Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
April 12-13, 2024 • 5 Nissan 5784 • Tazria (Lev 12-13).
The goal of this blog is to change perspectives at the Shabbat table.
Dedicated to Hinda Chana bas Sarah - may she have a complete and speedy recovery.
Dedicated to Hinda Chana bas Sarah - may she have a complete and speedy recovery.
In a dramatic contrast to last week's announcement of bringing light to the world, this week has been all about darkness.
I refer of course to the Eclipse.
(Notice how I capitalized it there?)
I have literally been thinking about the Eclipse all week.
On Sunday we drove five hours to Ohio to experience the four minutes of shadow.
On Monday we spent half the day preparing for the four minutes of shadow (including making a short video about it), then drove five hours home, still thinking about the shadow.
On Tuesday I started to prepare a Zoom Talmud class about eclipses.
On Wednesday, I taught a Zoom Talmud class about eclipses.
On Thursday I kept telling about it and today I'm writing about it.
The whole week. So I hope you will forgive me if I don't say anything further about the eclipse at this time.
Except maybe one small thing.
When my children (yes, left behind) slapped on those disposable shades to view the 87 percent eclipse, they thought it was pretty cool. It was indeed pretty cool. No, it was more than that - it was way cool.
And I can tell you from first-hand experience that 97 percent is even cooler.
But even 99 percent doesn't compare to 100 percent.
It wasn't merely 1 percent darker. It instantly went from being quite bright to being quite dark, as if someone had simply thrown a switch and shut off the lights.
It's like the difference betwen being in a dark room and a dark room with the shades slightly open on a very sunny day.
In other words, the sun is so strong that even a tiny sliver of sunshine can brighten the whole world.
We all know that the sun is mighty and mighty big, but how mighty and how big?
It has been said that you were somehow to transport a cubic centimeter of sun to the surface of the Earth, everything with 2 miles would be burnt to a crisp (this video says it better). And the sun is 1,000,000 times the size of the Earth.
But I think we're pretty comfortable with that. Or at least, we're used to it, like we're used to death and taxes, they're simply unstoppable forces that we live with.
So imagine how you'd feel if there were an announcement that taxes were going to be cancelled this year, because the government has enough money. But only for people within a certain area at a specific time on April 15.
Would you drive five hours to be there at that time?
Or how would you feel if someone found a way to literally kill death for anyone who happens to be in central Ohio on a specific day at a specific time?
Would you take the trouble to be there?
Or would you be like those two guys I saw at the Starbucks from where we viewed the eclipse who didn't budge from their indoor business meeting the entire time?
It's easy to write fiction stories about these things, but what if it really happened?
That's what the eclipse is - until you experience it 100 percent, it's like a fiction fantasy.
But then it does happen - the sun's power is gone - in the middle of the sky.
It doesn't need to last more than four minutes - that's plenty of time to get the message.
Question for your table: What is the message?
Shabbat Shalom
I refer of course to the Eclipse.
(Notice how I capitalized it there?)
I have literally been thinking about the Eclipse all week.
On Sunday we drove five hours to Ohio to experience the four minutes of shadow.
On Monday we spent half the day preparing for the four minutes of shadow (including making a short video about it), then drove five hours home, still thinking about the shadow.
On Tuesday I started to prepare a Zoom Talmud class about eclipses.
On Wednesday, I taught a Zoom Talmud class about eclipses.
On Thursday I kept telling about it and today I'm writing about it.
The whole week. So I hope you will forgive me if I don't say anything further about the eclipse at this time.
Except maybe one small thing.
When my children (yes, left behind) slapped on those disposable shades to view the 87 percent eclipse, they thought it was pretty cool. It was indeed pretty cool. No, it was more than that - it was way cool.
And I can tell you from first-hand experience that 97 percent is even cooler.
But even 99 percent doesn't compare to 100 percent.
It wasn't merely 1 percent darker. It instantly went from being quite bright to being quite dark, as if someone had simply thrown a switch and shut off the lights.
It's like the difference betwen being in a dark room and a dark room with the shades slightly open on a very sunny day.
In other words, the sun is so strong that even a tiny sliver of sunshine can brighten the whole world.
We all know that the sun is mighty and mighty big, but how mighty and how big?
It has been said that you were somehow to transport a cubic centimeter of sun to the surface of the Earth, everything with 2 miles would be burnt to a crisp (this video says it better). And the sun is 1,000,000 times the size of the Earth.
But I think we're pretty comfortable with that. Or at least, we're used to it, like we're used to death and taxes, they're simply unstoppable forces that we live with.
So imagine how you'd feel if there were an announcement that taxes were going to be cancelled this year, because the government has enough money. But only for people within a certain area at a specific time on April 15.
Would you drive five hours to be there at that time?
Or how would you feel if someone found a way to literally kill death for anyone who happens to be in central Ohio on a specific day at a specific time?
Would you take the trouble to be there?
Or would you be like those two guys I saw at the Starbucks from where we viewed the eclipse who didn't budge from their indoor business meeting the entire time?
It's easy to write fiction stories about these things, but what if it really happened?
That's what the eclipse is - until you experience it 100 percent, it's like a fiction fantasy.
But then it does happen - the sun's power is gone - in the middle of the sky.
It doesn't need to last more than four minutes - that's plenty of time to get the message.
Question for your table: What is the message?
Shabbat Shalom
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