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There will be a lunar eclipse on sunday until monday, what are your takes on it (I’ve heard it’s considered a siman ra)
ouch
what are your takes on it (I’ve heard it’s considered a siman ra)
My take on it is that it’s a sign that the earth is in between the sun and the moon.
The Wolf
It will be Tuesday morning from 1:30 Eastern time until 5:30 Eastern time.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Solstice+eclipse+first+years/3983582/story.html
No. Eclipses are normal events that can be predicted thousands of years before they occur.
mbachur,
I don’t understand. Are you saying that I’m wrong? Are you saying that a lunar eclipse ISN’T a sign that the earth is between the sun and the moon?
Because that’s all I said. I made no theological statement on the matter at all.
The Wolf
Hashem told us in Parshas Noach that a rainbow is a sign for our remembering the bris He made not to destroy us (even when we deserve it). There is no such reference to a lunar eclipse in Tanach, is there?
We had a lunar eclipse on Purim a few years ago. There will be lunar eclipses on Pesach and Sukot in a few years.
There was also a solar eclipse on Rosh Hashanah a few years ago and there will be another in a few years.
Siman ra? How can that be? There’s no homework when there’s an eclipse!
If you are in the USA or Canada and the sky is clear that night make an effort to see this. A lunar eclipse is very much worth seeing. You don’t need anything special but a pair of binoculars would be nice. If you can get a telescope use the lowest power eyepiece.
To bad it won’t be visible from Israel
Thanks Popa, now I don’t have to look it up.
Lunar eclipses are fun and impressive, although not as much fun as a solar eclipse. I saw one of those once and it was really something, but tricky to watch since we needed eye protection.
As for lunar eclipses, we had an impromptu block party the last time we had one here, and the new people on the block got to meet all the longer-term ones. But that one wasn’t at one o’clock in the morning 🙁
As for it being a siman ra, never heard of that one. What/who is your source? I can’t see Eclipse as being a siman ra for anything 🙂
It’s probably a siman that it’s time to go outside and enjoy the show.
any excuse to look up at the sky is a good one. It’s the best show on earth. We vacation on Cape Cod in August, where it’s very dark and millions of stars are visible on a clear night.
The Perseid meteor shower occurs in the middle of our stay. This year, it coincided with a new moon so we got a spectacular light show on most night. On the peak night, I woke at 4am and witnessed a light show nonpareil with my mouth agape, until the show was obscured by the first hints of dawn at 4:30.
I can remember a big solar eclipse in North America circa 1972. In New Jersey, we didn’t quite have totality, but it was close. We looked at the sun through three layers of exposed and developed photographic film and it was a neighborhood event. (I had the darkroom, so I could make the film visors, so we watched it from outside my mother’s garage.
Nothing like it in the world!
mbachur-
a predictable siman ra? what happened to ur bechira?
The Gemara says that eclipses happen because of specific Aveiros. The Maharal explains that the world, being created as a haven for such abominations, was created as a morally incomplete entity. Therefore, Hashem made its light accordingly, with flaws. It might have some astrological bearing, but it’s not born of an impact of Aveiros commited.
The rainbow is based on variables, which are manipulated by Hashem to reflect the current time. The eclipses, though, are preset and can be predicted in advance. If it were based on the current state of affairs, that would be a big breach of Bechira.
No wolf, I’m not saying you’re wrong Chas V’shalom
Why Chas V’Shalom? Is it such a tragedy if I am wrong?
The Wolf
No Wolf, but it would be a tragedy for him to wrongly judge someone.
No Wolf, but it would be a tragedy for him to wrongly judge someone.
Firstly, I don’t believe that stating that someone is factually wrong about something is “wrongly judging” them. Judging usually involves a moral or values judgment. If I state that Herbert Hoover was the first president of the US and someone points out that I’m wrong, they aren’t making any moral or value judgments — they’re simply stating that I am incorrect in my factual statement.
Secondly, if I really am wrong, then there’s really no tragedy, is there?
The Wolf
the chas v’shalom is that saying your wrong when your not
If that were to be the case, then it would be a factual error on your part. Is a simple factual error (whether it be mine or yours) such a tragedy that it requires a “chas v’shalom?”
I don’t believe so.
The Wolf
eclipse,
Are you ready for your big night tonight?
darn, it’s cloudy and snowing in Boston. Not likely we’ll see the eclipse here.
Every lunar eclipse during a 5000 year period:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LEcatalog.html
There are two or three most years, always occurring on the full moon hence around the 14th/15th of a Hebrew month. There may have been a lunar eclipse on Pesach the year bayit sheni was destroyed.
just saw it starting now, its really amazing, ma rabu masecha hashem!!!
I slept thru it!
I saw it. It was beautiful. The sky was unusually clear. I’m tired now but I have no regrets.
HaShem created an amazing universe.
always occurring on the full moon
By the very definition of what it is, it *must* occur on the full moon, just like a solar eclipse *must* occur on the new moon (although not necessarily on Rosh Chodesh because of possible dechiyos).
The Wolf
I was sleeping and my hubby, who was awake didn’t want to wake me up. When I complained to him that the next one exactly like this one won’t be until 12/21/94, he said he will try to remember to wake me THEN. His cast comes off in 6 weeks.
In general: When there is a lunar eclipse, it will always be on the 14th, 15th, or 16th of the Hebrew month. That is why it is not uncommon for a lunar eclipse to happen on Purim/Pesach/Sukkos.
As for the siman ra: I too have heard that. It would explain why we Jews have had it rough over the centuries- lunar eclipses are pretty common (and correlate with our calendar), and are quite frequently visible somewhere in the world given the right time of month.
lunar eclipses are pretty common
Actually, they both occur with roughly the same frequency. Every year has at least two of each.
The difference is that a lunar eclipse is visible everywhere on Earth where the moon is visible, whereas a solar eclipse is visible over a smaller area (and totality over a much smaller area).
The Wolf
checking up on wolf from the nasa eclipse page:
2008:
2 solar
2 lunar
2009:
2 solar
4 lunar
2010:
2 solar
2 lunar
2011:
4 solar
2 lunar
I set the alarm for 2:30. The whole family woke up for it, stayed up for about 30 minutes and then went back to bed.
Small sacrafice to see niflaos haboreh. And as an added bounus, because the moon’s glow was somewhat dimmed (yet the surrounding sky was well lit) we were able to see many stars that are normally not visible in NYC.
Def worth losing sleep over
Was beutifull,
oomis,that was a joke,right?:)
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