Kiddush Levana on a Cloudy Day

Kiddush Levanah on a Cloudy Night

Kiddush Levanah, the brachah we make as the moon waxes in the sky, may only be said if we can actually see the moonlight and take pleasure in it. If the moon is obscured by clouds, and we cannot see objects that would normally be visible by moonlight, we may not be mekadeish (recite the blessing on) the levanah. However, if the cloud cover is translucent and does not totally obscure the moon, and it is still possible to see all or most things that are normally visible by moonlight, we may say the brachah.  Some poskim are more lenient than others and say that if the contour of the moon is visible through the clouds, even if the light of the moon is not visible, it can still be considered seeing the moon, and we may do kiddush levanah; other poskim disagree with this leniency. There are people who are mehader (stringent) and wait in order to be mekadeish the levanah on a night when the moon is completely visible, with no cloud cover; however, that is a hiddur (stringency), and not the halachah. If only part of the moon is covered by clouds, we may certainly do kiddush levanah. #312?1

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Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.