A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem... Last opportunity for Kiddush L'vana this month is this Motza'ei Shabbat, Nov. 8th, leil 14 Cheshvan. Technically, the deadline for K.L. is the midpoint between the previous molad and the next one. Which is 14d 18h 22m from the announced molad of the given month. The molad of Cheshvan was Shabbat B'reishit after- noon at 4:50pm. That means that the deadline for K.L. is Sunday at 11:12am. But since K.L. is said only at night, when the Moon shines on Earth (not counting when we can see it in the daytime), the actual last chance for K.L. would be all Motza'ei Shabbat until a little after dawn - once the sky perceptibly lightens, K.L. can no longer be said. So far, this has been a standard explanation, oft-repeated in this box. But this time there's a twist. Because in the wee hours of this Motza'ei Shabbat, the Moon will pass into the shadow of the Earth. That means there will be a total lunar eclipse very early Sunday morning. To our eyes, the Moon will start to appear to diminish from 1:32am and be totally darkened (visible as a reddish-orangish disk) from 3:06 to 3:30am. By 5:04am, the Moon will completely emerge from the Earth's shadow and appear full, once more. Lunar eclipses occur at full moon. Meaning that after an eclipse, the moon is waning, although we won't notice for many hours. So what is the deadline for K.L.? The answer is midway between the moladot based on the calculation of AVERAGE rather than actual moladot. In reality, the times from molad to nigud (opposition) to molad vary, due to a combination of different laws of nature. The "real" astronomical times are not used in our time (without a Sanhedrin). Even if your Farmers' Almanac says full moon has just past, if your LUACH says that Sof Zman K.L. has not yet arrived, then you still may say K.L. And if Sof Zman K.L. occurs before the astronomical full moon time, you may not say K.L. Halacha looks at the calculations based on average AND NOT at the astronomical times. Except following a lunar eclipse. There are variations in psak on this issue, but let's look at one particularly interesting opinion. The situation is not the same for every month and every eclipse, but this is the story for this Motza'Sh. Can you say K.L. at 5:05am this Sunday? It is before Sof Zman K.L., therefore you may say K.L. If you saw the eclipse AND know what it means, then the fact that you not only KNOW that full moon passed, but you "experienced" it, you may no longer say K.L. Slept through the eclipse? Then you can say K.L. at 5:05am, even if you KNOW about the eclipse and what it means. Seeing and knowing need to combine to end K.L. time sooner than calculated. [The
Parshat Lech L'cha Homepage]
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