By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
Kiddush Lavanah with an Eclipse
In this paper I would like to take another look at the Lunar eclipses that I examined in 5755 (1995). This review was prompted by the fact that these past eclipses are virtually identical to the eclipses which we will see six years from now, in 5774 - 5776. This suggests that there is a pattern that HaShem is using to get our attention. Since, as we shall see, an eclipse serves as an evil omen, it is important that we understand what we are to do in order to show that we have learned the lessons that the eclipses are coming to teach.
The whole point of studying celestial events is to learn to understand the message that The Creator is sending to His people. If we waste our time with foolish speculations, then we will be trampling upon a very precious gift from HaShem. Therefore, I hope to bring out the lesson that needs to be learned and the actions that need to be performed in light of these eclipses, these judgments from HaShem.
The current year is 5768 (2008). This year is a Shmita (Sabbatical) year. The next year, 5769 (2009) is when we will say Birchat HaChama[1]. This very special blessing is recited on Nisan 14, 5769 (April 8, 2009) which is Erev Pesach. These are very auspicious times for us to serve and praise HaShem for His care of His people. These are the times for us to renew our love and avodah (service) for HaShem.
The following chart provides a summary of the two sets of eclipses:
5755 - 5756 | 5774 - 5776 |
Lunar Eclipse Nisan 15, 5755 (April 15, 1995) Pesach | Lunar Eclipse Nisan 15, 5774 (April 15, 2014) Pesach |
Lunar Eclipse Tishri 14, 5756 (October 8, 1995) Erev Succoth | Lunar Eclipse Tishri 14, 5775 (October 8, 2014) Erev Succoth |
Solar Eclipse Nisan 28, 5756 (April 17, 1996) The 13th day of the Omer | Solar Eclipse Adar 29, 5775 (March 20, 2015) The new year for Jewish kings. |
Lunar Eclipse Nisan 15, 5756 (April 3, 1996) Pesach | Lunar Eclipse Nisan 15, 5775 (April 4, 2015) Pesach and Shabbat |
Lunar Eclipse Tishri 15, 5756 (September 27, 1996) Succoth | Lunar Eclipse Tishri 15, 5776 (September 28, 2015)Succoth |
Lunar Eclipse II Adar 15, 5756 (March 24, 1997) Shushan Purim | Lunar Eclipse II Adar 13, 5776 (March 23, 2016) Fast of Esther |
The coming eclipses, in six years, are part of the next Shmita cycle and occur during the year of the Jubilee (Yovel). Now, since both the Shmita and the Yovel year provide us with extra time for Torah study, then we can begin to see the tikkun (correction) for the eclipses. If we study Torah then we will be less likely to fall into the sins which cause an eclipse.
I would like to look at these past eclipses as a contrast to the series of eclipses that will be visible in 5774 (2014). In this sequence of eclipses, there are five lunar eclipses and one solar eclipse.
We know, from celestial geometry, that a lunar eclipse can only occur in the middle of the Biblical month, and that a solar eclipse can only occur at the beginning of a Biblical month (Rosh Chodesh).
The first of every Biblical month is called Rosh Chodesh (new moon), and several of the festivals fall on the middle of the month (full moon). Thus the eclipses are poised to fall on Rosh Chodesh (solar) and the festivals. The fact that they come in groups, six months apart, is again related to celestial geometry.
If the eclipses fall at regular intervals, how can we relate them to our behavior and responsibilities? It would seem that they are just celestial events that are unrelated to our behavior. So, how can we KNOW that they are related to our behavior and that they are sent by HaShem to speak a specific message to us?
