A lunar eclipse
[א] (הלכה 905)
> Today's halacha will deal with a lunar eclipse, which will occur tonight.
Question: What is the significance of a lunar eclipse, and does one make a bracha over it?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Sukkah1 says: 'It was taught, Rabbi Meir says: Whenever the luminaries are eclipsed, it is a bad sign for the enemies of Israel, because they are accustomed to their afflictions. This is comparable to a teacher who comes to the schoolhouse with a strap in his hand — who worries? The one who is accustomed to being struck every single day, he worries. The Rabbis taught: When the sun is eclipsed, it is a bad sign for the idolaters; when the moon is eclipsed, it is a bad sign for the enemies of Israel, because Israel reckons by the moon and the idolaters by the sun. If it is eclipsed in the east, it is a bad sign for those who dwell in the east; in the west, a bad sign for those who dwell in the west; in the middle of the sky, a bad sign for the entire world .. And when Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, they need not fear any of these, as it is said: "כה אמר ה' אל דרך הגויים אל תלמדו ומאותות השמים אל תחתו כי יחתו הגויים מהמה" ("Thus says the Lord, do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed by the signs of heaven, for the nations are dismayed by them") — the nations are dismayed, but Israel is not dismayed', [and the Gemara continues there to bring matters on account of which the luminaries are eclipsed].
Since Chazal said that an eclipse is not a good sign for Israel, the Sefer Chasidim2 wrote: 'When the moon is eclipsed it is a bad sign for the enemies of Israel3 therefore one must fast, for a person fasts on account of a dream, all the more so for all of Israel'.
And he further wrote4: 'And if a person sees luminaries being eclipsed, such as the moon, he must fast, for since one fasts on account of a dream, on account of the whole world all the more so. And likewise the prophet, when he would see calamity, would pray and tell them to repent and fast, and this is what is said5 "כי יצומו [וגומ'] אינני רצם" ("When they fast [etc.] I will not accept them")'.
The words of the Sefer Chasidim were cited in the Knesses HaGedolah6, and in the Magen Avraham7.
However, the Shulchan Gavoah8 wrote [and it was cited in the Divrei Menachem9]: 'And so we have seen as proof many times that the moon was eclipsed and in that year there came pestilence or sword or famine, and at times nothing occurred in that city — who knows in which place of Israel, far or near, something happened to them — except that they did not have the custom to fast over this, only that I am greatly distressed when I see it eclipsed'.
And the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Palagi10 wrote: 'And nevertheless, when this matter occurred, in order not to alarm Israel I chose not to decree even an individual fast but rather thus I did: to arouse to repentance and to plead for mercy, to establish a study session in a gathering, and at times to stand in the house of the Lord at night to perform a tikkun karet (the kabbalistic rectification for the sin of karet), and may it be acceptable before the Lord and nullify all harsh and evil decrees, may this be His will, amen, may it be His will (אכי"ר)'.
If so, in practice the custom is not to fast on the day there is a lunar eclipse; however, this is a time fitting to be aroused
The commentators asked11 that ostensibly, since this is a natural and fixed phenomenon, then why is the eclipse considered a bad sign — as the Sefer Nechmad VeNa'im12 wrote: 'And it is found according to this that every eclipse is necessary, for from the six days of creation He, may He be blessed, fixed the law of time for each of the two luminaries … according to which it is very far-fetched, the intellect will not accept, that the eclipse which must inevitably come, and specifically at a known hour and moment, that since the six days of creation it was apportioned and completed in the array of the stars to portend evil and punishment to the world for their sin — for there is no punishment without sin ..'13.
And the Maamar Mordechai14 further asked, regarding the aforementioned custom of fasting: 'And nevertheless, regarding the essence of this matter there is room to examine what place and what reason there is for this fast, since the eclipse of the sun and the moon is something necessary according to the order of the course and movement of the spheres, such that at certain times there will inevitably be eclipses there; and since this is so, there is no reason to fast over them, for repentance, supplication, and tefillah are not applicable in this'15.
In the continuation of the Gemara there several matters are brought on account of which the luminaries are eclipsed, and on this too they wondered16 that ostensibly it is a natural and fixed matter, and how can it be said that on account of these deeds the luminaries are eclipsed.
