114. Tal u’Matar

19:5 Outside of Israel, we begin to say “tal u’matar,” the request for dew and rain, at maariv on the sixtieth day after the autumnal equinox. This is typically the fifth of December. (In Israel, we begin on 7 Cheshvan – OC 117:1.) This insertion is said until Pesach. 19:6 If someone made a mistake and omitted tal u’matar, here’s how to proceed: If one remembers before completing the blessing “m’vareich hashanim,” he says it there and continues with the words “v’sabeinu…” and completes the bracha as per usual. If he only remembered after finishing the bracha, then he can insert tal u’matar in the blessing of “shema koleinu,” after the words “reikam al tashiveinu.” He then continues “ki Atah shomei’ah…” and finishes the blessing as per usual. If he passed that part of “shema koleinu” and only remembered after saying “Baruch Atah,” as long as he hasn’t said God’s Name, he can say tal u’matar and continue “ki Atah shomei’ah…” If he only remembered after finishing the bracha of “shema koleinu,” he must go back to the ninth blessing, “m’vareich hashanim,” where tal u’matar should have been inserted in the first place. (If he hasn’t yet started the blessing “r’tzei,” he can still say tal u’matar – OC 117:5.) If a person only realized he forgot tal u’matar after saying the verse “yihiyu l’ratzon” at the end of Shemoneh Esrei, he must go back to the beginning and say the entire prayer again.