Eclipses and Nisan: It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

(13) But Moses said to the people, “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which יהוה will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. (14) יהוה will battle for you; you hold your peace!” (15) Then יהוה said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. (16) And you lift up your rod and hold out your arm over the sea and split it, so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground. (17) And I will stiffen the hearts of the Egyptians so that they go in after them; and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his warriors, his chariots, and his riders. (18) Let the Egyptians know that I am יהוה, when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his riders.” (19) The messenger of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them, (20) and it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night, so that the one could not come near the other all through the night. (21) Then Moses held out his arm over the sea and יהוה drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, (22) and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (23) The Egyptians came in pursuit after them into the sea, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and riders. (24) At the morning watch, יהוה looked down upon the Egyptian army from a pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. (25) [God] locked the wheels of their chariots so that they moved forward with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for יהוה is fighting for them against Egypt.” (26) Then יהוה said to Moses, “Hold out your arm over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians and upon their chariots and upon their riders.” (27) Moses held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But יהוה hurled the Egyptians into the sea. (28) The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the riders—Pharaoh’s entire army that followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. (29) But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

(1) באשמרת הבקר IN THE MORNING WATCH — The three divisions of the night are each called an אשמורה “a watch” (Berakhot 3b), and that which immediately precedes the morning

is called “the morning watch”.

(23) I pleaded with יהוה at that time, saying, (24) “O Lord יהוה, You who let Your servant see the first works of Your greatness and Your mighty hand, You whose powerful deeds no god in heaven or on earth can equal! (25) Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and the Lebanon.” (26) But יהוה was wrathful with me on your account and would not listen to me. יהוה said to me, “Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again! (27) Go up to the summit of Pisgah and gaze about, to the west, the north, the south, and the east. Look at it well, for you shall not go across yonder Jordan. (28) Give Joshua his instructions, and imbue him with strength and courage, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall allot to them the land that you may only see.”

(9) And in that day—declares the Sovereign GOD —I will make the sun set at noon,I will darken the earth on a sunny day. (10) I will turn your festivals into mourningAnd all your songs into dirges;I will put sackcloth on all loinsAnd tonsures on every head.I will make the earth mourn as for an only child,All of it as on a bitter day. (11) A time is coming—declares the Sovereign GOD —when I will send a famine upon the land: not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of GOD. (12) People shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east to seek the word of GOD, but they shall not find it.

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir says: When the heavenly lights, i.e., the sun and the moon, are eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the enemies of the Jewish people, which is a euphemism for the Jewish people, because they are experienced in their beatings. Based on past experience, they assume that any calamity that afflicts the world is directed at them. The Gemara suggests a parable: This is similar to a teacher who comes to the school with a strap in his hand. Who worries? The child who is accustomed to be beaten each and every day is the one who worries. The Sages taught in another baraita: When the sun is eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the other nations. When the moon is eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the enemies of the Jewish people. This is due to the fact that the Jewish people calculate their calendar primarily based on the moon, and the other nations calculate based on the sun. When the sun is eclipsed in the east, it is a bad omen for the residents of the lands of the east. When it is eclipsed in the west, it is a bad omen for the residents of the lands of the west. When it is eclipsed in the middle of the sky, it is a bad omen for the entire world. If, during an eclipse, the visage of the sun is red like blood, it is an omen that sword, i.e., war, is coming to the world. If the sun is black like sackcloth made of dark goat hair, it is an omen that arrows of hunger are coming to the world, because hunger darkens people’s faces. When it is similar both to this, to blood, and to that, to sackcloth, it is a sign that both sword and arrows of hunger are coming to the world. If it was eclipsed upon its entry, soon after rising, it is an omen that calamity is tarrying to come. If the sun is eclipsed upon its departure at the end of the day, it is an omen that calamity is hastening to come. And some say the matters are reversed: An eclipse in the early morning is an omen that calamity is hastening, while an eclipse in the late afternoon is an omen that calamity is tarrying. The Sages said: There is no nation that is afflicted whose god is not afflicted with it, as it is stated: “And against all the gods of Egypt I will mete out judgment; I am God” (Exodus 12:12). The Gemara adds: When the Jewish people perform God’s will, they need not fear any of these omens, as it is stated: “Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of Heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them” (Jeremiah 10:2). The nations will be dismayed, but the Jewish people will not be dismayed, provided they do not follow the ways of the nations. The Sages taught that on account of four matters the sun is eclipsed: On account of a president of the court who dies and is not eulogized appropriately, and the eclipse is a type of eulogy by Heaven; on account of a betrothed young woman who screamed in the city that she was being raped and there was no one to rescue her; on account of homosexuality; and on account of two brothers whose blood was spilled as one. And on account of four matters the heavenly lights are eclipsed: On account of forgers of a fraudulent document [pelaster] that is intended to discredit others; on account of testifiers of false testimony; on account of raisers of small domesticated animals in Eretz Yisrael in a settled area; and on account of choppers of good, fruit-producing trees. And on account of four matters the property of homeowners is delivered to the monarchy as punishment: On account of those keepers of paid promissory notes, who keep these documents instead of tearing them or returning them to the borrowers, as that would allow the lender to collect money with the note a second time; and on account of lenders with interest; and on account of those who had the ability to reprimand sinners and did not reprimand them; and on account of those who issued a commitment to give charity in public and ultimately do not give the charity to which they committed. Rav said: On account of four matters the property of homeowners is confiscated by the state treasury [timyon]: On account of those who delay payment of the salary of hired laborers (see Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15); on account of those who withhold the salary of hired laborers and do not pay at all; and on account of those who throw off the yoke of communal responsibility from their own necks and place that yoke on the necks of their friends; and on account of the arrogance of those who, due to their wealth, exercise power over the community. And the punishment for arrogance is equal to them all. However, with regard to the humble it is written: “The humble will inherit the land and delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psalms 37:11). We will return to you, "one who sleeps."