This is the sort of thing that gets into my head and starts knocking down dominos. Today was marked by the recitation by Jews world-wide of the Birkat Hachama, a prayer offered once every 28 years in honor of the sun being in the same place it was when (depending on who you talk to) either the Universe or the sun itself was created 5769 years ago.
That would be the year 3660 B.C. to the goyim. That’s the early Minoan period, a century before we started working with tin.
When I first read about this on Yahoo-News my reaction was a mixture of curiosity and disappointment that in the 21st century educated people are still devoting time and energy to something that is such obvious nonsense. I look at all religious observance as merely a form of Star Trekkie-ism with thousands more years of baggage.
On the curious side I equate it with flowers that only bloom every quarter century or the seven year cicada cycle back in DC. It’s interesting, a milestone observed by those of us with too much time on our hands.
But this involves thousands of people who, at the very least, are smart enough to learn Hebrew, which from everything I’ve experienced is a hell of a language to learn.
And they’re keeping track of this through generations of oppression and dodgy star-charts and calendars to figure , yeah, early April the sun is right about….. THERE! That’s where God stuck it on Day One, or whatever day your reading of Genesis says it happened. You’re seeing the very picture that no one but God saw that day because Adam wasn’t around at the jump.
Of course you’ve got to pretend that city skyline or jet contrail isn’t there, same as that billboard for the “Accidentes” lawyer, but if you focus on the sun… well, you’ll end up blind, literally and figuratively.
At it’s best the Birkat Hachama seems a nice gesture of appreciation for the Wonder of It All. In fact a scaled down version, free of psalms, kaddish and other stuff, is supposed to be said anytime you see a natural wonder like a mountain, a river, lightning, meteors, etc.
“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe who makes the works of Creation.”
I get it.
It’s like God sneezed, here we all are and we should say “gesundheit.”
Next one’s April 8th 2037. Hope we all can make it.