The fact that they are a specific message from HaShem can be learned from the Torah:
Bereshit (Genesis) 1:14-15 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
We know that these eclipse are related to our behavior from the oral Torah, Mechilta to Parshat Bo (second chapter) as well as in the Talmud:
Succah 29a Our Rabbis taught, When the sun is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for the whole world. This may be illustrated by a parable. To what can this be compared? To a human being who made a banquet for his servants and put up for them a lamp. When he became wroth with them he said to his servant, ‘Take away the lamp from them, and let them sit in the dark’. It was taught: R. Meir said, Whenever the luminaries are in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel since they are inured to blows. This may be compared to a school teacher who comes to school with a strap in his hand. Who becomes apprehensive? He who is accustomed to be daily punished. Our Rabbis taught, When the sun is in eclipse it is a bad omen for idolaters; when the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel, since Israel reckons by the moon and idolaters by the sun. If it is in eclipse in the east, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the east; if in the west, it is a bad omen for those who dwell in the west; if in the midst of heaven it is bad omen for the whole world. If its face is red as blood, [it is a sign that] the sword is coming to the world; if it is like sack-cloth, the arrows of famine are coming to the world; if it resembles both, the sword and the arrows of famine are coming to the world. If the eclipse is at sunset calamity will tarry in its coming; if at dawn, it hastens on its way: but some say the order is to be reversed. And there is no nation which is smitten that its gods are not smitten together with it, as it is said, And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. But when Israel fulfill the will of the Omnipresent, they need have no fear of all these [omens] as it is said, Thus saith the HaShem,' Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the nations are dismayed at them, the idolaters will be dismayed, but Israel will not be dismayed. Our Rabbis taught, On account of four things is the sun in eclipse: On account of an Ab Beth din who died and was notmourned fittingly; on account of a betrothed maiden who cried out aloud in the city and there was none to save her; on account of sodomy, and on account of two brothers whose blood was shed at the same time. And on account of four things are the luminaries in eclipse: On account of those who perpetrate forgeries, on account of those who give false witness; on account of those who rear small cattle in the land of Israel; and on account of those who cut down good trees.
The eclipse of the moon and stars is caused by four kinds of sin:
(1) forgery,
(2) false witness,
(3) breeding small cattle in Israel (for they spoil the land), and
(4) cutting down fruit-trees.
Thus we see that our behavior brings us judgment from HaShem in the form of an eclipse.
Do you find this idea to be difficult given that our Hakhamim can predict with great precision eclipses of both the moon and the sun? Does this mean that people engage in forgery, bearing false witness, etc., with the same clock-like regularity as the movements of the sun and the moon?
The answer is yes! Anyone who seriously evaluates his own behavior will discover that we habitually fall into the same sins on a very predictable basis. It is only the Tzadik, the righteous man, who is working on himself who can look back and see that he no longer repeats his sins. Most of us are not like this. We are complacent in our study and in our mussar[2]. We do not work on ourselves.
The Midrash also teaches us that our behavior is related to an eclipse:
Midrash Rabbah - Leviticus XXXI:9 R. Levi said: Every day the Holy One, blessed be He, sits in judgment on the globes of the sun and the moon which are reluctant to go forth to shine upon the world. What reason do they give? People burn incense to us, people worship us. R. Justa b. Shunem said: What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do to them? He sits in judgment on them and they go forth and shine upon the world against their will. Hence it is written, Every morning doth He bring His right to light--lo ne'dar {Zeph. III, 5). What is the meaning of ’lo ne'dar’? 'It does not cease.’ But the unrighteous knoweth no shame (ib.). People are not ashamed but worship them. They see them being punished[3] but are not ashamed.[4]
The Midrash is relating the fact that we pay undue attention to the celestial bodies. Because we do this, we fail to pay attention to the specific things that we can do to correct the eclipses in the first place. The Midrash specifically relates that we should be involved in Torah study so that we can properly worship and serve HaShem. Remember that if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, then HaShem will rearrange the celestial bodies to show an improved future where we are no longer deserving of judgment. It behooves us to be doing the commands of HaShem that we learn through our Torah study.
The Saros Cycle
These two series of eclipses are separated by slightly more than eighteen years. This period of time is called a Saros cycle. There are roughly 29 lunar and 41 solar eclipses in an 18 year 11 day Saros period. This means that one Saros, of eighteen years+, after an eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon return to approximately the same relative geometry, and a nearly identical eclipse will occur. Thus we would expect that the eclipses six years from now should be nearly identical to the eclipses we experienced eleven years ago. This also suggests that there is a connection between these sets of eclipses.
