The Blood Moon And Jewish Destiny
A phenomenon known as “Blood Moon” will occur on Passover. What does Jewish thought have to say about this unusual occurrence?
Author: Rabbi Ari Enkin, United with Israel
It’s happening this Tuesday! There’s going to be a total lunar eclipse! The moon will amaze the skies – be prepared!
The result of a total lunar eclipse is that the moon will appear reddish-orange in color, a phenomenon known as “Blood Moon.” The intriguing color is the result of the moon passing through the earth’s shadow. In fact, this Tuesday’s blood moon is merely the first of four additional blood moons within the next year and a half: April 15, 2014; October 8, 2014; April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015. This close interval frequency is a very rare event. In fact, before the 20th century, there was a 300-year period when there were no such eclipses. In the words of NASA, “getting four umbral eclipses in a row is like drawing a rare lunar poker hand of four of a kind.”
What does the Torah and Jewish tradition have to say about blood moons? Well, for starters, this Tuesday’s eclipse coincides with Jewish holiday of Passover, a pivotal event that commemorates the ancient Israelites’ Exodus from slavery in Egypt. As those familiar with the Torah (or late American actor Charlton Heston, for that matter) know, God unleashed ten plagues upon the Egyptians when they refused to follow God’s command to free the Jewish people.
The first plague was: BLOOD! The 10th and final plague was Death of the Firstborn (at which time the Egyptians literally kicked the Jews out of Egypt!). Death is always associated with blood. Not only that, but the Israelites were commanded by God to paint lamb’s blood on their doorways so that the plague of the Firstborn would pass over their homes. As you can see, there was a lot of reference to blood.
All Four Blood Moons Coincide with Major Jewish Holidays
But there’s more! Get this: ALL four blood moons will occur on major Jewish holidays! This week’s blood moon occurs on Passover 2014, followed by the holiday of Sukkot 2014, then again on Passover 2015 and then again on Sukkot 2015. This has happened only eight times in all of history!
And there’s even more! Major events of significance to the Jewish people happened on each of the last three recorded times that these rare blood moons occurred. They were events that changed the course and direction of Jewish history for all time.
A blood moon coincided with the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel liberated Jerusalem; Jews were able to return to Jerusalem after 2000 years of Exile. Sadly, Jewish blood was spilled during this war.
There was also a blood moon on the eve of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948, following a bloody war that took place only a few years after the Holocaust, when Six Million Jews were murdered!
And finally, there was a blood moon in 1493, when Tomas de Torquemada, the first Spanish Inquisitor, began slaughtering Jews. Here too, Jewish blood was spilled.
Is the Blood Moon a Sign from Heaven?
Believers around the world of diverse faiths are attributing the blood moon phenomenon to the teaching of the prophet Joel, who had preached:
“I will set wonders in the heavens and the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke; the sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of God” (Joel 3:3).
Inspired by the concluding words of Joel, some are suggesting that the blood moons are a sign from God that we are one step closer to the coming of the Messiah.
