Questions tagged [weather]

The tag has no usage guidance.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

Praying for rain in the Diaspora

Why on this year (and on other years that precede civil leap years) do we start praying for rain in the Diaspora (by inserting the phrase 'Vetein tal umatar") at maariv of December 5 and not maariv of ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 98.9k
11 votes
1 answer
466 views

Is there an exhaustive list of astronomical/environmental events for which there are blessings?

Inspired by: What Bracha should you say on a Hurricane? What Blessing Does One Make on a Solar Eclipse? Bracha for the transit of Venus? What b'racha do you say on seeing the Aurora Borealis (if ...
Isaac Moses's user avatar
  • 48k
18 votes
3 answers
979 views

What Bracha should you say on a Hurricane?

What Bracha should you say on a hurricane? Oseh Ma'aseh Vereishis? You say Birchas Gomel if you travel over the sea; do you also say it if the sea travels over you?
follick's user avatar
  • 2,462
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Bracha on thunder and lightning - how often?

If you are in a rainstorm with thunder and lightning - you make the Brachos for them. What happens if the storm ends and then a few hours later (same day) it is raining again. Do you make another ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
6k views

Rainbow as a bad omen

There is a popular idea that seeing a rainbow is a bad sign, as if the world is deserving of a deluge (c"v) and the only reason Hashem does not do so is because of His promise. Is there any source for ...
Dave's user avatar
  • 21.1k
5 votes
2 answers
248 views

"Oseh ma'aseh braishis” on a rainbow. Is this a brocho levatoloh?

Someone made the brocho of “oseh ma'aseh braishis” on a rainbow. Is this a brocho levatoloh? What sources deal with this issue please? (I have posed the shaaloh to my Rav.)
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
254 views

What's the bracha for a circumzenithal arc?

Upon seeing a rainbow, we say, זוכר הברית, ונאמן בבריתו, וקים במאמרו ...who remembers the covenant, is faithful in his covenant, and fulfills his word. I recently witnessed a natural event ...
Premundane's user avatar
  • 4,501
14 votes
1 answer
829 views

Mandatory evacuation on Shabbat: what can and can't you do?

A major storm hit New England starting this past Friday. While people knew this was coming and precautions were already in place, apparently (according to a news article I read tonight) some areas ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
555 views

Dew distinct from water among the shiva mashkim

The seven mashkim are blood, water, milk, honey, wine, oil, and dew. What is the difference between water and dew? Isn't dew a type of water?
shlomo's user avatar
  • 3,097
10 votes
3 answers
292 views

Do you make a new bracha on lightning & thunder when catching up to the same storm?

This M.Y. question cites Shulchan Aruch O.C. 227 that states that as long as it is overcast, one recites the blessing on lightning / thunder once (unless the storm continues into the next day.) If it ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
6 votes
6 answers
6k views

Plans for building a sukkah shlock

A sukkah roof has to be open to the sky, and made of loose, plant-based material. Practically speaking, this means that everything inside gets wet when it rains.....unless your sukkah has a "shlock," ...
MTL's user avatar
  • 19.1k
6 votes
2 answers
580 views

How to determine what a "normal wind" would do to a sukka

What a "normal wind" ("ruach metzuya") would do affects various laws of sukka construction. For example, in this guide from the Star-K to using sechach mats, they require that sechach-eligible ...
Isaac Moses's user avatar
  • 48k
5 votes
1 answer
947 views

Bracha on Lightning without Thunder

Does anyone have a modern day psak on lightning without thunder colloquially known as "heat lightning"? The Chaye Adam says it's caused by heat and he suggests that maybe is not what the gemara was ...
YDK's user avatar
  • 28.2k
4 votes
1 answer
384 views

Rainbow: Making a Bracha on a bad Omen

As discussed in some earlier questions Rainbows are a bad Omen yet we are Halachicly commanded to make a Bracha on it. The Gemara in Chagigah (16A) says you may not gaze at one so how do you make the ...
simchastorah's user avatar
  • 9,061
2 votes
1 answer
87 views

Do communities set public fast days for hurricanes or other natural disasters?

