THE JEWISH PRAYER FOR RAIN IN BABYLONIA BY ARNOLD A. LASKER Margate, Florida AND DANIEL J. LASKER Beer-Sheva With the development of Jewish law during the rabbinic period, different customs emerged in the Land of Israel and in Babylonia. One such divergence was in the prayer for rain, i.e. the insertion of the phrase ve-ten tal u-matar li-verakhah (grant dew and rain for a blessing) into the Shemoneh 'Esreh. The practice in the Land of Israel was to begin the recitation of this prayer usually in early October, setting the date in accordance with the Jewish lunisolar calendar. The Babylonian