Responsa for Taanit 24:7
רב יהושע בריה דרב אידי איקלע לבי רב אסי עבדו ליה עגלא תילתא אמרו ליה ליטעום מר מידי א"ל בתעניתא יתיבנא אמרו ליה ולוזיף מר וליפרע לא סבר מר להא דאמר רב יהודה אמר רב לוה אדם תעניתו ופורע אמר להו תענית חלום הוא
R'Joshua, the son of R'Idi chanced to be with R'Assi, and after they had prepared in his honour a three-year-old calf<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Another explanation is: a calf the third born of its mother.');"><sup>5</sup></span> they said to him, 'Will the Master partake of it? ' He replied.'
Teshuvot HaRosh
Regarding their protest against petitioning on the grounds that it portends curse—even in their opinion [rain] does not portend curse until the month of Nisan [=early spring] has ended, as the Mishna states (Ta’anit 12b): “If Nisan ended and rains fell, they portend curse.” Moreover, in the source for their words, have they not realized that it is derived from a verse (I Samuel 12:17): “Is it not the wheat harvest today? [I will call out to the Lord, and he will bring thunder and rain, and you will know and see that your wickedness before the Lord, in that you asked for a king, is excessive]”? And so which harvest is set for right now, that would mean that we do not need rain? Moreover, the Talmud states on this [Mishna]: “R. Yose b. Avin said: this only applies if no rain had yet fallen, but if rain had previously fallen, the present rain portends blessing.”
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