Eclipses in Jewish Thought

On August 21st there will be a solar eclipse. For some of us it will be a total solar eclipse. Is there any significance to eclipses in Judaism? In the Book of Joel (found in the 12 ''minor prophets" - known for their shorter prophecies - not lesser significance) there is reference both to a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse: 

"The sun shall turn to darkness, and the moon to blood, prior to the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord" (Joel 3:4). The sun turning to darkness is a solar eclipse, the blood moon is a lunar eclipse. Rashi in his commentary to Joel says that the solar eclipse is a sign for sun worshipers to realize that God is not a sun. 

Jeremiah has this piece of advice "So says the Lord: of the way of the nations you shall not learn, and from the signs of the heaven be not dismayed, for the nations are dismayed from them." (10:2)

You can find the main literature on eclipses in the Talmud in Tractate Succah 29a. It brings 3 opinions for what an eclipse means. The first is that a solar eclipse is a bad sign for the world. The analogy is of a master preparing an evening meal for his servants and then removing the candles. The second opinion is that both solar and lunar eclipses are bad for the Jewish people. The 3rd position is that solar eclipses are bad for those who follow a solar calendar and lunar eclipses are bad for those who follow a lunar calendar. However, the Gemara concludes with the verse from Jeremiah and states that if we are serving Hashem wholeheartedly we have nothing to fear. Despite this third opinion the Gemara and the rishonim - (Rabbis between 1000 - 1500) considered the Gemara a bad omen and even gave reasons for why eclipses happened. 

Today, we have a better understanding of science we have to ask a fundamental question. What is the Gemara talking about? This is just an act of nature it doesn't mean anything good or bad! The general approach of the acharonim - the latter commentators is that the eclipses were set up by Hashem in his rules for nature. They are there to remind us that sometimes we are blocking our own ability to connect with Hashem in a deeper way. 

Do we make a beracha on an eclipse? There was a thought to say the beracha - baruch dayan ha'emet - the blessing after the loss of a loved one. But the loss of sunlight is so short  the consensus is not to make a beracha. The consensus is not to make a beracha because it is not mentioned in the Gemara. Why did the Gemara not mention a beracha - probably a combination of it being short lived and because it is a bad omen. 

Rav Haim David HaLevy, the former Chief Rabbi and Av Beit Din of Tel Aviv was asked perhaps with the new knowledge that eclipses are not bad omens perhaps we should make a beracha. He writes the following "Our Rabbis instituted blessings over acts of creation and powerful natural events, like lightning and thunder and so on. However, they did not do so for a lunar or solar eclipse. And if only today we could institute a blessing when we are aware that an eclipse is indeed an incredible natural event. But we cannot, for a person is forbidden to make up a blessing. If a person still wants to make some form of a blessing, he should recite the verses “And David blessed…blessed are you, G-d, the L-rd of our father Israel, who performs acts of creation."

If you'd like to read more about halachic and hashkafic nature of eclipses please click here to read this scholarly work by Dr. Jeremy Brown. For more on whether to make a beracha click here to read an article by Rabbi Dov Linzer

I hope you enjoy the eclipse. Please remember to use the correct eyewear if you plan to look at the sun. 

Tattoos, Cremations and Jewish Funerals

As always, I like to sneak football (soccer) into my conversations and the occasional sermon so this time I thought I would mention it in one of my blogs. I've never been a fan of tattoos but I really don't like all the players at the World Cup completely covered with tattoos. I've always found them off putting and I think our young can be easily influenced into wanting to have them. I would say 25 years ago tattoos were not a common site but today 40% of Americans aged 25 to 40 have tattoos (according to a Pew Research Study). 

So is there a problem with tattoos? The Torah (Vayikra 19:28) states "You shall not etch a tattoo on yourselves. I am the Lord." Rashi (ibid) notes that a tattoo is defined as "sunken never to be erased, for one etches it with a needle, and it remains permanently black." Therefore temporary tattoos or henna tattoos do not form any prohibition as the paint erases after a period of time. 

All that being said there is perhaps one of the biggest babajadas (Ladino for old wives' tale or in the Yiddish bubba meise) out there is that a person with a tattoo cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Although as I have outlined it is a Torah prohibition, nevertheless a Jewish person will still be buried in the Jewish cemetery. Now that doesn't mean everyone should go out and get tattoos!

What isn't well known is the huge problem of Jewish people opting for cremations. Cremations are becoming more popular as the cost of burial is driving people to seek cheaper alternatives. However, halachically speaking it is probably up their as one of the biggest transgressions. Just as we are forbidden from taking our own lives or hastening our end so too we are forbidden to desecrate our bodies by having them cremated.

