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 THU night, 1:54am of FRI Sept. 8. (This is local time; adjust for other time zones.) Note that astronomical full moon this month is THU 21:42 Israel Summer Time. Yet one may say KL for more than 4 hours after full moon, because our halachic deadline for KL is based on the average time it takes the moon to go through its cycle of phases - not the actual time (which can vary up to several hours before or after the average figure). Our deadline is midway between the previous molad and the upcoming molad. This is the standard rule: One can say KL until SOF ZMAN KL, even if it is after actual full moon. However... there will be a small/shallow partial lunar eclipse on Thursday night, approx. 9:00-10:30pm. One who sees the eclipse and understands its significance, namely that a lunar eclipse occurs only at full moon - such an individual may not (according to one opinion) say KL after the eclipse, even though the official deadline for KL (i.e. the average full moon) has not yet come. Apparently, the combination of the knowledge of the passing of the full moon, the knowledge that the moon is now beginning to diminish, together with the experience of the eclipse, makes the person unable to say the bracha. Mere knowledge of the time of the full moon does not prevent the person from saying KL later - especially because the moon still looks full. And if a person witnesses the eclipse, but is lacking the knowledge that the eclipse tells us that the moon is full (middle of the eclipse, that is), then he still can say KL until the halachic deadline. As indicated earlier, there are other opinions on this issue, specifically that we follow the average calculation and pay no attention to the actual details. The first opinion, though, is more interesting. 18 Elul is the 397th yahrzeit of the Maharal of Prague, Talmudic scholar, Jewish Mystic, and philosopher, prolific writer, commentator [The
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