Likkutei Sichos Vol. 15 – Bereishis 2
1. On the verse[1] "Let there be luminaries … and they shall be for signs …", Rashi cites the saying of Chazal[2]: "When the luminaries are eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the world, as it is said[3], 'Be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens etc.'[4] — when you do the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, you need not worry about retribution."
As to the reason the luminaries are eclipsed, the Gemara[5] states: "Because of four things the sun is eclipsed: because of an Av Beis Din who died and was not eulogized properly, etc.; and because of four things the luminaries are eclipsed: because of forgers of documents, etc." — that is, the eclipse of the luminaries is bound up with the deeds of human beings.
The well-known question is: the eclipse of the luminaries — a solar or lunar eclipse — is a fixed feature in the nature of creation, in that eclipses come at set times, to the point that one can calculate in advance when they will occur. How, then, can one say that "because of four things the sun is eclipsed … the luminaries are eclipsed," when this is something necessitated by the laws of nature that cannot be prevented?[6]
2. Over the generations, certain people have used this question as "proof" that, G‑d forbid, not everything stated by Chazal is correct — and with it they justified their conduct of, G‑d forbid, not keeping Torah and mitzvos.
The truth, however, is that a person's not keeping Torah and mitzvos is not because of his "intellectual questions," but because of the "appetites" of his character traits; the questions are an excuse to justify his improper conduct. And therefore even such a "question"[7] is enough for them — one which, with a little reflection, is seen to have no substance at all. By way of introduction:
All agree that in the times of the Tannaim and Amoraim the calculation of the times of solar and lunar eclipses was already well known among the sages of the nations. And anyone acquainted with the history of the Jewish people [from the accounts cited in the words of Chazal, and more specifically, from the histories of those times] knows that the sages of the nations stood in close contact, in matters of wisdom and science, with the Sages of Israel, to the point of debating with them in all manner of wisdom[8], including astronomy[9].
So even if someone were to stubbornly refuse to accept that in matters of science[10] and astronomical calculation the Sages of Israel had clear knowledge[11], and that it was through the Sages of Israel[12] that this knowledge reached the sages of the nations — it is nonetheless clear beyond dispute that once the calculations of solar and lunar eclipses were well known among the sages of the nations, they were certainly known to the Sages of Israel[13] through their contact (with the sages of the nations) mentioned above; all the more so matters of astronomy, knowledge of which bears on the mitzvah of sanctifying the new month[14].
It is therefore obvious that this statement of Chazal — that a solar or lunar eclipse is a bad omen etc. (and that eclipses come "because of four things") — cannot contradict the fact that the eclipse is necessitated by the laws of nature.
3. Seemingly one could explain[15] that in "when the luminaries are eclipsed it is an omen etc." the emphasis is (not on the eclipse itself, but) on seeing the eclipse. For since G‑d shows a Jew a bad omen, it is surely so that he should do teshuvah[16] — so he must see the omen.
This would answer the question above: by the laws of nature, only the eclipse itself is necessary; it is not necessary that the eclipse be seen, since there can be clouds and the like that hide it.
And this detail depends on human deeds: when the "four things" are present, the "bad omen" is there, in that the eclipse is seen; and when conduct is as it should be, there are clouds that conceal the eclipse, so that the "bad omen" is not there.
But this explanation does not hold up, because (besides the fact that there are places where clouds hardly exist at all, such as the land of Egypt, where there are no clouds (and therefore no rain either[17])), the wording of Chazal, "when the luminaries are eclipsed," shows that the bad omen consists not in seeing the eclipse but in the eclipse itself.
And for this reason the Gemara[18] (in the Beraisa) distinguishes between Jews and idolaters — "When the sun is eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the idolaters; when the moon is eclipsed, it is a bad omen for the enemies of Israel, because Israel reckons by the moon and the idolaters by the sun." The meaning is that since the Jewish people are likened to the moon and the idolaters to the sun[19], the "eclipse" in their conduct causes the eclipse of the sun and the moon: the eclipse (and deficiency) of the sun and the moon comes from the eclipse (and deficiency) in the conduct of the idolaters and of the Jewish people.
It follows that when the state of the Jewish people is complete, there should be no eclipse or deficiency in the moon at all (and not that there is an eclipse which simply is not seen).
4. The explanation of this is simple[20]:
The plain meaning of "when the luminaries are eclipsed it is a bad omen etc." (and that this is "because of four things etc.") is: when an eclipse of the luminaries takes place, it is a sign that at that time a bad mazal holds sway [as we find in several places in the sayings of Chazal[21] concerning certain times when the mazal is bad and the like] — it is a time prone to calamities, and this also brings about that one is then punished (more) for the "four things."
And for this very reason, "when you do the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, you need not worry about retribution"[22] — because there is nothing to punish.
Accordingly, there is no room to ask from the fact that solar and lunar eclipses must come at set times by the laws of nature — for the eclipse is not a result of human deeds. It is merely a sign of a time of calamity, when one is punished especially for the four things; and these times (of a bad mazal etc.) together with their "signs" were indeed set up this way from the outset in nature and the order of creation [like the times the Gemara lists in Shabbos[23] — "One who (is born) on the first day [of the week] will be etc." And more].
