Read below to see the connection I have found. It has to do with the key words of "no rain" The Revelation of St. John the Divine
111
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood,
saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them
that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not;
for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy
a thousand two hundred and threescore days, (1260 days) clothed in sackcloth.
4 ¶ These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5
And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and
devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this
manner be killed.
6
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
Notice
above, it says 42 months, or 1260 days or 3 years and 6 months. It also
says they have the power to shut heaven and rain not in their prophecy.
Where else do we see this connection? The two witnesses are Elijah and
Moses.The Gospel according to
St. Luke
425 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the
days of Eli'jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
The General Epistle of
James
57
¶ Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold,
the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath
long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and
let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15
and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise
him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much.
17
Eli'jah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruits
As
we can see above, Elijah would pray or not pray for rain on Shmeni
Atzeret or the 8th day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Thus, we can
conclude that the 3 year and 6 months (42 months/1260 days) begins on
that day! You can see that in Zechariah 14 below.Zechariah
1416
¶ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the
nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year
to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to
keep the feast of tabernacles.17
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the
earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon
them
shall be no rain.18 And
if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there
shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that
come not up to
keep the feast of tabernacles.19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up
to keep the feast of tabernacles.Lets have more of a look into this...."Shemini
Atzeret, meaning "the eighth day of assembly," is a Biblical Jewish
holiday that follows the Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is written: "On
the eighth day you should hold a solemn gathering; you shall not work at
your occupation" (Numbers 29:35).
Praying for RainShemini Atzeret marks the beginning of the rainy season following the harvest in Israel.
The
prayer for rain, Tefilat Geshem, is the only ritual that is unique to
Shemini Atzeret. In ancient times, an offering was brought to the Temple
in Jerusalem on Shemini Atzeret. But once the Temple was destroyed, the
only Shemini Atzeret ritual that remained was the liturgy requesting
rain for a plentiful year.
After the prayer for rain is recited
on Shemini Atzeret, the phrase Masheev HaRuach U-Moreed HaGeshem (He
causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall) is inserted into the
Amidah prayer until Passover."
[
link to judaism.aboushortenerm]
"On
Passover we stop reciting the prayer for rain [in the Amidah], for
rains that fall at the end of Nissan are considered to be a bad sign for
the world, the time for the grain harvest has begun and rain will cause
the sheaves of grain lying in the field to rot, instead , we pray for
dew to fall and moisten the crops without harming drying grain. The
first day of Passover was destined from Creation as the time for dew to
fall.
Hence, from the first day of Passover until Shemini
Atzeret, we substitute the passage Morid haTal, "Who brings down dew",
for Mashiv haRuach u'Morid haGeshem, "Who causes the wind to blow and
the rain to fall", in the second paragraph of the Amidah. Similarly,
from the first day of chol hamo'ed in the passage of Barech alenu, the
phrase v'Ten Tal u'Matar liVerachah "grant dew and rain for a blessing"
is changed to read "grant a blessing."
Why do we stop reciting
the prayer for rain on the first day of Passover even though the days of
the Festival are still an auspicious time for rain?"