Taanit 25: Fasting, Praying, and Provoking God

R. Hanina Ben Dosa, pious miracle worker, appears here again. Plus, back to rain... When a rabbinic leader decrees a fast, and the outcomes are different. What accounts for that, and what kind of pleading with - or rebuke to - God brings the rain? Also, depictions of the heavens and the clouds as choosing what to do, where to go. Plus, the comparison of righteous people to a date palm and a cedar tree, and why both metaphors are necessary. [Who's Who: Shmuel HaKatan] Also, regarding his decrees, including calling a fast. How close of a connection between prayer and response - what's cause and effect, what's laudable and what leads to ambivalence?