Why Don’t We Make a ברכה on a Solar Eclipse?
This past Shabbos, I proposed to
מורי ורבי הרב הגאון ר׳ שלמה מילר שליט״א
,
suggesting the reason we don't make a ברכה for a solar eclipse might hinge on the Tosefta's
ברכות פ״ו statement:
“The only time one may make a ברכה on the sun is once
in 28 years in תקופת ניסן.
At any other time, making a ברכה for the sun could
appear like sun worship.
The Response
מורי ורבי responded that he doesn't know why we should make ברכת החמה in our time.
By now the 28th year, the planets are not aligned anymore as they were during the first year of
תקופת ניסן.
The Chasam Sofer Raises This Problem
It's the Chasam Sofer שו״ת או״ח נ״ו who actually raises this problem:
that the date that we make ברכת החמה these days is incorrect because we applied
שמואל’s rounding without recalibrating for
תקופת רב אדא (more accurate) every couple of cycles,
וצע״ג.
למעשה
The Chasam Sofer concludes that the מנהג העולם is to follow the
Poskim רי״ף, רמב״ם, רא״ש, טור and the שלחן ערוך
to make the ברכה even though it's the wrong day.
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