The Rebbe, in a letter of the 5th of Tammuz 571717 discusses all of the above, as well as whether one needs to make a bracha upon seeing this phenomenon even though Chazal did not mention a bracha over it, and these are his holy words: 'a) Whether one makes a bracha over a lunar eclipse or a solar eclipse? The rule is well known that one may not innovate a bracha that was not mentioned in the Shas (ב"י או"ח סמ"ו). And one may say the reason that one does not make a bracha over this is because it is a sign of impending calamity (סוכה כט, א). And on the contrary, it requires tefillah to nullify it and crying out, and not a bracha. b) Whether Chazal knew about the matter of the aforementioned eclipses, and whether this is a natural matter? The eclipse of the luminaries is brought in several places in the words of Chazal, and the very doubt about this is astonishing, for it is well known that even the sages of Egypt, and before that in Babylon, already drew up tables of the aforementioned eclipses, and it is well known in the books of Chronicles and is brought, lehavdil, also in the Holy Scriptures, that the children of Israel were in contact with the sages of Egypt and the sages of Babylon. From the drawing up of the aforementioned tables it is understood that the aforementioned phenomenon is a natural matter, but together with this there is in it also a sign, similar to the matter of the rainbow, which is also now a natural matter, and together with this serves as a sign, as is written at length, and there is no contradiction in this, for under what circumstances does a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse have the interpretations as Chazal said (סוכה כט, א) — when the eclipses are visible on the earth (and visible to one who knows how to interpret the eclipses); whereas if the heavens are covered with clouds and the like, then this is not a matter of sign and instruction for the person who is upon the earth, and likewise it is also regarding the matter of the rainbow, as is explained in the commentators of the Torah'.
But in the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Shelach 573518 the Rebbe rejected this explanation and explained that Chazal's intent is not that the eclipse is a result of the deeds of human beings, but rather that the time of the eclipse is fixed in advance from the beginning of creation for a time at which there is punishment for the aforementioned matters, and likewise at this time there is, from the side of nature, a tendency toward conduct that is not good. Except that when the children of Israel conduct themselves in a manner of doing the will of the Omnipresent, they need not worry, and as the language of the pasuk, 'מאותות השמים אל תחתו' ("do not be dismayed by the signs of heaven").
If so, we have seen that one does not make a bracha over a lunar eclipse, and various explanations regarding the matter of a lunar eclipse19.
Notes:
1 כט, א ↩
2 סי' סו ↩
3 וראה סי' אלף קמח ↩
4 סי' רל ↩
5 ירמיה יד, יב ↩
6 הגה"ט או"ח סי' תקפ אות א ↩
7 או"ח שם בהקדמה ↩
8 או"ח שם ס"ק א ↩
9 ח"ב או"ח סי' תקפ הגה"ט אות ד ↩
10 גנזי חיים מערכת ל' אות מד ↩
11 ראה יערות דבש ח"ב דרשה ג (סז, ב). ובמפרשי הש"ס - ערוך לנר, בניהו בן יהוידע ועוד. וראה לקו"ש חט"ו בראשית ב ע' 7 ואילך ↩
12 סי' רצז ↩
13 ומבאר שם 'קצת ע"י הדחק', ולכאורה כוונתו לבאר שם שאין הליקוי מורה שבאותו זמן חטאו, אלא שיודע הקב"ה שיצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו, אלא שאם לא ישובו יניח לממשלת הכוכבים כטבעם להביא רעה או עונש ↩
14 או"ח סי' תקפ ס"ק ה ↩
15 וכתב לבאר 'ומתוך דקדוק לשון ספר חסידים שכתב אם רואה מאורות לוקים לכאורה היה נראה לפרש דר"ל שרואה כן בחלום דהוי בכלל חלום רע שצריך להתענות דאל"כ מפני מה תלה הדבר בראיה, ומיהו אין זה מוכרע וגם מדברי הרב מ"א נראה שלא הבין כן. ועוד דעכ"פ יקשה לן עמ"ש רז"ל דכשהמאורות לוקים הוא סימן רע לעולם והביאו רש"י ז"ל בחומש ושמא י"ל דנהי דהוי דבר הכרחי לפי סדר ותכונת הגלגלים מ"מ כיון שהוא צער לעולם ראוי להתענות ומיהו מדרש רז"ל אינו מתיישב שפיר בזה. שוב אחר כתבי זה בא לידי ספר נחמד ונעים חיבור על חכמת התכונה ומצאתי שם סי' רצו שנתקשה בדברי רז"ל וכתב ליישב בדוחק וישובו עולה גם לדברי ס"ח ע"ע' ↩
16 לקו"ש שם ↩
17 אג"ק חט"ו ע' רס (אגרת ה'תקעט) ↩
18 וראה בשיחת כד אלול התשנ"א (תו"מ ח"ג ע' 309) דברי הרבי ביחס לליקוי חמה ולבנה. וראה ג"כ בליקוט מענות - תשמ"ט מענה קמד ↩
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