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One of my friends who lived in Israel explained that, of course, precipitation during the "winter" months is vital and it is considered a great blessing from G-d. This we know is alluded to several times in the Torah, for example in the 2nd paragraph of the Shema, among other places.

But my friend said that rain is an immediate blessing, whereas snow is a "deferred" blessing because one must wait for the snow to melt to receive its rewards.

This is an obvious "scientific" explanation. But, I'm curious if any Jewish source such as Talmud, a commentary, a rav, etc. may have mentioned or alluded to this idea. This may be a "wild guess", and just my friend's statement, of course.

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  • Please assist with tagging. Interestingly, we have a tag for snow, but not one for rain?
    – DanF
    Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 17:20
  • Interesting point about the tags. Most of the rain questions are just tagged weather. Maybe we should add the tag. We have a geshem-tal-ruach tag, but that’s used for Mashiv HaRuach and V’sein Tal questions, seemingly.
    – DonielF
    Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 17:23

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Ta’anit 3b

אמר רבא מעלי תלגא לטורי כחמשה מטרי לארעא

Rava said: Snow is five times as beneficial for the mountains as rain is for the ground.

The Gemara doesn’t seem to provide an explanation as to why this should be true (apart from sourcing this idea from a drasha) but maybe it’s for the reason you suggest.

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  • Interesting. I'll have to look this up. Maybe a mefaresh explains.
    – DanF
    Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 1:11

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