southern Hemisphere

A.  22 March - 21 June

Spring (day longer
than night)

Fall (night longer
than day)

B.  22 June - 22 September

 

Summer (day longer
than night)

Winter (night
longer than day)

C.  23 Sept. - 22 December

Fall (night longer
than day)

Spring (day longer
than night)

D.  23 Dec. - 21 March

Winter (night
longer than day)

Summer (day longer
than night)

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Now we can see the
dimensions of the problem very clearly.

Since the autumn (Tishrei) season commences – in the
Northern Hemisphere, which is our primary concern – on the 23rd of
September, then the 60th day later is November 21st.  Why, then do we not say

Tal U-Mataruntil
the 4th of December (13 days later)?

III.

Tal U-Matar:  HOW WE ARRIVED AT DECEMBER 4TH

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A.

THE PROBLEM WITH SHEMUEL’s CALCULATIONS

 

 

To restate the
problem we shall now endeavor to solve:

Since the autumn (Tishrei) season commences – in the
Northern Hemisphere, which is our primary concern – on the 23rd of
September, then the 60th day later is November 21st.  Why, then do we not say

Tal U-Mataruntil
the 4th of December (13 days later)?

The determination
of the equinox for the purposes of

Tal U-Matarwas
originally made according to the rules set down by the Amora Shemuel – the same who ruled that the
halakhah in the Diaspora follows Hananiah – in Eiruvin 56a:

i.e., The Tekufotare
separated by 91 days, 7 ½ hours.

Multiply 91 days 7
½ hours by four seasons and the result is a year calculated to be exactly 365
¼ days (364 days + 30 hours).  The
problem, however, is that a more exact astronomical calculation of the length
of a year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds.  As a result of this discrepancy of 11
minutes and 14 seconds, the Tekufahhas slowly
moved forward during the last 2,000 years at the rate of one day every 128
years, and about 8 days each millennium.

11 min. 14 sec.
(11.25 hrs.) ק 1,440 (mins. in a day: 60 x 24) = 128

128 ק 1,000 years =
7.8

 

 

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B.

POPE GREGORY AND THE NEW CALENDAR

 

 

The Catholic
Church, interestingly enough, was the first to address this discrepancy.

Note:

The Nicene
Council, in 325, had correctly fixed March 21 (the vernal equinox) as the
date which would determine the Easter holiday.  Each 128 years, as we explained, March 21 moved forward,
relative to the sun, by one full day. 
By 1582 the discrepancy had reached 10 days.

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Pope Gregory XIII
decided to drop the extra ten days from the calendar by making the day after
Thursday, October 4, 1582, into Friday, October 15, in a new calendar named
Gregorian in his honor.

To insure that the
problem remained corrected, Gregory also eliminated three leap years every
400 years (remember that the Tekufahmoves
forward one day every 128 years – according to Shemuel – and

3 x 128 = 384),
namely, in the century years not divisible by 400.  This results in an average year of 364.2425 days, at which rate
it would now take 3,300 years to accumulate an extra day.

 

C.

A LITTLE JEWISH MATH

 

 

The result of these
alterations is that – in the 20th century – the day which would
have been September 23 according to the Julian (Shemuel’s) calendar is October 7 of the Gregorian calendar, and
the 60th day following October 7 is December 5.  Since we begin

Tal U-Matarduring
the Ma’ariv service, it turns out
to be said beginning with the night of December 4.  Every fourth year, however (in the Jewish year divisible by
four), the Tekufahwill begin after

tzet ha-kokhavimon October
7, so the 60th day on those years will be December 6, andTal U-Matarwill commence on the evening of
December 5.

Note:

While the Tekufah always falls
on October 7, each year it begins 6 hours later – remember that it is still
calculated according to Shemuel
(and Julian) who assumes an exact 364¼ day year – so in each 4-year cycle the
Tekufah begins,
sequentially, at 3 AM, 9 AM, 3 PM and 9 PM – which is later than tzet hakokhavim.