I hear occasionally about fast days in Israel when there's no rain. Some examples are in this answer. From one of the links there, R' Mosheh Lichtenstein is not in favor of fasting for rain in a ...
Heshy's user avatar
  • 9,136
11 votes
1 answer
278 views

Why don't we say "Misod" for Geshem and Tal?

On Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the Shat"z says a short paragraph at the beginning of his repetition that starts with the words "מסוד חכמים ונבונים," which is an explanation for the insertion of extra ...
MTL's user avatar
  • 19.1k
10 votes
2 answers
479 views

Why don't we follow the Shulchan Aruch's nusach of the blessing on a rainbow?

Background: The Talmud (Berachot 59A) and the Rambam (Berachot 10:17), and Tur 229 tell us the blessing of the Rainbow is as follows: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֶלוֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם זוֹכֵר ...
Menachem's user avatar
  • 44.4k
8 votes
5 answers
254 views

Why strong wind when splitting the sea?

The verses describing the splitting of the Yam Suf (Reed Sea) say a strong wind blew overnight before the sea split. To me, this implies a gradual process of moving a great deal of water. On the ...
Michael Sandler's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why does Lubavitch eat in the Sukkah when it rains?

I have always heard that while we do not eat in the Sukkah while it rains, those of Chabad do. Why is this so? Found it on wikipedia too: Though the halakha doesn't obligate one to eat or sleep in ...
yydl's user avatar
  • 38.6k
7 votes
4 answers
1k views

Rainbow, telling a friend

We know The rainbow is a bad Omen. Is one allowed to tell a friend when he sees one, in order to allow him to make a Bracha or should he hold back as it is a bad sign?
simchastorah's user avatar
  • 9,061
6 votes
2 answers
543 views

Bracha on an indirect view of lightning

The general practice is to make a bracha on the sky illuminating from lightning without actually seeing the bolt. Does anyone know a source for this? Is this the most appropriate practice? Also, ...
YDK's user avatar
  • 28.2k
5 votes
1 answer
558 views

Is Snow Muktza?

Does anyone know good sources that talk about this issue? Perhaps we can divide this into 3 categories: Is snow generally muktza since it has no practical use (as opposed to rainwater which has uses)...
YDK's user avatar
  • 28.2k
5 votes
1 answer
4k views

What to do if Shabbat candles go out

What should a lady do if, after kindling the candles, a gust of wind blows them out, or they tip over and are extinguished?
cookie monster's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
343 views

Tal UMatar - for whom?

According to the build-up in this question the point of Tal UMatar is to pray for good rains in one's local area. The same seems to be assumed in other questions and especially a couple of different ...
Seth J's user avatar
  • 41.6k
4 votes
0 answers
71 views

Glass boxes and Hadlaka Oseh Mitzvah [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Fish Tank Menorahs I think this is a familiar question, but since I don't have an answer, I'll ask it here. Since the halacha is that Hadlaka Oseh Mitzva (the conditions at ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 1,464
4 votes
1 answer
236 views

Bracha on seeing indirect light from lightning?

As this question mentions, one should say the bracha if the sky lights up, even if one does not see the bolt. What if one is facing away from the window when lightning strikes and the light fills the ...
Premundane's user avatar
  • 4,501
4 votes
10 answers
370 views

Snow in Halacha [closed]

Name the many references in different contexts in Halacha to snow?
SimchasTorah's user avatar
  • 33.2k
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Seuda Hoshanah Rabah

If I recall correctly the reason we eat a Seuda on Hoshanah Rabah is it is the last day we have a Chiuv to eat in the Succah. Suppose it is raining and you can not eat in the Succah do you still have ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
480 views

Can a person say the bracha for thunder if he hasn't seen the lightning?

Can someone say the bracha upon hearing thunder without having seen the lightning bolt (in any form, i.e. he didn't notice any light at all?) Scientifically, lightning causes the thunder. (Most of the ...
DanF's user avatar
  • 70.4k
-4 votes
2 answers
632 views

If it rains on succot what does it signify [closed]

If it rains on succot meaning one cannot eat in the succah and must therefore stay in the house. Is this 'rain' just coincidence, or is hashem telling you 'I dont want you to keep my mizvot' perhaps ...
5730's user avatar
  • 25