With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

A Jewish Holiday, Once Every 28 Years

The astronomical metrics of Shmuel are by now considered inexact, but close enough so that the religious tradition persists, so that Jews like Rabbi Bleich believe that the sun next Wednesday occupies the same location in the firmament as it did when it was formed on the fourth day of Creation, which would have been Wednesday, March 26, of the Hebrew year 1, otherwise known as 3760 B.C.

While Birchat HaChammah is intermittent, Rabbi Bleich’s interest in it is constant. He stands as one of the worldwide authorities on the blessing and holiday, the author of the definitive English-language book on the subject, “Bircas HaChammah.” (Transliteration of Hebrew is more inexact than Shmuel’s astronomy.)
Read entire article at NYT Week in Review