1)

(a)"Yoreh" means 'teaches'. The early rain in Marcheshvan 'teaches' people - to repair their roofs, take their fruit from the field into the house, and to do whatever else needs to be done before the winter sets in.

(b)It can also mean 'waters', because it waters the earth right down to the depths. And it also has connotations - of coming down gently.

(c)We initially think that "Yoreh" cannot have connotations of shooting, implying that if we fail to keep Torah and Mitzvos, it will descend in a destructive manner, to destroy the fruit that is still on the trees, the plants and the trees - because it is compared to Malkosh, which definitely has connotations of Berachah.

(d)"Malkosh" is the acronym of 'Melilos v'Kashin' (the ears and the stalks' - meaning that the Malkosh descends upon the grain when it has already grown to the stage of ears and stalks and helps it to ripen (and does not have connotations of destruction).

2)

(a)We then suggest that "Malkosh" could be the acronym of 'Mal' (to cut down) and 'Kash' (hard). It might cut down the houses and the trees, and it might be hard on the corn that has already grown.

(b)We finally conclude that our starting point is "Yoreh" (and not "Malkosh"). The source that convinces us that "Yoreh" can only be a Berachah, is the Pasuk in Yoel, the end of which the Tana quoted in our Mishnah - " ... Ki Nasan Lachem es ha'Moreh li'Tzedakah ... Moreh u'Malkosh ba'Rishon."

(c)One particular Berachah of Malkosh is that it fills the pits with water. It is also a potential curse inasmuch as it is 'Ma'aleh Saka'in' - meaning that it brings with it a certain type of locust.

3)

(a)We learn that Yoreh does not occur in Kislev from the words "b'Ito (Yoreh u')Malkosh" - which teaches us that just as Malkosh falls in the ideal time (in Nisan), so too, does Yoreh, fall in the ideal time (i.e. in Marcheshvan, and not in Kislev).

(b)We now explain "Malkosh" as the acronym of 'Mal Kashyusan shel Yisrael' - which means that, when the rain does not come when it is due, it causes Yisrael to soften their hearts, they fast and do Teshuvah, and they give Tzedakah.

(c)A second acronym is 'she'Memalei Tevu'ah b'Kasheha' - meaning that it fills the stalks (which have already grown by then) with grain.

(d)The third acronym of "Malkosh" - is 'Melilos (ears of corn) v'Kashin' (stalks), because the Malkosh causes them to attain their full ripeness.

4)

(a)Yoreh consists of three rainfalls. According to Rebbi Meir, the first occurs on the third of Marcheshvan, the second, on the seventh - and the third, on the seventeenth.

(b)According to Rebbi Yehudah, the first and second falls correspond to the second and third falls of Rebbi Meir. Likewise, the first and second falls according to Rebbi Yosi, correspond to the second and third falls of Rebbi Yehudah. The third fall ...

1. ... according to Rebbi Yehudah - occurs on the twenty-third of Marcheshvan.

2. ... according to Rebbi Yosi - on Rosh Chodesh Kislev

(c)According to Rebbi Yosi - Yoreh (which is synonymous with the third rainfall) occurs on Rosh Chodesh Kislev.

(d)According to Rebbi Yosi - the Yechidim (the Gedolei ha'Dor) begin fasting for rain - on Rosh-Chodesh Kislev.

5)

(a)Rav Chisda rules like Rebbi Yosi. Others quote Rav Chisda as ruling like Raban Gamliel (in a second Beraisa). According to the Tana Kama of that Beraisa, one asks for rain on the third of Marcheshvan. According to Raban Gamliel - it is on the seventh.

(b)In yet a third Beraisa, Raban Shimon ben Gamliel says that if rain fell for seven consecutive days, that will cover either the first and second fall of Yoreh, or the second and third - like Rebbi Yosi (the only Tana whose dates span seven days): between the seventeenth and the twenty-third of Marcheshvan (including both given days), and between the twenty-third and Rosh Chodesh Kislev (excluding them).

(c)The practical significance of the date of...

1. ... the first of the three falls of the Yoreh - is that that is when one begins to ask for rain.

2. ... the third fall - is that if no rain has fallen until then, that is when one begins to fast.

(d)According to Rebbi Zeira, the date of the second fall marks the time-period of Nedarim - meaning that someone who, for example, makes a vow not to derive benefit from a specific object until the rain season, is permitted to derive benefit from it until the second rainfall of Yoreh.

6)

(a)According to Rav Zevid, the second fall of the Yoreh marks olives, with reference to the Mishnah in Pe'ah - which permits anyone to take the olives of Pe'ah that are left on the trees, from the second rain and onwards (see also Mishnah Shevi'is, Perek 9, Mishnah 7).

