The Tosefta on Fasting and Praying for Rain

2:4. Mondays and Thursdays are designated days for communal fasts. On these days, the courts are in session in the small towns; on these days, we enter the synagogues and read, and on these days, we pause for the reading of the scroll [i.e., Megillat Ta‘anit, the Scroll of Fasting]. What is the difference between a communal fast and a private fast? On a communal fast, we eat and drink while it is still day, which is not the case for a private fast; on a communal fast, we are forbidden to engage in labor, wash, anoint, wear shoes, and engage in conjugal relations, which is not the case for a private one; on a communal fast, we enter the synagogues and read, which is not the case for a private fast; on a communal fast, we bring out the ark to the city square, which is not the case for a private fast; on a communal fast, we pray twenty-four blessings, which is not the case for a private fast; on a communal fast, the priests raise their palms¹ four times a day, which is not the case for a private fast; we do not stop a communal fast on the festive days that are written in the scroll, which is not the case for a private fast. [ . . . ]

13. An incident occurred involving a certain pious man who was told to pray so that rain would fall. He prayed, and rain fell. They said to him, “Just as you prayed and it rained, so too pray and it will go away.” He replied, “Go out and see, and if a man can stand at Keren Ofel² and dip his feet in the Kidron Valley, we will pray that rain not fall.” However, we are confident that the Omnipresent will not bring a flood upon the world, as it is stated: and there shall be no more flood (Genesis 9:11), and it says: for this is as the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn [that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth] (Isaiah 54:9). R. Meir says, “There will be no flood of water, but there can be a flood of fire and brimstone, in the manner that He brought upon the Sodomites, as it is stated: and the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom [and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire] (Genesis 19:24).” R. Judah says, “There will be no flood upon all flesh, but there can be a flood for individuals.” How so? If one fell into the sea and died, or if his ship capsized at sea and he died, that is his flood. R. Yosi says, “There will be no flood upon everything, but there can be a flood for the nations of the world in the days of the Messiah, as it is stated: and I took my staff Graciousness, and cut it asunder, that I might break My covenant which I had made with all the peoples (Zechariah 11:10). What does it state next? And it was broken on that day (Zechariah 11:11).”