Q & A - WITH RABBI RISKIN
Question: What does an Israeli who frequently travels abroad do
about “v’ten tal u’matar livracha?”
Answer: If I understand your question correctly, the problem arises
since we in Israel begin reciting the request for rain in the daily amidah
(“v’ten tal u’matar livracha”) on the seventh day of mar-Cheshvan,
whereas in America and Europe it is recited on December 4th, in
accordance with the onset of the rainy season in Babylon. Virtually all of
the poskim agree that if the Israeli has already begun to recite the
request for rain in Israel, he continues to do so when he is abroad - even
before December 4th. He should not, however, lead the davening; if he
must (because he has yarzheit, for example), then he should recite
the request for rain in his personal amidah but repeat the amidah in
accordance with the way it would be recited in the Diaspora.
If he finds himself in the Diaspora on the seventh day of mar-Cheshvan,
my own personal position is to begin requesting rain on that day; after all,
my family and my congregation are all in Israel and my prayers are mainly
for them (about this there is a difference of opinion in the halakha).
