Tefillat Tal

What it is

Tefillat Tal is the Jewish prayer for dew. It belongs to the opening morning of Passover, and within Mussaf, the extra service of the festival, it is said before the rest of what the cantor repeats aloud. The name means 'Prayer for Dew', and the day is also called Tiqqun haTal. Customs for it echo the High Holidays. The tunes are the same; the ark holding the Torah is left open; the congregation stays standing. The cantor wears a kittel, a white garment, and some worshippers wear one too. The Baal Shem Tov is said to have worn one, and Hasidic Jews often follow that practice.

How the service runs

Several pieces are woven into the cantor's Mussaf repetition in the Ashkenazic rite. The Avot blessing takes a stanza of liturgical poetry written by Eliezer beRabbi Qallir. A second stanza of his follows in Gevurot. Then comes an unnamed poem that opens with the words Tal ten lirtzot artzekha, built on a reversed alphabet. Beyond these, congregations may add many more hymns, and custom decides which. Solomon ibn Gabirol wrote several of them. When the additions are finished, the cantor carries on with the rest of the Mussaf repetition.

Dew and rain

Tal belongs to a yearly rhythm of prayer about water. From the opening morning of Passover, the request for rain disappears from the services, and in some traditions a short line asking for dew, morid hatal, is said instead at every service. That continues until the prayers for rain return with Tefillat Geshem on Shemini Atzeret. The two prayers stand at opposite ends of the same stretch of the year. The Mishnah describes how geshem is inserted and says nothing about tal. The Talmud does mention adding tal, but it gives no fixed wording and ties it to no particular date.

In the prayer books

Early liturgical poets in the land of Israel treated the mention of tal as required, and it appears in most Italian, British, Spanish and French prayer books of the Middle Ages. The prayer books of the Geonim, by contrast, have no such addition, and German medieval sources did not say it either. The result is a patchwork: the practice spread unevenly, and where it took hold it took different shapes. The day's poetry and melody give it something of the feel of a High Holiday.

How Tefillat Tal is kept

On the opening morning of Passover, the congregation gathers for Mussaf. The cantor repeats the service aloud, and Tal is said before the rest. During it the ark holding the Torah is open and everyone stands. The tunes are those of the High Holidays. The cantor wears a kittel, a white garment, and some worshippers wear one as well. In the Ashkenazic rite the repetition includes poems by Eliezer beRabbi Qallir in the Avot and Gevurot blessings, an anonymous acrostic poem beginning Tal ten lirtzot artzekha, and often further hymns chosen by local custom. Then the cantor finishes the repetition.

When and where

Tal is said once a year, on the opening morning of Passover. It stands where the wet months give way to the dew months, and it starts the stretch of the year when rain is no longer asked for at services. That stretch ends on Shemini Atzeret, when Tefillat Geshem brings the prayers for rain back.

The prayer belongs to Jewish congregations wherever it is said, and the sources tie it most plainly to Israel, where the change from rain to dew shapes the farming year and the wording of the prayers. Most medieval prayer books that carry the addition come from Italy, Britain, Spain and France. The Geonic collections do not have it.

What Tefillat Tal means

Dew stands for the gentler water of the warm months, in place of the heavy rain that has fed the land. Asking for it is an act of trust as the year turns. The open ark and the standing congregation give the morning a solemn feel, and the white kittel worn by the cantor marks the day as set apart. Because the day borrows the tunes of the High Holidays, worshippers hear in it both the closing of one season and the opening of another.

Days Tefillat Tal is marked

Questions people ask about Tefillat Tal

See also

PassoverA Jewish spring festival celebrating freedom from slavery with ritual mealsYom KippurThe holiest day in Judaism, dedicated to fasting, prayer and atonementRosh HashanahThe Jewish New Year marked by shofar horn blasts, prayer and sweet foodsSukkotA seven-day autumn Jewish festival of temporary booths, harvest prayers and hospitality

Good reading and sources

• Tefillat Tal on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-09.