By Rabbi Yair Hoffman Beginning tonight, Wednesday evening, December 4th, 2024, we begin reciting the phrase “V’sain Tal Umatar” (And give dew and rain for a blessing) in the Shmoneh Esrei prayer of the Maariv (evening) service. What if I Forgot to Say V’sain Tal Umatar? If a person said “V’sain Bracha” (And give a blessing) instead of “V’sain Tal Umatar Livracha”, and realized the error after finishing the Shmoneh Esrei, the entire Shmoneh Esrei must be repeated. If the error was caught while in the middle of Shmoneh Esrei, corrective action can be taken by inserting the phrase “V’sain Tal Umatar Livracha” in the Shema Koleinu blessing, before the words “Ki Ata Shomeiya”. If the Shema Koleinu blessing was already completed, but the Retzei blessing was not yet begun, the phrase “V’sain Tal Umatar Livracha” should be inserted between the two blessings of Shema Koleinu and Retzay. However, if the Retzei blessing was already begun, the individual must return to the beginning of the Bareich Aleinu blessing and use the proper phrase of “V’sain Tal Umatar.” What if I’m Uncertain? If a person does not remember whether they said “V’sain Bracha” or “V’sain Tal Umatar”, the halacha assumes the blessing was recited without proper thought, out of habit. Halacha states that habits of prayer become established after 30 days of repetition. So, 30 days after December 4th, if in doubt, the Shmoneh Esrei need not be repeated, as it can be assumed “V’sain Tal Umatar” was said out of habit. Before 30 days, it is assumed the wrong phrase (“V’sain Bracha”) was used, so the Shmoneh Esrei must be repeated. The Mishna Berura qualifies this by saying that if the person intended to say “V’sain Tal Umatar” in Shmoneh Esrei, and later cannot remember what they said, they need not repeat the Shmoneh Esrei. This is because it can be assumed they recited the blessing properly, since that was their intention. In Eretz Yisroel, they began saying it on the 7th of Cheshvan. AND NOW FOR THE LONG VERSION Generally speaking, the actions of leaders of foreign religions do not ever affect what Orthodox Jews do.  Here, one Pope’s actions affected how we refer to things.  It affected the secular date of when we begin saying it. Read on for clarification. THE DOCTOR’S SUGGESTION In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII acted upon a suggestion of  an Italian doctor named Aloysius Lilius. and initiated three changes to the calendar that did have some repercussions in our halachic observance, at least in the way we record the secular date as to when in the year we begin amending one line in the Shmoneh Esreh in Chutz La”aretz. In Israel itself, we began saying it at Maariv of the 7th of Cheshvan. In Chutz la’aretz we say vesain tal umatar 60 days after the Tekufah, which was Sept 21st in the Julian calendar.  That would have been Dec, 1st. THE THREE CHANGES The Pope made these three changes to the Julian Calendar, but at first, only the Catholic countries followed it.  Most of what was to eventually become the United States of America did not adopt it, however, until the year 1752. 1] He fast-forwarded the calendar ten days. In 1582, there was no October 5th through October 14th. 2] He ruled that […]