Siman - Taanis Daf 6
- The meaning behind the terms yoreh and malkosh
It was taught in a Baraisa regarding why the first rain is called yoreh and the later rain is called malkosh: יורה שמורה את הבריות להטיח גגותיהן - The first rain is called yoreh because it instructs (moreh) people to plaster their roofs, to bring in their produce from the fields, and to take care of all of their needs before winter comes. Another pshat is שמרוה את הארץ ומשקה עד התהום – It is called yoreh because it soaks (meraveh) the earth and waters it to the depths. Alternatively, יורה שיורד בנחת ואינו יורד בזעף – It is called yoreh because the rain falls gently, and it does not fall with a fierce intensity. Rav Nehilai bar Idi said in the name of Shmuel regarding malkosh: דבר שמל קשיותיהן של ישראל – it is something that circumcises (mal) the stubbornness (koshi) of Yisroel. Rashi explains that if it does not rain, people will do teshuvah and chesed. It was taught in the academy of Rebbe Yishmael: דבר שממלא תבואה בקשיה – It is something that fills (malei) produce in its stalks (kash). In a Baraisa it was taught: דבר שיורד על המלילות ועל הקשין – It is something that comes down on the ears (melilah) and stalks (kash).
- Halachos related to רביעה שניה – the second rainfall
The Gemara determines that the halachah goes according to Rebbe Yose, who said that the three yoreh rainfalls typically come on the seventeenth and twenty-third of Marcheshvan, and Rosh Chodesh Kislev. The Gemara notes that the first rain is to indicate when to begin requesting rain and knowing the time of the third rain is needed to indicate when to fast. It asks what the purpose of the second rainfall is. Rebbe Zeira said: לנדרים – for vows, for it was taught in a Mishnah: הנודר עד הגשמים משירדו גשמים – If someone makes a neder that he will not get hana’ah from a certain item “until the rains” or “from when the rains fall,” עד שתרד רביעה שניה – he is not permitted to derive benefit from it until the second rainfall. Rashi explains that nedarim are determined by common usage of a term. When people say “rains” they mean the second rain and beyond when the roads become ruined. Alternatively, the plural form of גשמים implies two rains. The Gemara brings three additional halachos relevant to the second rain.
- The berachah on rain
Rebbe Abahu said: מאימתי מברכין על הגשמים – When does one start to say the berachah over rain? משיצא חתן לקראת כלה – When the chasan has gone out to meet the kallah. Rashi explains that this means that it rains so much, that when a drop of rain falls into a puddle, some drops jump upwards. What is the text of the berachah? Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: מודים אנחנו לך ה' אלקינו – We thank you, Hashem, our G-d, על כל טפה וטפה שהורדת לנו – for every drop that you have brought down to us. Rebbe Yochanan finishes the berachah as follows: if our mouth were as full of song as the sea, ולשוננו רנה כהמון גליו - and our tongue with singing like the multitude of waves. Continuing, until, Let not Your rachamim forsake us Hashem, our G-d, as it has not forsaken us. ברוך רוב ההודאות – Blessed are You with many thanksgivings. The Gemara asks if the berachah should say only many thanksgivings, and not all thanksgivings, and Rava said: One should say: קל ההודאות – The G-d of thanksgivings. Rav Pappa said that since there is a machlokes, both endings should be said: קל ההודאות ורוב ההודאות – “G-d of thanksgivings”, and “many thanksgivings.”
