A Blessing for the Eclipse?

I am extremely excited about the eclipse this coming Monday.  While solar eclipses actually happen every 18 months or so, rarely does it happen in the same place twice.  And it is only visible in a few areas of the earth.  Before seven years ago, the previous solar eclipse was in 1979.  So many people are traveling to get the best seats on a diagonal across the continental United States from Texas to Maine.  Seven years ago, I wondered about the eclipse and whether it was a moment for a blessing.  It was a new experience for many of us.  It is a new learning moment  It was and still is, a moment of understanding the world, nature, creation.  Certainly because of this, it was a moment deserving of a blessing!

And so I read the Talmud.  It turns out, according to the rabbis, a total solar eclipse is actually a bad omen.  Darkness during the daytime?  It’s hard to see in the dark, and when we hear a sound in the dark, we are quick to jump to negative conclusions, misperceive and become afraid. Perhaps this is why our ancestors were a bit at odds with a solar eclipse, a time when they witnessed darkness when there should be light.

Our Talmud teaches us to understand this rare sight as a curse and therefore not an opportunity for blessing. In our tractate of Sukkot we learn, “When the sun is in eclipse it is a bad omen for the whole world. With what can this be compared? To a flesh-and-blood king who made a banquet for his servants and put a lamp in front of them. When he got angry with them, he said to the servant, ‘Take the lamp away from them, and let them sit in the dark’ ” (Sukkot 29a). Sitting in the dark is rarely a desired event, especially during a banquet.

While I understand where the rabbis are coming from, I am troubled by the notion that an awesome occurrence like a total solar eclipse would receive no blessing. As a people, we are commanded to bless 100 times a day: taking note, appreciating, beholding, acknowledging, seeing the wonders of the world we live in and blessing them, giving thanks. We bless everything: from our ability to open our eyes, our mobility, everything we eat, even when we come into contact with a great teacher. And we are to bless the wonders of nature, from rainbows to lightning, earthquakes and even comets. But for an eclipse, our mouths should remain closed?  I can’t see this as the case.

There are even texts that suggest that even if it IS a bad omen, there is reason to say a bracha!  The Mishnah teaches us " חַיָּב אָדָם לְבָרֵךְ עַל הָרָעָה כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהוּא מְבָרֵךְ עַל הַטּוֹבָה" - "One must recite a blessing over the bad just as one does over the good." Even if one sees the eclipse as a negative omen, it should still be recognized with a blessing. 

With modernity, we understand that solar eclipses are an aspect of nature at work, the same as lightning and earthquakes. It is about the moon, whose diameter is about 400 times smaller than the sun’s, being at just the right distance from Earth and in just the right rotational moment, so that it crosses paths between the Earth and sun, blocking the sun from our view. While we were able to experience this moment just a few years ago, before that it was four deceased earlier and another moment of total eclipse will not be witnessed again in our country until 2044. 

But what blessing should we say?

One who witnesses an eclipse should ideally recite the blessing:  "בָּרוּךְ  אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁכֹּחוֹ וּגְבוּרָתוֹ מָלֵא עוֹלָם ." (Blessed.. Whose power and strength fill the world).  The more general blessing בָּרוּךְ  אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם עוֹשֵׂה מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית (Blessed, who performs the work of creation") would also be acceptable. 

For more conversation about this topic and how we ended at these two options, I suggest either of the following resources.

CJLS: The Blessing to Be Said Upon Witnessing a Solar or Lunar Eclipse Rabbi Joshua Heller  

Hadar's Responsa Radio: Is There a Blessing on Seeing a Solar Eclipse?

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