Lunar and solar eclipses are possible only when the Moon is close to one of the nodes of its orbit (i.e. the points where the lunar orbit, which lies on a plane displaced by five degrees from the ecliptic plane, intersects the ecliptic plane, where the Earth orbit lies). Now the sequence of nodes repeats itself everySaros, implying that the Saros typically defines the interval between two successive lunar or solar eclipses in a given point of the Earth.
Thus the Saros cycle teaches us that the eclipses which began in 5755 are related to the eclipses that begin in 5774. The Saros cycle connects these two series.
Future Eclipse Details
There will be a total lunar eclipse on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 (Includes Israel). This was Nisan 15, 5774 on the Anno Mundi calendar, which will be Pesach, G-d willing. This is year 17 of the 19 year cycle, it is a leap year (Full-leap). This is the sixth year of the Shmita cycle. We will read the following Torah and Haftorah on that day: Shemot 12:21-51, Bamidbar 28:16-25, Joshua 5:2 – 6:1 + 27 (Sephardim), Joshua 3:5-7; Joshua 5:2 – 6:1 + 27 (Ashkenazim).
There will be another total lunar eclipse on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 (Includes Israel). This will be Tishri 14, 5775 on the Anno Mundi calendar, which will be Erev Succoth. This is year 18 of the 19 year cycle, it is not a leap year (Normal). This will be a Shmita year.
There will be a total solar eclipse on Friday, March 20, 2015 (Partial eclipse in Israel). Which will be Adar 29, 5775 on the Anno Mundi calendar. This is a Shmita year. The next day will be the beginning of the new year for Jewish kings. It is also a very special Shabbat. It will be one of four special Sabbathsthat will be observed before Pesach. It is called Shabbat HaChodesh. We will read the following Torah and Haftorah on this special Shabbat: Shemot 11:1 – 12:28, Yehezekel 45:18 - 46:15 (Sephardim), Yehezekel 45:16-46:18 (Ashkenazim). This Shabbat is also special because it is Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. We will read the following Torah and Haftorah for Rosh Chodesh: Bamidbar 27:15 – 28:25, Yeshayahu 66:1-24. Please be aware that all solar eclipses occur immediately before Rosh Chodesh.
There will be a total lunar eclipse on Saturday, April 4, 2015 (Includes Israel). This is Nisan 15, 5775 on the Anno Mundi calendar, which will be Pesach and Shabbat. This is year eighteen of the nineteen year cycle, it is not a leap year (Normal). We will read the following Torah and Haftorah on this day: Shemot 12:21-51, Bamidbar 28:16-25, Yehoshua 5:2 – 6:1 + 27 (Sephardim), and Yehoshua 3:5-7; Yehoshua 5:2 – 6:1 + 27 (Ashkenazim).
5776 AM (2016 CE) is a Yovel year according to Rabbi Yehuda + Rabbanan. See yovel1. The Yovel begins on Tishri 1, 5776. All Hebrew indentured servants go free during the Yovel year.
There will be a total lunar eclipse on Monday, September 28, 2015 (Partial in Israel). This will be Tishri 15, 5776 on the Anno Mundi calendar, which will be Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles). This is year nineteen of the nineteen year cycle, it is a leap year (Full-leap). This is the first year of the Shmita cycle. We will read the following Torah and Haftorah on this day: Vayikra 22:26 - 23:44, Bamidbar 29:12 - 29:16, and Zechariah 14:1-21.
Finally, there will be lunar eclipse on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. This will be II Adar 13, 5776 on the anno Mundi calendar. This will be the Fast of Esther.
The following table illustrates the connections between the two sets of eclipses:
Pesach | Erev Succoth | The 13th day of the Omer | Pesach & Shabbat | tdtdtdtd