(b)Everyone is permitted to take Leket, Shichechah and Pe'ah from the corn from the time the Nemushos have been. According to Rebbi Yochanan, this means old men who walk on sticks. According to Resh Lakish - it means after the poor have been with their children, who collect whatever their parents leave behind.

(c)The Mishnah in Pe'ah also discusses ...

1. ... Peret - (single grapes that fall from the vine) and ...

2. ... Olelos - (incomplete clusters of grapes).

(d)Everyone is permitted to take them - after the poor have collected from the field twice.

7)

(a)According to Rav Papa, the second fall of Yoreh marked the turning-point with regard to traversing 'Shevilei ha'Reshus' - referring to the Takanah of Yehoshua bin Nun, granting the right to take short-cuts, via pathways that passed through other people's fields. This was permitted up until the second rain-fall, when the produce had already begun to grow, and people passing through one's field would be likely to cause damage to the plants.

(b)According to Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, it marks the Bi'ur of fruit - (i.e. straw and stubble) following the Shemitah-year.

(c)'Revi'ah' - refers to the act of intimacy, since the rain is intimate with the ground, causing the fruit to grow. That is what Rav Yehudah mean when he said 'Mitra Ba'alah d'Ar'a' ('the rain is the husband of the earth').

(d)The amount of rain that needs to fall in order not to have to fast ...

1. ... during the first Revi'ah - is enough to penetrate the earth to a depth of one Tefach (four inches [ten centimeters]) and make it soggy.

2. ... during the second Revi'ah - is sufficient for the earth to become so wet, that one is able to shape the lid of a barrel with it.

8)

(a)When Rav Chisda says that rain which comes before 'v'Atzar' is not included in "v'Atzar" - he means that if it rained before the time of 'Keri'as Shema', the curse of "v'Atzar es ha'Shamayim ... " has been dispelled.

(b)Abaye qualifies Rav Chisda's statement - by restricting it to the night-time, but early morning rain is ineffective, as Rav Yehudah bar Yitzchak taught.

(c)Rav Yehudah bar Yitzchak said that morning clouds do not portend blessing. Abaye reconciles this with the folk-saying that if the rain is coming down in the early morning, then the grain-merchant may as well fold his sack and go to sleep on it - because, due to the abundance of rain, everyone will be house-bound, and he will not be able to sell his grain anyway.

(d)Abaye reconciles the two - by establishing the latter when there are heavy rain-clouds in the sky, whereas he (Abaye) is speaking about rain that falls from light clouds (which are sufficient to dispel "v'Atzar" in the evening).

9)

(a)A year in which Teves is dry, is a good year, says Rav Yehudah, because the paths are dry for the Talmidim to go to Yeshiva (though it is not clear why specifically Teves). The second reason for that - is because then, the produce will not be smitten by drought.

(b)When Rav Chisda says that if rain muddies the paths in Teves, it is a sign of a good year - he is speaking when it had not rained earlier, whereas Rav Yehudah is speaking when it had (though it is unclear how this ties up with the first reason).

(c)Rav Chisda says that if rain fell on one area but not on another, this is not included in the curse of "v'Atztar" (because the one can then assist the other). We reconcile this with the statement of Rav Yehudah Amar Rav, who, explaining a Pasuk in Amos, says that if one section of land receives rain and not the other, both suffer "v'Atzar" - by establishing the latter, when it rained heavily on that section, in effect, providing it with a double portion of rain and swamping it out; whereas Rav Chisda speaks when the section that received rain received a regular rainfall.

(d)Rava support this answer from the expression used by Amos "Chalakah Achas Timatar" (the Pasuk that serves as Rav Yehudah Amar Rav's source) - implying that it turns into a swamp.

10)

(a)When Rebbi Avahu says that one recites a Berachah over rain when 'the Chasan goes out to meet the Kalah' - he means that the rain falls with such velocity that, as one drop falls to the ground, the previous drop jumps up to meet it (or that so much water falls that the rain in the markets forms rivulets which flow into each other).

(b)According to Rav Yehudah Amar Rav, the Berachah reads 'Modim Anachnu Lach ... al Kol Tipah she'Horadta Lanu' - to which Rebbi Yochanan added 'Ilu Finu Malei Shirah ka'Yom ... v'Yamlichu es Shimcha Malkenu" (taken from 'Nishmas Kol Chai' that we say on Shabbos morning).

11)

(a)We initially thought that the Berachah concludes "Baruch ... Rov ha'Hoda'os'. The problem with that is - why 'most of the thanks' rather than 'all the thanks'?

(b)We therefore emend it to - 'Kel ha'Hoda'os'.

(c)Rav Papa says - that one should therefore say both 'Baruch ... Kel ha'Hoda'os v'Rov ha'Hoda'os'.

(d)The conclusion of the Berachah now means - 'with an abundance of thanks, G-d of all the thanks' (according to Rashi who switches the order).