Shiur summary (draft from the recording)
Eclipses as Signs: Chama, Levana and Yisrael
בזמן שהחמה לוקה
Sukkah 29a · from line 26 · Friday, February 27, 2026
The sugya
The shiur continues the Gemara's aggadeta about eclipses of the sun and moon as bad signs. It covers Rebbe Meir's mashal and the braisa that the sun is a sign for the goyim and the moon for Yisrael. It then goes through the location, color and timing of an eclipse, and the idea that a nation's heavenly power is struck along with it. It ends with the pasuk in Yirmiyahu that Yisrael, when doing the ratzon Hashem, need not fear these signs, followed by a review from line 29. The sugya will be finished on Monday.
Step by step (shakla v’tarya)
- GemaraRebbe Meir: whenever the luminaries are diminished it is a bad sign for Yisrael, because we are accustomed to being hit.
- GemaraMashal: a teacher comes into the cheder with a strap in his hand. Who worries? The one who gets hit every day, who thinks 'oh no, it's happening to me again.'
- GemaraTanu Rabbanan (line 29): when the sun is diminished it is a bad sign for the goyim; when the moon is diminished it is a bad sign for Yisrael.
- Placeholder removed
Drafted from the recording of the shiur, for chazarah. Torah terms follow the Rebbi’s own words; anything that could not be made out is marked “unclear in recording”. Tap a time to hear that point. Corrections welcome.