Eclipse

(4) (Exodus 12:2) "This month shall be to you": Adam did not count by it (but by Tishrei, as the first month). You say this, but perhaps (the meaning is) "to you," but not to a gentile? (This cannot be, for) this is understood by (Ibid.) "It is the first for you." How, then, am I to understand "to you"? As to you, but not to Adam. We find, then, that Israel count by the moon, and the gentiles by the sun. Not only does Israel count by the moon, but once in thirty days (at the blessing of the New Moon) they lift their eyes to their Father in heaven. And an eclipse of the sun portends evil to the gentiles, who count by the sun; and an eclipse of the moon portends evil to Israel, who count by the moon. Rebbi says: An eclipse of the sun in the east portends evil to the dwellers in the east; in the west, to the dwellers in the west. R. Yonathan says: Both (kinds of eclipses) were relegated to the gentiles, as it is written (Jeremiah 10:2) "Do not emulate the ways of the nations, and do not be dismayed at the signs of the heavens. Let the nations be dismayed by them!"

Apropos the fact that rain on Sukkot is an indication of divine rebuke, the Gemara cites several related topics. The Sages taught: When the sun is eclipsed it is a bad omen for the entire world. The Gemara tells a parable. To what is this matter comparable? It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who prepared a feast for his servants and placed a lantern [panas] before them to illuminate the hall. He became angry at them and said to his servant: Take the lantern from before them and seat them in darkness. It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir says: When the heavenly lights, i.e., the sun and the moon, are eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the enemies of the Jewish people, which is a euphemism for the Jewish people, because they are experienced in their beatings. Based on past experience, they assume that any calamity that afflicts the world is directed at them. The Gemara suggests a parable: This is similar to a teacher who comes to the school with a strap in his hand. Who worries? The child who is accustomed to be beaten each and every day is the one who worries. The Sages taught in another baraita: When the sun is eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the other nations. When the moon is eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the enemies of the Jewish people. This is due to the fact that the Jewish people calculate their calendar primarily based on the moon, and the other nations calculate based on the sun. When the sun is eclipsed in the east, it is a bad omen for the residents of the lands of the east. When it is eclipsed in the west, it is a bad omen for the residents of the lands of the west. When it is eclipsed in the middle of the sky, it is a bad omen for the entire world. If, during an eclipse, the visage of the sun is red like blood, it is an omen that sword, i.e., war, is coming to the world. If the sun is black like sackcloth made of dark goat hair, it is an omen that arrows of hunger are coming to the world, because hunger darkens people’s faces. When it is similar both to this, to blood, and to that, to sackcloth, it is a sign that both sword and arrows of hunger are coming to the world. If it was eclipsed upon its entry, soon after rising, it is an omen that calamity is tarrying to come. If the sun is eclipsed upon its departure at the end of the day, it is an omen that calamity is hastening to come. And some say the matters are reversed: An eclipse in the early morning is an omen that calamity is hastening, while an eclipse in the late afternoon is an omen that calamity is tarrying. The Sages said: There is no nation that is afflicted whose god is not afflicted with it, as it is stated: “And against all the gods of Egypt I will mete out judgment; I am God” (Exodus 12:12). The Gemara adds: When the Jewish people perform God’s will, they need not fear any of these omens, as it is stated: “Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of Heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them” (Jeremiah 10:2). The nations will be dismayed, but the Jewish people will not be dismayed, provided they do not follow the ways of the nations. The Sages taught that on account of four matters the sun is eclipsed: On account of a president of the court who dies and is not eulogized appropriately, and the eclipse is a type of eulogy by Heaven; on account of a betrothed young woman who screamed in the city that she was being raped and there was no one to rescue her; on account of homosexuality; and on account of two brothers whose blood was spilled as one. And on account of four matters the heavenly lights are eclipsed: On account of forgers of a fraudulent document [pelaster] that is intended to discredit others; on account of testifiers of false testimony; on account of raisers of small domesticated animals in Eretz Yisrael in a settled area; and on account of choppers of good, fruit-producing trees.

(2) If there is found among you, in one of the settlements that A-donai your God is giving you, a man or woman who has affronted A-donai your God and transgressed His covenant— (3) turning to the worship of other gods and bowing down to them, to the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, something I never commanded— (4) and you have been informed or have learned of it, then you shall make a thorough inquiry. If it is true, the fact is established, that abhorrent thing was perpetrated in Israel, (5) you shall take the man or the woman who did that wicked thing out to the public place, and you shall stone them, man or woman, to death.— (6) A person shall be put to death only on the testimony of two or more witnesses; he must not be put to death on the testimony of a single witness.—

(1) A song for ascents. I turn my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come? (2) My help comes from A-donai, maker of heaven and earth. (3) God will not let your foot give way; your guardian will not slumber; (4) See, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps! (5) A-donai is your guardian, A-donai is your protection at your right hand. (6) By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night. (7) A-donai will guard you from all harm; God will guard your life. (8) A-donai will guard your going and coming now and forever.