On Monday we have a very special opportunity to see a wonder of the natural world. An eclipse. Perhaps some of you have made plans to travel to the path of totality. Others of you may be here in Chicagoland. The weather is sounding better than it has been this past week and we may actually get to see it! Here in Chicagoland they believe we will be between 90% and 95%. It should be “awesome,” in the true sense of that word. 

But the ancients, who were away of eclipses found them scary. A bad omen. A sign of things that are worse to come. There isn’t even a blessing for an eclipse. In 2017 I spoke at length about this, https://www.theenergizerrabbi.org/2017/08/22/finding-joy-in-sight-reah/ And I  went to University of Chicago to watch it myself with myself. Be very careful. Use those glasses. Be safe. I plan to pack a picnic of moon foods; oreo cookies, black and white cookies, cheese, pizza and finally on the way home, vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate sauce.  I want the snacks to be simple–and memorable. The next eclipse isn’t until 2044.

Wait, no blessing for an eclipse? That makes no sense. There is even a blessing for an earthquake as people learned today. There are actually two from the Talmud: Berachot 54a: 

Baruch Atta Ado-nai Elo-hai-nu Melech ha’olam osei ma’asei vereisheet.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם עוֹשֶׂה מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית
translation: Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, Ruler of the universe, who reenacts the works of creation. 

Baruch Atta Ado-nai Elo-hai-nu Melech ha’olam shekocho ugevurato malei olam.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁכֹּחוֹ וּגְבוּרָתוֹ מָלֵא עוֹלָם
translation: Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, Ruler of the universe, whose power and might fill the world. 

This leads to another question. This translation of Baruch is Blessed. That’s my preferred translation. Siddur Sim Shalom consistently uses “Praised.” A couple of the haggadot I am reviewing seem to alternate. This is jarring to me. Do you hear a difference between blessed and praised? When we look at the Barchu, the formal call to worship, the first word is barchu, in the command form. Praise G-d. Bless G-d. You bless G-d. Then the echo is Blessed or Praised are You… Does G-d need our blessing, our praise? Our kids once described this call and response, the call to worship as “Here I am G-d, ready or not here I come.” 

The paragraph after the Barchu is a prayer about creation. In the evening service it is called “Ma’ariv Aravim.” and it is quite poetic in the Hebrew. The G-d who evenings the evening. The G-d who makes evening. Who rolls light away from darkness and darkness away from light. Who alternates the seasons and set the stars on their appointed rounds.” 

Acknowledging the Creator, especially at a time of possible dread, seems appropriate. So Ma’ariv Aravim could be a choice for the eclipse. Another could be the shehechianu said for many firsts and for many things we have not done in a long time. Witnessing an eclipse, not seen by many of us since 2017 would qualify:
 

Blessed are You, Ruler of the Universe, who has kept us alive and sustained us and enabled us to reach this very moment.  

But let’s pause for a moment. If we were writing our own blessing what would it say: 

Blessed are You, Ruler of the Universe, of Time and Space, who creates the greater light to rule by day and the lesser by night, who creates ongoing beauty and enables us to witness it without fear, who allows us the knowledge to understand that the sun will return again.  

Interestingly, Roger Price wrote a very similar piece last summer for RitualWell: https://ritualwell.org/blog/solar-eclipse-deserves-blessing/?goal=0_29b2b1aacf-5b39afaa9b-62609181&mc_cid=5b39afaa9b&mc_eid=36d93702de  

Note: After delivering this on Friday, I learned that the Conservative Movement in their exploring Judaism had published something on the eclipse in 2021. They use the same two blessings as for an earthquake: https://www.exploringjudaism.org/learning/halakhah/cjls/orach-chayim/what-blessing-do-i-recite-over-an-eclipse/ 

Note #2: Our congregation has a vision statement that includes lifelong learning as one for its planks. After I wrote this I learned that a eclipse cannot happen unless it is a new moon. Rosh Hodesh Nissan begins Monday night! It makes perfect sense. So another blessing might be the hopes which we expressed on Shabbat in the “Announcing the New Month, page 150 in Siddur Sim Shalom. May this ew month reawaken in us joy and blessing. A peaceful life with goodness and blessing, sustenance and physical vitality…May the Holy One bless this new month with life and peace, joy and gladness, deliverance and consolation.” (I would be more than OK if those hopes went for more than the month!)