 

If you are wondering how the Tekufah can always remain on October 7
when the year following 9 PM it should fall at 3 AM of October 8, remember
that the year in which the Tekufah comes at 9
PM is the year preceding a civil leap year which uses up the extra day.

 

Since the year 2000 in the Gregorian
calendar will be a leap year, too, the December 4-5 dates will continue
throughout the 21st century. 
However, since 2100 will not be a leap year (it’s not divisible by
400),theTekufah in 2101
will move up one day (to October 8), andTal U-Matarwill move to December 5-6.

 

This pattern
repeats itself, so every 400 years Tal U-Mataris said three days later.

IV.

PROBLEMS FOR EUROPE AND THE SOUTHERN
HEMISPHERE

Thus far, we have
explained how the nuances of the Julian and Gregorian calendars determine the
dates on which the prayer of Tal U-Mataris
inserted into birkhat hashanim. However, one major problem remains.

The Gemara in Ta’anit (see above) stipulated the 60th day of the
Tishrei season as the date for beginning Tal U-Matarin the Diaspora (Golah), which refers specifically to
Babylonia, and even RAMBAM (see above) broadened the halakhah only enough to
include Syria, Egypt and countries nearby or with similar (climatological?)
conditions.  What has any of that to do
with Europe and North America – let alone the entire Southern Hemisphere –
whose climates are significantly different? 
Should the Jews of Brazil or Australia pray for rain from December
through April, when their winter months are June-September (see the Tekufahcharts
above)?  Does it make any sense for the
Jews of the United States to pointedly stop praying for rain on the first day
of Pesah when that is not too late – in some places – even for snow and, in any
event, it continues to rain throughout the year?

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A.

MISHNAH AND GEMARA

 

 

To answer these
questions, we have to go back to the Gemara
 and return, via medieval and
modern responsa, to the
present.  The Gemara, first of all,
makes provision for different climates, allowing the prayer for Tal U-Matarto be
inserted in the blessing of Shome’a Tefillah,
rather than Birkhat haShanim (Ta’anit
14b):

 

 

i.e., The
inhabitants of Nineveh inquired of Rabbi (Yehuda the Nasi):  We who need rain even during the summer –
how shall we act?  As individuals (who
insert their prayer) during Shome’a Tefillah,
or as a community (entitled to add the insert) during Birkhat haShanim? 
Rabbi replied:  You are
regarded as individuals and (should pray for rain) during             Shome’a Tefillah.

 

 

The Gemara rules according to Rabbi, but it
also records the conflicting opinions of Rabbi Yehuda and Rav Nahman who
permit local communities – such as Nineveh – to recite Tal U-Matarin the Birkhat haShanim at whatever time suits them best:

 

 

While it is clear,
then, that Diaspora communities can only say

Tal U-Matarin
Birkhat haShanim during
their winter, it is unclear whether the Gemara intended them to follow the
custom of Eretz Yisrael and begin
on 7 Marheshvan, or to follow Bavel and begin on the 60th
day of the Tekufah.  Furthermore, since – even with Nineveh –
it only relates to the summer season in Eretz
Yisrael –it still fails to
resolve the dilemma created by the unique situation of the Southern
Hemisphere!

We shall deal,
here, with two representative examples: 
Provence and Brazil.

Note:

A
comprehensive survey of all the data pertaining to this problem, drawn from a
host of rishonim and acharonim,
is contained in an essay entitled:  The
Jewish Prayer for Rain in the Post-Talmudic Diaspora by Arnold and Daniel
Lasker, which appears in the A.J.S. Review vol. IX no. 2 (Fall, 1984),
particularly on pages 150-161.

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B.

