As we anticipate the upcoming Great North American Eclipse this Monday the global hysteria over the terrible war Israel must wage now seems to be climaxing and many are anxious about the near future. G-d carefully choreographs everything that happens in this world, and through the Torah, we can at least glean insight into how to contextualize what is going on at all times.
This Shabbat during synagogue services, in preparation for the upcoming holiday of Passover, we will read from two Torah scrolls. In the first, we will read the weekly parsha of Shemini, in the second we will read G-d’s instructions to the Israelites to prepare a Passover sacrifice in anticipation of their upcoming exodus from Egyptian slavery.
This extra section, called “Hachodesh,” opens with the details of the Jewish calendar. One of the most defining characteristics of the Jewish calendar is that it follows the lunar cycle. The year is generally comprised of 12 lunar months (approximately 354 days and not 365 days) and the Jewish dates, which define our holidays and life cycle events, give you an idea of how the moon looks that night. Since Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the month of Tishrei you will always see the tiniest sliver of the moon on Rosh Hashanah eve (if at all), whereas the Passover Seder night, which is on the fifteenth of Nissan, will always have a full, bright moon. Judaism emphasizes our intrinsic connection to our calendar to the point that the Jewish nation is often compared to the moon whereas the rest of the nations are likened to the sun. One of the most obvious correlations is size: The moon is much smaller than the sun, and Jews have always been and always will be a fraction of a minority in a world of billions. But despite our comparatively meager numbers, we have survived everyone and everything for over three thousand years. Not only that, the tiny moon can even eclipse the much larger and more powerful sun. This brings me to the newest developments about Israel. Diving into the details of the latest moral finger-wagging and righteous indignation the world is directing toward us would be a total distraction and wise people should not take the bait. But when nations with overwhelming numbers or with superior resources seek to dictate how Israel can defend itself by claiming the moral high ground and leveraging their physical and financial superiority, it’s understandably intimidating. The convergence of the solar eclipse and the reading of Hachodesh reminds us that our legitimacy has nothing to do with our population size, resources, or brute force. 3,336 years ago G-d designated us as a luminary with the resilience of the moon to bring the divine beauty and moral clarity of the Torah to all humanity. A cursory read of our long history proves that there is nothing we haven’t dealt with before and nothing can ever destroy us. As the Passover Haggadah so poignantly states: “In every generation, they rise up to destroy us, but G-d saves us from their hands.” Enjoy the eclipse!