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The Talmud (Sukkah 29a) declares: "An eclipse of the sun is a bad omen for the world. Why? It's like a king who made a huge banquet and set up a lantern to illuminate the party. Similarly, this world is a beautiful banquet which God has prepared for us. If the lantern is covered, as in a solar eclipse, it diminishes our enjoyment of the world.''
So why would God send us such a message? The Talmud specifies that the sun is eclipsed when 4 things occur. [Talmud (Sukkah 29a)] The sages list the most important is when a rabbi is not respected properly. If a society does not show respect for a rabbi, it shows a lack of appreciation for the ethical values that he upholds. This is a bad omen – indicating a society in a state of moral and spiritual decline. ***
The Maharsha (17th century Poland) says that a rabbi is compared to the sun in that he "radiates" Torah to the people. For example, the Talmud (Bava Batra 75a) compares "the face of Moses to the face of the sun." So a solar eclipse could be called an "eclipse of the spiritual sun."
An eclipse is an opportunity to examine our own relationship with Rabbis. Do we scorn them? Or do we see them as luminaries of humanity? Did we make an effort to become close to them? Do we ignore them?
Of course, eclipses are easily predictable, and even in Talmudic times they were already able to accurately predict celestial cycles. So how can we say that they portend anything about modern society?
God knows the future, and at creation , Kabbalistically speaking, He was able to determine when rabbis and their teachings would not be properly respected. As such He set the cycle of eclipses to correspond. Of course the concept of how God is outside of time and space is difficult for us mortals to comprehend. But that's the way it is.
Kabbalah aside for a moment: From a scientific standpoint, what causes a solar eclipse?
The moon orbits the earth, and whenever the moon is lined up between the earth and the sun, the illuminated side of the moon faces away from the earth and cannot be seen. This moment is called a "new moon" and is the beginning of every Jewish month ("Rosh Chodesh").
So why isn't there a solar eclipse every month? Because the orbits of the moon and earth are tilted at an angle, and the line-up is usually not precise enough for an eclipse.
The amazing thing is that since the sun is 400 times larger than the moon, the only way that the moon could fit as a perfect cover over the sun, is because the sun is also 400 times farther away than the moon. Hence a perfect fit!
On a practical note: If you encounter a solar eclipse, even though the sun appears covered, don't look. The sun's corona is still as powerful as ever. People have gone blind after looking at an eclipse for as few as four seconds. There is no pain when the retina is being burned, and the resulting visual symptoms do not occur until at least several hours after the injury has occurred – by which time it is far too late.
Maimonides writes (Deyot 4) that it is a Torah obligation to guard one's physical health. Therefore, regardless of how tempting it is to look at the sun during the eclipse, don't do it. Sunglasses are not effective; you must use specifically approved treated plastic or glass filters, or indirectly view the sun's projection through a pin-hole.
May the Almighty illuminate our hearts, and shine His light of Torah throughout the world.
***(Talmud Bavli, Succoth 29a) teaches that the other 3 reasons for an eclipse:
1) an engaged virgin, is being raped, in a busy city, and cries out and no one helps her.
2) forced sodomy
3) if two brothers died on the same day
SHALOM and BLESSINGS:
