On Wednesday morning, the "Birkat Chama - Blessing of the Sun" was said all over the Jewish world. Only every 28 years, this blessing is said and it symbolically represents the position of the sun at the creation of the world. Halachically, every 28 years, the sun is in this exact position. According to science, however, it is neither the real date nor the position. The Rabbis chose this cycle because we humans are able to grasp the concept of 28 years. All over the world, the blessing was taken seriously and countless Jews got up early and said the blessing during the morning prayer Shacharit.
Here some pictures from the event:
The anti - Zionist Edah HaCharedit saying the blessing in Jerusalem / Mea Shearim
Third from the right: The Toldot Aharon Rebbe David Kahn
All pictures can be seen here:
http://bhol.co.il/news_read.asp?id=8995&cat_id=2
An incredible event. The really incredible thing is that the beracha is only said on seeing the sun once every 28 years. I wonder if this length of time in unique among religious rituals.
ReplyDeleteNot many smiling faces though.
B"H
ReplyDeleteI just know that the 28 years are not the real position of the sun when the world was created. I think the real position is showing up every 300 or something years. the 28 years were stipulated by the rabbis. However, it seems a kind of unique because it still symbolizes a long time period.