CHOCHMAS NASHIM: MIKETZ:
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART
By: Suri Davis
Today, December 14, 2020 at about 11:15am, there is expected a total eclipse. We probably wont feel it here in the Five Towns as it is cloudy and rainy.
I was concentrating on my davening/prayers this past Shabbos and I pondered the following verse:
טובִים מְאורות שֶׁבָּרָא אֱלהֵינוּ. יְצָרָם בְּדַעַת בְּבִינָה וּבְהַשכֵּל. כּחַ וּגְבוּרָה נָתַן בָּהֶם. לִהְיות מושְׁלִים בְּקֶרֶב תֵּבֵל:
Good are the luminaries that G-d has created, He has fashioned them with wisdom, with insight and discernment. Strength and power He has granted them, to be dominant within the world.
It appears that it is not a wonder that people worship the sun and moon because G-d did give them great power. As I mulled this point, this is what appears to me. The sun and moon appear to be very different, one being absolute light and energy, the other, the absence of both.
The sun is the essence of all life on earth. It powers vegetation, which is eaten by animals and humans, to power us. It is essential to earth as we know it. It represents our physical existence. It’s why antartica and other areas where there is little sun, has zero to lesser population, it is harder to survive.
The very first mitzvah we are given after the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai is the mitzvah of “hachodesh hazeh lachem/this month is for you, the first of all months.” How did we historically determine when there was a new month, and why did it matter? We historically determined the new month by having two witnesses who witnessed the moon at its beginning cycle and reported back to the Rabbis. Essential to Judaism is time. It is essential because weekly we have our Sabbath and have to know which day is the seventh before there were watches and calendars, and also because eleven out of the twelve/thirteen Jewish months have holidays and the Rabbis could not declare when the holiday started until the beginning of every month, after the witnesses came forward.
The sun though it is bright, rules the physical world, the moon, though it has no internal light, merely reflects the light of the sun, is core to our spiritual world. The Jewish day begins at night, when the sun sets.
Holy prayers are said at night. Intense Torah study is at night.
These thoughts are to act as a bridge between the dvar torah I wrote about last week’s Torah portion, Vayeshev, and this week’s Torah portion. The moon waxes and wanes and is dependent on the sun for light. Then, as today, there are solar eclipses, some are partial, or as today, some are complete eclipses. It appears dark, because the moon overcomes the sun.
The event is actually the result of a remarkable geometric coincidence: The size of the moon and its distance from the earth is nearly the exact same size as the sun in our sky. So, in those rare occurrences where the moon makes a direct path across the sun, we get a solar eclipse.
If this were to happen when the moon is a bit farther from Earth in its orbit — hence, a tad smaller — then it doesn’t cover up the entire sun and instead creates an annular eclipse, where a bright ring of sunlight can be seen around the edges. On Dec. 14, however, the moon is closer to the Earth and will block out the entire sun, creating a temporary darkness.
What happens when there is darkness? Last week I discussed how Joseph was thrown in a ditch with snakes and scorpions and then in jail, this week we see the ascension to viceroy. From Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in a cave, came the brilliance of Zohar. From the darkness of the Greek violation of our Holy Temple on Chanukkah, to the eight days of light of Chanukkah.
G-d gently balances the light and darkness in our world, He allows us, in our darkness, to discover the light within us, the light that emanates from the spirit that G-d blew into us during creation and when each child is born, that light and spirit which is G-d’s image, with which we were born.
We say in kiddush Friday night, “asher bara Elokim laasot/that G-d created and is still creating. When G-d blew His spirit in us, He made us partners in the further progression of the world, each one of us brings something unique and special to the world that G-d felt He wanted in the world.
The moon might fully eclipse the sun, it might be superficially dark, but within the moon, inherent in its creation, is the effectuation of our establishing our months, our celebration of festivals and dedication to G-d. The darkness, is temporary, the light is still there, in each one of us, G-d permits darkness, to permit each one of us to work on ourselves, to reveal the light in ourselves and to carry it forth to those around us, and the world at large.
As of this week, the days get longer, we are at that point this week where we go from the sun setting earlier, to the sun setting later. We are in darkness without in galus/exile. But each one of us has a spark with the potential to light up our immediate home, community and world, we have the spark, and our challenge is to light the torch and be a light unto the nations.
Chag Sameach.
Gutten chodesh
Shabbat shalom.
Suri