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If there is one Birkat HaChama event I regret not participating in... it is this.



A group of runners from the Bet Shemesh Running Club went running Wednesday morning, with a reporter from the LA Times doing a story on an unusual Birkat HaChama. They went running into the fields and hills behind Yishi and made the bracha celebrating the return of the sun to its point of creation.

"You're supposed to look at the sun and notice it but then look to the side," he instructed, gesturing into a cloudless sky. "We're not worshiping the sun. We're worshiping its creator."

With that, the Beit Shemesh Running Club began its Birkat Hachamah, or blessing of the sun, a joyous ritual of early morning praying, singing, clapping and dancing replicated Wednesday by observant Jews at outdoor venues across Israel and the world.

The club's six-minute observance was coupled with an eight-mile run along dirt trails in the Judean hills around Beit Shemesh, one of Israel's premier hiking and biking spots. The city's name, Hebrew for "house of sun," is assumed to have been inspired by sun god worship during the early Canaanite period, about 3000 BC.

I had asked about the event, and Chaim Wizman, the club's founder and coach, had invited me to take part. As a competitive long-distance runner, I couldn't resist. And as an American Gentile, I welcomed the chance to share this passion, and my attraction to milestones, with Israeli Jews.

Besides, a trail-running religious event seemed a newsworthy example of how times have changed since the last blessing of the sun, on April 8, 1981.

Thanks to the Internet and alarm over global warming, what was once a relatively simple and arcane celebration associated with black-clad ultra-Orthodox Jews has become more widespread, and infused with environmental and New Age messages.

"What is it we're celebrating, essentially?" Wizman asked during the run. "We're celebrating the pristine state of nature at the moment of Creation, right? The world was created that way, you know, and we blew it. Now, the objective of mankind, in the Torah's view, is to re-achieve that pristine state."

Wizman speaks with the authority of an ordained rabbi. Like most of his teammates, he belongs to the modern Orthodox stream of Judaism, religiously observant but more accommodating to secular influences. The team admits women, and a few joined Wednesday's run.

For this band of mostly middle-aged runners, hitting the trail affirms a spiritual connection to nature and the land of Israel, to which many of them have immigrated. They deemed it an ideal way to mark Wednesday's celebration, which happened to coincide with the eve of Passover. Similar themes cropped up at other sun-blessing venues in Israel, including an arts, music and "healing" festival in the northern town of Safed.

...

By contrast the scene in Beit Shemesh was idyllic.

The running course meandered past fields of wildflowers, vineyards, fruit orchards, an olive grove planted eight centuries ago, a honey farm stocked with beehives, Crusader-era ruins, and biblical battlefields where the Israelites fought the Philistines. We also passed a heavily guarded military installation and what my hosts suspect is a nuclear missile silo.

There was no danger of getting lost. Among the group was Lt. Col. Ophir Dor, who designs global positioning systems for the Israeli military.

Along the way, we shared reflections on our own lives: what had changed over the last 28 years and what we envisioned for the year 2037.

"Guys, just think how old you're going to be next time this happens," Wizman told us early in the run.

"In 28 years, hopefully I'm speaking Hebrew," said Rich Levitas, a 49-year-old American-born Web designer who is struggling with the language a decade after moving here.

"Let's not get carried away," a fellow runner quipped.

"And also in 28 years, maybe I can finally break three hours in the marathon," added Levitas, whose best time for the 26.2-mile race is 3 hours, 4 minutes.

Rael Strous and Johnny Burg were 10th-graders from South Africa in 1981 when their tour group insisted on joining the sun blessing at the Western Wall on its final morning in Israel. The group raced to the airport afterward, barely making the flight home.

Years later, Strous and Burg found themselves living in the same neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, working as a psychiatrist and a lawyer, respectively.

Yitz Corn, a 43-year-old information technology consultant, reflected on the intergenerational passage of life and his father's death a few years ago at age 76. He said he had taken up running shortly afterward, with the hope of living longer, and had since lost 60 pounds.

"My son is 14," he said. "Hopefully I'll be there for him at the next Birkat Hachamah, when he'll be almost 43."

Like most everyone blessing the sun this time, Strous is aware that the ancient calculation of its 28-year cycle has been proved inexact. But to him, it's close enough to justify the tradition.

"You long for something that comes every so often, a phenomenon of belonging together at a cosmic level," he said during our charge up the hill. "That kind of event challenges us to grow, to feel part of something bigger. That's the essence of it: being part of something greater than yourself."

At the time, when it was being planned, I thought perhaps it would display a lack of reverence for the seriousness, and the rarity, of the moment. That along with the logistics of having my wife and kids present to mark the moment with me for our memories in 28 years by the next one (when everyone tries to remember where they were the last time it happened), just made it seem too unrealistic.

Different people made it meaningful in different ways. There is no one way to serve God in a meaningful way.

RBS Torah would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire RBS A community for the tremendous turnout at the Birchas HaChama event this morning! Estimates put the crowd at 2500-3000 people, including men, women and children.

I would like to publically thank a few people that put in many, many hours of hard work to make this event such a success - Meir Arnold, Rav Eli Cohen, Efrayim Neiman, Yehoshua Levinson, Dovid Feinberg, and Avrohom Wellins who all volunteered their time to ensure the logistics and participation, the Iriyah for their support of the event and helping with the sound systems and handout sheets, Peretz Dissen for playing the keyboard, Dil V'Zol for sponsoring the siyum, and of course, all the community Rabbonim who supported the event and came to participate and enhance the experience.

IMPORTANT NOTE - if you took photos or video of the event, we would be very appreciative for you to share them. We would like to create a photo gallery on the website and post them for everyone to view. Please email rbstorah@gmail.com if you have pictures or video to share.

