Every twenty-eight years, on April 8, those of the Jewish faith celebrate Birchat HaChammah, a day that pays homage to God as creator of the universe. The timing of the celebration is based on the belief that “every 28 years, the sun moves into the same place in the sky at the same time and on the same day of the week as it did when God made it.”
One may or may not accept the astronomical measurements that result in this conclusion about the sun’s location. However, what is celebrated that day is something in which we can all participate. In the words of Rabbi J. David Bleich, the prayer of that day, the blessing of the sun, is “an intellectual reflection upon the fact that God constantly creates the universe, and that is a basic principle of faith….It’s designed for reflection and introspection, which lead to an understanding that there would be no universe without divine existence.” Rabbi Bleigh explains that the blessing of the sun blesses a process, rather than the sun itself.
As our Jewish brothers and sisters pray their blessing of the sun this morning, let us join them in giving praise and thanks to our God who creates and sustains us and all that is in the universe, our God who loves us into existence and who breathes life into us in each moment of our existence.
Creo en Dios! 