Posts tagged Judaism at Bright Hall

South Bend is heating up over the controversy surrounding Obama and the local bishop...Read the post

2009 College Grads: We're the Lucky Ones

Why there is hope for the graduating Class of 2009, and how they can find work in a recession...Read the post

Beer in Vending Machines -- What Drinking Age?

U.S. policies on drinking age seem restrictive when examining the rest of the world...Read the post

How The Press Can Remain Relevant

Is it any surprise that Obama has employed a strategy to cordon journalists that is similar to previous administrations?...Read the post

Be Afraid, Cheney Warns. Be Very Afraid.

Just when you thought the Bush-era warnings of Armageddon around the corner were over, Cheney strikes again...Read the post

Obama: You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry...

Obama threw down his stick, spat on the floor and growled in the face of cameras -- metaphorically... Read the post

Obama to GOP: 'I Won, I'm The President'

"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," Obama told GOP leaders...Read the post

Palin Seeks $11M Book Deal, but Can She Read?

One can only imagine what Republican rising star Sarah Palin could possibly write about in her memoirs...Read the post

Posts with tag judaism

It's Not a Pagan Ritual, I Swear

Sam Guzik

Posted: Apr 8th 2009 5:33PM

Filed under: Religion, Washington University

So a large group of Jews gets together early in the morning and they start to pray toward the sun -- no, it's not the start of a really bad joke, it's a description of the rarest event in Jewish practice occurring only once every 28 years.

More specifically, the ritual, known as Birkat Hachama, is a blessing recited in appreciation of the sun, timed to occur when -- based on Talmudic calculations -- the sun is at the place in which it was created.

The observation of the ritual consists of reciting of the blessing "Blessed art thou, Lord our God, Author of Creation" and several scriptural passages. From start to finish, it can be completed in several minutes, but has brought together Jews around the world of varying degrees of observance.

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