On Monday, August 21, 2017, folks living in a large swath of the United States will get to witness the exceedingly rare phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. (Please do it safely!) And, wouldn’t you know it, there’s a Jewish angle. Roger Price, the author of the always fascinating blog Judaism and Science, reminds us that Jewish tradition prescribes no b’rakhah (blessing, benediction) for one to recite upon seeing an eclipse. Which is at least a bit strange. After all, there is a blessing for one to say when witnessing a comet or lightning, or for beholding impressive natural sites like oceans or mountain ranges. There’s a blessing to recite upon hearing thunder and even for experiencing an earthquake. So why not for an eclipse?

The answer, as Roger notes, is in all probability because the Rabbis looked upon a solar or lunar eclipse as an evil omen (סימן רע, siman ra) either for the world in general or for the Jews in particular (B. Sukkah 29a). The Talmud compares a solar eclipse to the case of a king who arranges a feast for his servants in a room lighted by a lantern. The king then becomes angry at his servants, orders that the lantern be removed, and leaves them to eat their meal in darkness. No wonder that the Rabbis never established a b’rakhah for such a downer! Even today, the modern Hebrew term for a solar eclipse – ליקוי שמש (חמה), drawn from that Talmudic text – carries the sense of a defect (liku’i) in or diminution of the sun. To the extent that this language reflects our reaction to this particular astronomical event, we might well agree that the proper spiritual response to an eclipse would be introspection and repentance rather than blessing and praise. Except that the Talmudic understanding of an eclipse as an evil omen most assuredly does not match our own. As Roger puts it, the Talmud’s approach “is insufficient and unconvincing, regardless of the value of prayer and introspection. It fails to acknowledge the reality that science confirms about the regular order of local orbits. It fails to dispel expressly and strongly the general – but totally false -notion of a causal connection between natural events in the sky and human behavior on Earth. It fails to reject specifically the unsustainable rationales in the Talmudic passages cited above speculating why eclipses occur, and it fails to refute the false equivalencies among the various circumstances noted there.” The question he asks is as obvious as it is insistent: why shouldn’t we modern Jews, who view an eclipse not as a siman ra but as a regular occurrence of nature, much like lightning and thunder and earthquakes, feel free to recite a b’rakhah upon witnessing it? Roger offers some possibilities; check out the site.

This very question, it turns out, was submitted to Rabbi Hayyim David Halevy (Resp. Aseh L’kha Rav 5:7), who at his death in 1998 was serving as chief Sefardic rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yafo. Halevy’s correspondent (the sho’el) describes a solar eclipse as “a phenomenon of nature that arouses within us a sense of awe and wonder; why then shouldn’t we recite a b’rakhah over it?” The posek, citing our Talmud passage, explains that the Rabbis did not regard an eclipse as one of the normal phenomena of Creation (מעשי בראשית) but rather as an evil omen, and for that reason, they did not feel the need to establish a blessing for it. He freely concedes that our contemporary understanding differs from theirs: “Today, given that we know and perceive this wondrous natural phenomenon as part and parcel of God’s work of Creation, it might well be appropriate for us to establish a b’rakhah” upon seeing an eclipse. The problem with that, of course, is that “not everyone is entitled on his own to establish a new blessing for himself” (אלא שלא כל אדם רשאי על דעת עצמו לקבוע ברכה חדשה לעצמו). And to recite a benediction in a place where one has not been ordained by the Sages may transgress the prohibition against saying an unnecessary blessing (b’rakhah l’vatalah). The sho’el would therefore seem to have no recourse but to accept the decision of the Rabbis – and not recite a b’rakhah over an eclipse,

But Rabbi Halevy does not stop with a simple “no.” Instead, he proposes an ingenious solution: “One who feels the need to say a b’rakhah over this natural phenomenon” can recite the Biblical passage I Chronicles 29:10-11: וַיְבָרֶךְ דָּוִיד אֶת-ה’ לְעֵינֵי כָּל-הַקָּהָל; וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד, בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אָבִינוּ, מֵעוֹלָם, וְעַד-עוֹלָם.  לְךָ ה’ הַגְּדֻלָּה וְהַגְּבוּרָה וְהַתִּפְאֶרֶת, וְהַנֵּצַח וְהַהוֹד, כִּי-כֹל, בַּשָּׁמַיִם וּבָאָרֶץ:  לְךָ יְהוָה הַמַּמְלָכָה – “David blessed Adonai in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, Adonai, God of Israel our ancestor, forever and ever. Yours, Adonai, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion.” And he suggests that one conclude the passage with the words oseh ma`aseh v’reishit, “the Author of the work of creation,” a phrase taken directly from the blessing said by one who witnesses comets, lightning, thunder, and mighty winds. Why do we call this “ingenious”? (And, at the very least, “not too shabby”?) Because David’s praise to God in I Chronicles sounds just like a b’rakhah – it’s obviously the Biblical foundation of the form of blessing later adopted by the Rabbis. As Halevy notes, the passage even mentions שם ומלכות, God’s divine name and the fact of God’s sovereignty over the universe, elements required of every real b’rakhah.[1] But technically, it’s not a b’rakhah but simply a Biblical text, so one may recite it and not worry about violating the prohibition of b’rakhah l’vatalah. In this way, he creates a mechanism by which one who witnesses an eclipse can recite all the words of the traditional halakhic blessing over natural phenomena and yet remain within the bounds set forth by the traditional rules that constitute what we call a b’rakhah.

Please don’t misunderstand the above as advocacy. We’re not saying that Rabbi Halevy’s blessing is better than those suggested in Judaism and Science. We take no stand (at least, not here) on the question of whether we are permitted to create new b’rakhot in our day and time. (And for that matter, we’re not taking a stand on the original question. If you don’t want to recite a blessing over the eclipse, then by all means don’t say one!) But we do think his responsum is noteworthy on two counts. First, this blog is always happy to discover examples of creative – and let’s just name it: progressive – halakhic thinking wherever they may be found. And second, it is significant that Halevy, an eminent Orthodox posek of the preceding generation, does not hold as sacred the ancient Biblical or Rabbinic conception of the physical universe. On the contrary, Halevy’s words suggest a recognition that the modern scientific approach to physical reality may well be superior to that favored by the great teachers of the Jewish past. And that modern approach, far from clashing with our devotion to God and Torah, can be compatible with the deepest sorts of religious feeling. What we once beheld as a “bad sign” is now a “natural phenomenon,” and in spite of that – or, perhaps, because of that – Halevy acknowledges that it can inspire in us the need to praise the Creator.

For those of us who are committed to both Judaism and science, those are good words to hear.

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[1] Shulḥan Arukh Oraḥ Ḥayyim 214:1: כל ברכה שאין בה הזכרת שם ומלכות אינה ברכה.