Hashem tells  Adam (Bereshit 3:19) "You will return to the ground, for it was from the ground that you were taken". 

Rabbi Maurice Lamm writes (The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning pp 56-57) "cremation is never permitted. The deceased must be interred, bodily, in the earth. It is forbidden - in every and any circumstance - to reduce the dead to ash in a crematorium. It is an offensive act, for it does violence to the spirit and letter of the Jewish Law...

1.Even if the deceased willed cremation, his wishes must be ignored in order to observe the will of our Father in Heaven. Biblical law takes precedence over the instructions of the deceased. 

2.Cremated ashes may not be buried in a Jewish cemetery...

3. Jewish law requires no mourning for the cremated. Shiva is not observed and kaddish is not recited for them. Those who are cremated are considered by tradition to have abandoned, unalterably, all of Jewish law and, therefore, to have surrendered their rights to posthumous honor."

Why does Rabbi Lamm write so sternly that one cannot even say kaddish for them? That they have abandoned Jewish Law? The answer I think lies with the fact that the act of willful cremation is a denial of one of our cornerstone beliefs of Techiyat HaMetim - The Resurrection of the Dead at the coming of Mashiach. By cremating oneself one is stating that they deny this belief and therefore they are set aside to not be included.

All that I have written so far is with willful cremation. This does not include the 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. They did not choose their fate and they are obviously not held accountable for that. Far from it they are on the highest spiritual level of anyone who has lived. For those who aren't interested in halachic concerns some use the Holocaust to not disgrace the memory of our people who were killed through the crematoriums. 

There are many more details on this topic and I have merely touched the surface. For further information online please visit the following Chabad Article. This situation is becoming so severe it was mentioned at the recent Rabbinic Council of America Convention. There it was mentioned that at least 1 in 3 Jews are choosing cremation. Please use the information in this blog to encourage people to plan for a traditional Jewish funeral.

Arms Sales and Gun Control in Halakha

This past Shabbat I gave a 20 minute presentation on arms sales and gun control in halakha. Here's the source sheet. Admittedly, I must stress that the 20 minute class was only scratching the surface of a very long discussion and I look forward to teaching about this topic in a lot more detail in the future. But in summary, I came to the following conclusions. 

The seller of weapons has a moral responsibility to ensure that the buyer is not likely to commit a crime. In fact the crime would be on them more than the person committing the crime. This fits into the rubric of the Torah law "Do not put a stumbling block before the blind". Rabbinic tradition maintains not just someone physically blind but anyone who would be morally blind to a particular issue it is an obligation to prevent them from from stumbling by providing them with weapons that they could cause harm to themselves or others. (Similarly a bartender has a responsibility not to serve drinks to someone who has had too much to drink.)

Secondly, there is a responsibility to make sure that one's gun is safe and looked after. This is learned from the Torah law to have a fence around a flat roof. Even if someone climbed on your roof without permission and fell, you would be liable for not having the fence. So too here, the owner of a gun would be liable if his/her weapon fell into the wrong hands. Similarly, having a fence around a pool.

We then moved on to the subject of selling weapons to non-Jews and general arm sales. In the times of the Talmud, during much persecution, the assumption was that a non-Jew with a weapon would/could kill a Jew. Therefore it was forbidden to sell to non-Jews any type of weapons. However, shields which are primarily used for defense would be permitted to sell to them. Obviously, Captain America is not your regular shield user! The Talmud continues that it is forbidden to sell to a Jewish robber since they too will be involved in murder. We can learn from the Talmud that one should avoid any arm sales to anyone who is likely to be involved in crime. The gemara concludes that if the non-Jews are protecting Jews then it is permissible to sell them weapons for example the king's army protecting the Jewish subjects in the town. 

Today, Israel sells weapons to other countries and in the past has even sold weapons which have been used against us. E.g. the Palestinian police using weapons given over after the Oslo Accords. Clearly all countries need to be careful with what will happen in the future. As it says in Pirkei Avot, who is wise? He who can see the outcome of his actions.

In discussions after the class some people suggested that Jews should be allowed to have guns in order to prevent what happened to the Jews in the Holocaust and in Communist Russia. I don't believe that a few guns in the hands of civilian Jews would have made a major impact on the result of those terrible atrocities committed against our people.

In conclusion, it is permitted to own a gun in Jewish law but one must make sure that it is properly secured maybe even with fingerprint identification and that one is in the right state of mind at all times. May we never need to use them and may all weapons be turned into plowshares.