5. This still needs further explanation, however:
The Gemara[24] distinguishes between Jews and idolaters — "When Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, they need not fear any of these … 'Be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them' — the idolaters will be dismayed, but Israel will not be dismayed." From this it is understood that in the very same manner and state in which for Jews it is "be not dismayed" (when they "do the will of the Omnipresent"), for the nations it is "they will be dismayed."
One must understand: if a "bad omen" means a time when one is punished especially (for not guarding against the four things) — and the plain meaning of "doing the will of the Omnipresent" is that one does not transgress it, so that no punishment comes — why should "the nations will be dismayed" apply also to those who do not transgress His will?
6. The explanation:
The effect of mazal at particular times is (not only with regard to reward and punishment, but) also with regard to human conduct — the mazal brings about in people an inclination toward certain conduct and deeds (for good or otherwise). For example: "A person learns most of his wisdom only at night"[25] — which means not that by day one cannot succeed in Torah study[26], but that night is a time more conducive to success in Torah than the day, when one needs more toil in order to succeed.
The same applies to the saying of Chazal in Shabbos, "One who [is born under] … will be …," that a person's nature and traits depend on (the mazal of) the time he was born —
This does not mean that the mazal affects the conduct of one born at that time in a compelling way — for "permission is granted to every person" to be a tzaddik or the opposite[27], and it cannot be that "his nature will draw him to something from which he cannot budge"[28]. Rather, it means that the mazal of that time creates in the person "a slight inclination"[29] toward a particular thing; but through toil he can overcome his nature in his conduct, and even change and transform it.
As explained (at length) in the Rambam's Shemoneh Perakim[30]: "It is impossible for a person to be born … by nature possessing a virtue or a deficiency," only "by nature predisposed toward a virtue or a deficiency," and therefore nature does not compel free choice. The difference is only this:
One who is "by nature predisposed toward virtue" needs to toil less in choosing to be a person of virtue, since his nature helps him (though he has free choice to be the opposite of a person of virtue); whereas one who is "predisposed toward deficiency" must toil more to become a person of virtue (and on the other hand, this itself is proof that he was given greater powers than one who is "by nature predisposed toward virtue," for "the load is according to the camel"[31]) —
And so too with the particular traits that come from (the mazal of) the time a person is born: although the Gemara says "one who [is born under] … will be …," this does not mean the person is compelled, but that he needs more effort and toil to overcome his nature.
[A parallel to this is all the times of which it is said that they are a "day of ill fortune"[32] and the like: it means only that at such a time something unfavorable is more likely, and therefore one must be careful on that day in certain matters (such as "we do not begin [new undertakings] on Monday and Wednesday"[33] and the like), but it is not something compelled.
That is why the rule "we do not begin on Monday and Wednesday" applies only when it does not conflict with "we do not pass over mitzvos"[34]; and likewise, as long as there is the proper effort, one can succeed even on a day of ill fortune etc.[35]]
7. Accordingly, one can say that the meaning of the saying "when the luminaries are eclipsed it is a bad omen for the world" is [not only that it is a time of calamity, when one is punished for undesirable conduct, but] that it is a time when there is awakened in a person, by nature (in a special way), an inclination and a pull toward conduct that is not good. This, however, is not in a way that compels him to such conduct, for he has the power to overcome these inclinations.
[And this explains the precise wording of the parable[36] the Gemara brings concerning a solar eclipse: "A king of flesh and blood who made a feast for his servants and set a lamp before them; he became angry with them and said to his servant, 'Take the lamp away from them etc.'" — that is, the "take the lamp away" is done (not by the king himself, but) through "his servant," because the eclipse and bad omen of that time is only something that comes from nature (the king's servant).]
And the wording "because of four things the sun is eclipsed etc." means [not that the eclipse of the luminaries is caused by actual wrong conduct in the four things, but] that because at this time there is an inclination and a pull toward the "four things," the luminaries are eclipsed etc.
8. According to the above, we will also understand the novelty that specifically regarding the Jewish people it was said "be not dismayed," which is not so regarding the nations:
Although the nations, too, can overcome the natural inclinations etc. that the time brings about and conduct themselves properly — for although they do not have the true concept of free choice[37], they are nevertheless not punished unless they sin "of their own accord"[38] — still, since they are subject to the order of nature, they need great effort and toil etc. to nullify their nature, and therefore "the nations are dismayed by them": they are afraid of the inclinations that come from nature.
Not so the Jewish people: when they have an increase in serving G‑d beyond the measures and limits of their nature — "doing the will of the Omnipresent"[39] — they are above nature (including above the "signs of the heavens"), and therefore "they need not fear any of these":
Not only can they overcome nature (through toil and effort to nullify it), but from the outset they do not reckon with the "signs of the heavens" at all — they begin [new undertakings] on Monday and Wednesday and the like — up to a state in which one need not reckon with the order of nature at all[40]; G‑d's conduct with tzaddikim[41] ("and Your people are all tzaddikim"[42]) is a conduct of open miracles, above nature.
(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Shelach, 5735)