lordgrenville · October 11, 2017 07:52
diff --git a/gistfile1.txt b/gistfile1.txt
 On Chag (Sukkot), we are judged for water...

 Sukkot is referred to as Chag HaAsif, the harvest festival ,in which we take in the dry produce from the field after it has baked in the sun all summer. As such it is one pole of the agricultural cycle, with Pesach being the other. (The Ramban on Chumash says that Shavuot is the conclusion of Pesach after a long 'Chol HaMoed' of the Sefirat HaOmer, just as Shemini Atzeret concludes Sukkot - thus both festivals are referred to as Atzeret.) Its proximity to the Asif is an inherent part of it: we learn in Sanhedrin that one of the causes to add a month to the year (Ibur HaShana) is the timing of the the Asif.

 The gemara in Rosh HaShana explains that the produce in the field is judged twice: its early growing is judged the Pesach before it is planted, while its post-Pesach growth is judged on that Pesach. With rain, the rains are all judged on Sukkot, but their disbursement can change based on our deeds throughout the year. (Little rain can fall tactically for great benefit, and vice versa.)

 On Sukkot we take the Etrog, a Pri Eitz Hadar. Hadar is variously translated as "splendid", "long-living" (staying on its tree from year to year) or "water" (related to the Greek source "hydro-"). A mishna in Bikurim (2:6) tells us that the Etrog is an unusual fruit, being in at least one way (and according to some opinions in the gemara, in every way) comparable to a vegetable. This is because it is watered both by groundwater and rainwater, fittingly for this chag of water. 

 The gemara tells us that the people of Babel only ask for rain 60 days after the equinox (the Bet Yosef cites the Abudraham that this date is the 22nd or 23rd of November, but this follows the Julian Calendar, the one used in Russia until the so-called 'October' Revolution of 1917, but replaced in the West with the Gregorian by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582), since it's a wet, low country that doesn't need as much rain. (As part of the Fertile Triangle, it is watered by ground canals leading from the Euphrates.) 

 What about other communities that are not Babel? The Rambam mentions that in Shin'ar, Syria, or Egypt the same climatic conditions as Babel apply. The Tur in OC 117 quotes his father the Rosh, wondering why in countries such Ashkenaz we don't ask for rain earlier - say, at the same time as Israel, since rain is already necessary in Cheshvan? Although there is a din of yechidim, individuals who can ask for rain at any time of the year in Shome'ia Tefila, whole regions who have a different rain cycle seemingly shouldn't have to fall into this category, and indeed the Rosh praises the custom of Provence where they ask for rain from the beginning of Cheshvan. However the Shulchan Aruch doesn't mention this.

 Today, the economy of most countries is comprised of global supply chains, so the prices of food are not necessarily dictated by rains in our local country. Perhaps for this reason we might as well follow the minhag to ask for rain on the same date everywhere in chutz la'aretz. In fact, in a broader sense we are davening for our own parnasa as a community, which includes macro factors such as business cycles, commodity prices, inflation... 

 The reason that we ask for rain in the 9th bracha is because in Psalm 10 (which, the gemara in Brachot says, should be counted as the ninth) King David prays for the frustration of those who 'raise prices'. This seemingly is a reference to people who corner the market and charge monopoly prices. (The mishna in Ta'anit 2:9 says that we try not to declare a fast on Thursday, so as not to be mafkia she'arim - causing a price surge due to scarcity.)
	On Chag (Sukkot), we are judged for water...

	Sukkot is referred to as Chag HaAsif, the harvest festival ,in which we take in the dry produce from the field after it has baked in the sun all summer. As such it is one pole of the agricultural cycle, with Pesach being the other. (The Ramban on Chumash says that Shavuot is the conclusion of Pesach after a long 'Chol HaMoed' of the Sefirat HaOmer, just as Shemini Atzeret concludes Sukkot - thus both festivals are referred to as Atzeret.) Its proximity to the Asif is an inherent part of it: we learn in Sanhedrin that one of the causes to add a month to the year (Ibur HaShana) is the timing of the the Asif.

	The gemara in Rosh HaShana explains that the produce in the field is judged twice: its early growing is judged the Pesach before it is planted, while its post-Pesach growth is judged on that Pesach. With rain, the rains are all judged on Sukkot, but their disbursement can change based on our deeds throughout the year. (Little rain can fall tactically for great benefit, and vice versa.)

	On Sukkot we take the Etrog, a Pri Eitz Hadar. Hadar is variously translated as "splendid", "long-living" (staying on its tree from year to year) or "water" (related to the Greek source "hydro-"). A mishna in Bikurim (2:6) tells us that the Etrog is an unusual fruit, being in at least one way (and according to some opinions in the gemara, in every way) comparable to a vegetable. This is because it is watered both by groundwater and rainwater, fittingly for this chag of water.

	The gemara tells us that the people of Babel only ask for rain 60 days after the equinox (the Bet Yosef cites the Abudraham that this date is the 22nd or 23rd of November, but this follows the Julian Calendar, the one used in Russia until the so-called 'October' Revolution of 1917, but replaced in the West with the Gregorian by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582), since it's a wet, low country that doesn't need as much rain. (As part of the Fertile Triangle, it is watered by ground canals leading from the Euphrates.)

	What about other communities that are not Babel? The Rambam mentions that in Shin'ar, Syria, or Egypt the same climatic conditions as Babel apply. The Tur in OC 117 quotes his father the Rosh, wondering why in countries such Ashkenaz we don't ask for rain earlier - say, at the same time as Israel, since rain is already necessary in Cheshvan? Although there is a din of yechidim, individuals who can ask for rain at any time of the year in Shome'ia Tefila, whole regions who have a different rain cycle seemingly shouldn't have to fall into this category, and indeed the Rosh praises the custom of Provence where they ask for rain from the beginning of Cheshvan. However the Shulchan Aruch doesn't mention this.

	Today, the economy of most countries is comprised of global supply chains, so the prices of food are not necessarily dictated by rains in our local country. Perhaps for this reason we might as well follow the minhag to ask for rain on the same date everywhere in chutz la'aretz. In fact, in a broader sense we are davening for our own parnasa as a community, which includes macro factors such as business cycles, commodity prices, inflation...

	The reason that we ask for rain in the 9th bracha is because in Psalm 10 (which, the gemara in Brachot says, should be counted as the ninth) King David prays for the frustration of those who 'raise prices'. This seemingly is a reference to people who corner the market and charge monopoly prices. (The mishna in Ta'anit 2:9 says that we try not to declare a fast on Thursday, so as not to be mafkia she'arim - causing a price surge due to scarcity.)