From: <GERVER@...> (Mike Gerver)
Date: Fri, 27 May 1994 4:46:13 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Bracha for Solar Eclipse
In reply to Jerrold Landau inquiry in v12n94, Aryeh Frimer (v13n3) saysthat there is no source in the Shulchan Aruch for making a bracha on seeing an eclipse, and Yosef Bechhofer suggests in v13n12 that since eclipses are considered a bad omen, it might not be appropriate to make a bracha.
I thought that it was only lunar eclipses that were considered a bad omen, because Israel bases its calendar on the moon, but I don't remember where I read that. In any case, I asked a shayla many years ago and was told that I should make the bracha "oseh ma'aseh breishit" for both lunar and solar eclipses, so I did make the bracha for the annular eclipse of May 10. Before seeing it, I was concerned as to whether I could make the bracha if I only viewed it as a projection. As it turned out, someone had welder's glass, so I could view it directly, and I also saw it, even without the welder's glass, through clouds that were just thick enough (don't try this at home!).
Even if the Shulchan Aruch does not explicitly say that one should say this bracha for eclipses, perhaps there is something regarding unusual astronomical events, which would include eclipses? By the way, Aryeh, what did you mean by "the monthly total eclipse of the moon by the earth"? Total eclipses of the moon only occur about twice a year.
If it is appropriate to make this bracha for any unusual astronomical event, we have a good opportunity coming up on July 20, when a comet is going to collide with Jupiter, the first time in recorded history that has happened. It will occur on the far side of Jupiter, so we will not be able to view it directly, but the bright light reflected from Jupiter's moons should be easily visible through binoculars.
And, for those of you who like calculating the statistical significance of apparent coincidences, what should we make of the fact that such an unusual event is going to occur on the 25th anniversary of the
first manned moon landing?
Topic: Eclipses (Read 3140 times)