Tetrad of lunar eclipses line up with Jewish Festivals

The first total lunar eclipse of 2014 will occur overnight on April 14-15, and marks the beginning of an eclipse tetrad — four back-to-back total lunar eclipses. As the moon passes through the Earth’s umbra, it will turn a dark red color.

This only happens a few times a decade, and what’s more remarkable is that all four of these eclipses will fall on either the beginning of Passover or of Sukkot. The next one will be October 8th, 2014, the start of Sukkot, followed by one on April 15 and October 8 of 2015, the starts of Passover and Sukkot, respectively.

The last time a tetrad coincided with the holidays started in 1967 and, before that, 1949. Both of these were trying times for the Jewish people and turning points in our history. Now, as we are about to enter the newest tetrad, it is our time to, once again, create a shift in our history. We must take it upon ourselves to make Israel and the Jewish people stronger and more united than ever before. Let this be a time of glory and triumph!