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According to the National Center for Environmental Information, Pittsburgh averages 59 clear days per year and 306 cloudy days. However, the 306 cloudy days includes partly cloudy days too, in which clouds cover 40 to 70 percent of the sky. If only overcast days are taken into consideration, the city averages 203 per year. As if that lessens the pain. In terms of the presence of sunlight, any day with some sunshine is a day to celebrate in Pittsburgh. To alleviate Yinzers’ pain, Seattle’s average is 226 days, the highest number in the lower 48 states.  The highest number of cloudy days per year is relegated to Anchorage, Alaska, with 230.  I hope yinz feel better now. 

The solar eclipse was a typical cloudy day for Pittsburgh, and then countless hordes of people were out celebrating the usual absence of sunlight. I could not help but acknowledge the irony in that. Yes, it was a rare celestial phenomenon for the United States, and in places that witnessed a full eclipse, the image of a black moon with only the corona of the sun escaping is stunning. Perhaps the rarity of this event, even though we witnessed one in 2017, makes for such public excitement, because the next one will not occur until August 23, 2044.  In case you decide to retire and become a solar eclipse chaser, they occur with greater frequency across the globe than you might realize. There will be two partial eclipses in 2025, and a full eclipse over northern Greenland, Iceland and Spain on August 12, 2026, and another across Northern Africa on August 2, 2027. 

The eager anticipation and excitement experienced by so many is fascinating to hear, and it made me think about an event in the Torah that also described the absence of light: the ninth plague, darkness. Here is how the Torah describes it in Exodus 10:21-23: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Hold out your arm toward the sky that there may be darkness upon the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be touched.” Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. People could not see one another, and for three days no one could get up from where he was; but all the Israelites enjoyed light In their dwellings.[Etz Hayim ed.]

This does not seem to be a solar eclipse, although based upon the unlimited capabilities of the Almighty, God could have caused a three-day solar eclipse. According to the NASA website, total solar eclipses last from 10 seconds to 7.5 minutes.  From 4000BCE to 8000CE, the longest one will occur on July 16, 2186, and last 7 minutes and 29 seconds. Notice how in the land of Goshen, the northeastern corner of ancient Egypt where the Israelites lived, they had light.

The Biblical commentators have had a field day with their interpretation of this event. Some suggest that after the first eight plagues, Egyptian society was depressed. I’d like to suggest that the darkness that they experienced was based upon their inability to interact with each other and to recognize that slavery was inherently wrong.  When we lack empathy for the travails of our fellow human beings, or at least sympathy or compassion, can we not exist in a sort of spiritual eclipse, with the light of God absent from our lives? I would submit to you that in any age, there have been people who fit this description. If you would take a moment to ponder this, you might even recognize this in people today.  Judaism provides the antidote for an eclipse of the spirit through our system of mitzvot that demand that we love our neighbor as ourselves and do our best to assist in solving the plight of others through tzedaka and gemilut chasadim, deeds of lovingkindness. 

There will always be those who choose to live in spiritual darkness. As Jews we opt for the nourishing warmth of God to light our way. May God’s spirit hover over those encased in darkness and bring them to a life of light.