PROVENCE AND THE CUSTOM OF R. ASHER

 

 

In the Middle Ages
we find, in practice, that Europe (and North Africa) followed the Babylonian
custom – with the definite exception of Provence (and the possible exception
of Kairouan, Tunisia) which followed the custom of Eretz Yisrael.  While
their actual practices are well attested to, their origins, however, are not,
and it remains uncertain whether they were originally based upon Talmudic
exegesis or meteorology.

In other words,
when Hananiah describes the practice of Babylonia, he refers to it as the Golah.  Is that just an idiomatic expression, or
was it intended all along to denote ALL Diaspora communities?  On the other hand, it just so happens that
in Provence (and Tunisia) the rainy season begins in September or October.

 

 

The Provencal
custom is reported approvingly by R. Asherin
his commentary on Ta’anit 12 b, as
follows:

i.e., I am
surprised that we follow the Babylonian practice in this regard.  While our Talmud is Babylonian, the matter
(of praying for rain) depends upon the Land (of Israel).  Why should we not follow their custom?  Even if Babylonia has abundant water and
does not need rain, other countries need rain in Marheshvan so why delay the prayer until the 60th day
of the season?  Why should we not
follow the ruling of the Mishnah?  In
Provence I have seen that they pray for rain beginning with Marheshvan and I heartily approve!

R. Asher, in fact,
not only argued for starting Tal U-Matarin
Marheshvan, but – in a Teshuvah he wrote in 1313 (number
4:10 of his responsa) – argued that the prayer could even be continued beyond
Pesah and all the way to Shavu’ot if local conditions
warranted it.  This opinion, however,
was rejected even by his son in the Tur,
and the phraseology of the Shulchan
Arukh dispels all the ambiguity
which inheres in the Talmudic term Golah by stating categorically (Orah Hayyim 117:1):

i.e., Outside of
the Land of Israel one begins the prayer … on the 60th day of the
autumn season.

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Note:

To contrast two more recent opinions,
Abraham Geiger, the Reform leader, ruled that German Jews might sayTal U-Matarall year round, while the Arukh
haShulchan – perhaps in reaction? -- stipulates that:

i.e., Whoever
doubts the law [decided in the Shulchan
Arukh] deserves to be punished.

 

Incidentally, in
referring to the rejection of the decision of R. Asher,he adds: Since R. Asher himself acknowledged that his opinion was not
accepted, it is as though a heavenly voice (bat kol) decreed to follow
Babylonian custom.

 

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C.

THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

 

 

Interestingly
enough, the first she’elahto be sent back
to Europe from the New World concerned Tal
U-Matar.

The first Jewish settlement in the New World began, in 1637, in the
Portuguese colony of Recife, in Brazil, and one of the first religious
problems they encountered was reckoning the proper time to say

Tal U-Matar.  On the one hand they were all accustomed
to  following the Babylonian custom,
which had won out, time and again, over all attempts -- such as that of R.
Asher-- to modify it
in accordance with local conditions. 
On the other hand, however, was the overwhelming illogic of praying
for rain during Brazil’s summer, and forgoing the prayer precisely when rain
was needed, just because the tradition was founded in another era and a
different hemisphere!

Congregation Zur Yisrael raised
this question in a letter to Rabbi Chaim Shabbetai of Salonica, whose answer
set the precedent by which most of the Jews of South America and Australia
abide to this very day.  Basing
himself upon the opinions of Rambam  [one in his commentary to Mishna
Ta’anit, and the other in the Mishne
Torah,Tefillah 2:17],

and taking the responsum of R. Asherinto
consideration, Rabbi Shabbetai ruled that since during the months of Nisan through Tishrei

prayers for rain may be recited only in Shome’a Tefillah [as individuals],
and since one should not have to pray for rain at a time in which it would be
harmful for him, therefore the Jews of Brazil should:

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(a)

never say Tal U-Matarin Birkhat haShanim;

(b)

never even say Mashiv haRu’ah
U’Morid haGeshem;

(c)

during their
winter they were entitled, however, to say Tal U-Matarin Shome’a Tefillah if the need arose.