Prayers for Rain in the Southern Hemisphere

Hello, I'm currently living in Australia where summer is beginning, but I know that in Israel, winter is starting. Should I start praying for rain according to the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, or should I follow the Southern Hemisphere's seasons where I live?

This is a very modern-day query since there are no sources in the Shulchan Aruch about living in the southern hemisphere. There are however, many Teshuvot about it. First, let’s begin with understanding the structure of the Shemoneh Esyrey that the Anshey Kenesset Hagedolah introduced.

The Shmoneh Esrei is divided into three parts. The first three blessings are praises to Hashem, for example, "Ata Gibor Leolam Hashem…" The second part involves asking Hashem for the different things that we need, such as Parnassah (prosperity) and Refuah (healing). The last part, ‘Modim’, is where we thank Hashem for all the goodness He has bestowed upon us.

When it comes to mentioning rain in our prayers, we mention it twice: once when we praise Hashem, we say "Mashiv ha'ruach umorid hageshem"; and later, when we ask Hashem for rain in the blessing of Ba’rech Aleynu, we add "ve'ten tal umatar livracha." Each addition is added on different dates.

Mashiv Ha'ruach:
We start to recite the tefillah of Mashiv Ha'ruach on the last day of Succot, called Shemini Atseret. Customs vary, but generally, before the chazzan starts the Mussaf prayer, he says a tefillah called "Geshem," and from then on, we begin to recite Mashiv Ha'ruach throughout the winter until the first day of Passover.

Ve'ten tal umatar:
The date we add ‘Ve’ten tal umatar livrocho’ would depend where one lives, and this halacha is brought in Talmud Bavli Tractate Ta’anit page 10a:

משנה : בשלשה במרחשון שואלין את הגשמים. רבן גמליאל אומר: בשבעה בו, חמשה עשר יום אחר החג, כדי שיגיע אחרון שבישראל לנהר פרת.

גמרא : אמר רבי אלעזר: הלכה כרבן גמליאל. תניא, חנניה אומר: ובגולה עד ששים בתקופה.

Mishnah: On the third of Mar’cheshvan, we begin to pray for rain. Rabban Gamliel says: (We begin) on the seventh day (of mar’cheshvan), fifteen days after the festival (succot), so that the last of the oleh regel can reach the Euphrates River.

Gemara : Rabbi Elazar said: The Halacha follows Rabban Gamliel….. Chananya says: And in the diaspora, (we begin) sixty days into the season.

We see that in Eretz Yisrael, we delay asking for rain for only two weeks so that the oleh regel can travel on dry roads. The Bet Yosef (Siman: 117,1) cites the 'Ran' stating that this practice continues even after the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash since people still travel from afar to be in Jerusalem for Succot. Erets Yisroel needs a lot of rain because the topography of Eretz Yisrael is high, and the rain does not remain to accumulate in Eretz Yisrael but rather flows away to the neighboring countries that are lower down. So as soon as the oleh regel will have reached the Euphrates River we begin to ask for rain.

However, in Chuts La'orets, since there is abundant rain, especially in Bavel with its lower topography, much of the rain that falls in neighboring countries flows down to Bavel. Therefore, they delay asking for rain until 60 days into the season (which is December 4 or 5, depending on the year). The Talmud goes on to say that all of chuts la’orets has the halacha like Bavel.

So we do see that when it comes to asking for rain it depends on which part of the world you live in, and how much the need for rain is, so one may ask if I live in the southern hemisphere I should be asking for rain when it's suitable for my climate? So let’s see Lehalacha how to navigate this question.

The first to navigate this question is the Rosh (Tractate Ta’anit), who lived in Europe, next to Germany, and later in Spain. He writes, "I see that in my part of the world, where I live, there is a need for rain even before the 60th day of the season, so I would permit one to begin to ask for rain earlier." However, the Rosh didn’t change the halacha. We see so far from the Rosh that we do not change the blessing for different areas, that may have different needs for rain. However, one could argue that the Southern Hemisphere, with its opposite seasons, might be different.

The Sefer Torat Chaim (volume 3 siman 3) is the first to write a responsa regarding the southern Hemisphere. He writes that, le’halacha one who lives in the Southern Hemisphere should not recite ‘Veten Tal Umatar’ throughout the year. This is because when it is winter in Erets Yisrael,it is summer there, and it is not appropriate for them to recite ‘Veten Tal Umatar’ during summer.

However, throughout the generations, this opinion has been challenged by many responsa, and according to halacha (Teshuvat Be’er Yitschiok, Rabbi Shmuel Salant), we say that since rain during the summer does not damage crops and, on the contrary, nowadays there are ways through technological advances to make use of rainwater even during the summer, the halacha is that even those who live in the Southern Hemisphere should recite the blessing like most of the world. It is important to note that if during the winter in Australia, by mistake one says ‘Veten Tal Umatar’ he does not need to repeat the tefillah.

Wishing you well.

Talmud Bavli, Tractate Ta’anit, page 10a.

Bet Yosef, Siman: 117,1.

Sefer Torat Chaim, Volume 3, Siman 3.

Teshuvat Be’er Yitschiok, Rabbi Shmuel Salant.