Through the strength and achdus in our community, may we be zoche to see the Geulah Shleimah come once again in this month of Nissan.

Chag Kosher V'Sameach.

Ari Rosenstein
RBS Torah

The tzedaka organizations are also trying to cash in on the way Birkat HaChama has gotten out of proportion. Their latest fund raising campaign was for people to donate and their names would be said by Gadol X immediately after the Birkat HaChama bracha with whatever they requested he daven for for them.

The part of the tzedaka ads that I scanned are about something else. they are announcing that this will be the last time in history the Birkat HaChama will be said!



Do they know something we don't? Is the world coming to an end tomorrow after Birkat HaChama? If Mashiach should come this Nissan (after all, isn't Birkat HaChama on erev pesach supposed to be a harbinger of the geula?), will Birkat HaChama no longer be said in the future?

They are obviously trying to get you to give money because this will be your "last chance ever" for such an opportunity....
I wonder how many people fall for that...

The big day is finally just about upon us. Tomorrow morning we will be saying the bracha of Birkas hachama, commemorating the return of the sun to the point it was in at the time of creation. This return happens every 28 years.

I am not going to profess to understand the debate whether our count is right or wrong - I get lost in the math and the astronomical explanations, so I am just taking it for granted that tomorrow is the day and it does not really matter to me whether it is accurate or not. Those of you who have a problem with it can take your math and science papers to the rabbonim and work out a more accurate date.

What does interest me is how this has become such a big event. I get how because it is such a rare occurrence we make a big deal out of it. But it has gotten really big and people are making a really big deal out of it. It seems way out of proportion.

Here are some examples (in no particular order) of how big it has gotten:

For the first time in at least two thousand years, there will be a group going up to the top of Masada to recite the Birkas HaChama.

In the "central" event in Netanya, in the Kiryat Sanz neighborhood of the city, they will be changing the name of the street where Birkat HaChama will be recited. The new name of the street will be "Birkat HaChama Street".

Rav Elyashiv has the bris of a great grandchild tomorrow (Mazel tov!). He paskened that despite the normal ruling of "תדיר ושאינו תדיר תדיר קודם" which would mean the bris has priority over Birkas HaChama, in this case the blessing over the sun has priority and should be done first and only then the bris. I saw no explanation for this, but I presume it is because the blessing of the sun is meant to be done in the first three hours of the day and after that the bracha can no longer be said (at least not with Hashem's name), whereas the bris can be done all day (even if the preference is for early in the day). (source: Mishpacha newspaper)

Rav Elyashiv also is going out of his way for this event in another way. Rav Elyashiv makes sure to go to the Kotel every month. he therefore never needs to "tear kriya" at the kotel. Recently he has not been feeling so well, and it seems he has not gone to the Kotel in over 2 months. That means he is required to tear kriya when he will go to the Kotel tomorrow for Birkat Hachama. Out of concern that tearing kriya, being a sign of mourning of the destruction of the Temple, would dampen the joyous occassion of Birkas HaChama, Rav Elyashiv was scheduled to go to the Kotel today to tear kriya in advance of tomorrow's visit for Birkat HaChama. What I find particularly amazing about this is that Rav Elyashiv really feels the mourning when he tears kriya. I know when I tear kriya it is kind of perfunctory and done because I have to. I don't think I know anyone who really considers it a sad, mournful moment when he tears kriya at the Kotel. Rav Elyashiv does, and he assumes everyone else would feel that way as well just from seeing him tear....

The Wall Street Journal even picked up on how big it has gotten and has written about Birkat HaChama and the twist environmentalists are putting on it.

The Old City of Jerusalem is going to be completely shut down and closed off to traffic, including buses, because of the throngs of people expected to come for the Birkat HaChama at the Kotel.



Unfortunately it looks like the weather forecast is looking bad for Birkas Hachama. They are forecasting rain for all around the country. It looks like the best bet to get a sunny day for the bracha would be for those people who have gone down to Eilat for Pesach (though according to some rabbonim, Rav Elyashiv included, they might have to keep two days Yom Tov because Eilat might have the status of Chutz La'Aretz).

Hopefully the weather will clear up enough, at least for a few minutes, and let the sun peek out so we can say our bracha and get on with our erev pesach preparations. Heck, today was supposed to be cloudy and overcast but it has so far been sunny all morning...

Neighborhoods all over are arranging central meeting points where the bracha will be said by the whole community together. In RBS the main gathering will be at Park Ayalon with most of RBS participating together at 7:05 AM. There will be musical accompaniment, with a siyum made afterwords for those who need to be fasting for the fast of the first-born.

I asked the organizer of the even what the big deal is - why can't we just go out after davening, even as a whole shul together, look up to the sky and make the bracha. Why make it so big? Why not do the same for Birkat Ha'Ilanot?

This was his response:

There are very few mitzvos that the halacha states should be done "brov Am". Hakhel comes to mind, which we do not have without the Beis HaMikdash. The Mishna Brerua specifically states that this mitzva - due to its unique structure and timing - is best done Brov Am. There is nothing more significant in the world than giving testimony to G-d's ultimate authority over the cosmos, and the Birchas HaChama bracha gives testimony to this reality. Additionally, it has been the practice for generations for the communities to come together in a public fashion to make the bracha.

We felt that such a special event, coinciding with Erev Pesach, was such a significant milestone that it would be highlighted by the cooperation and participation of all the different kehillos in Ramat Bet Shemesh. In many cities, each shul or community holds their own event. However, in our unique city with a multitude of backgrounds, minhagim and nusachot, it would be the highest level of testimony to our subservience to Hashem by all coming together to make this significant bracha.

(there will be another location in RBS for the Birkat HaChama at the plaza of the Merkaz Mischari at the bottom of the neighborhood for those who can't or don't want to go up to the top of Park Ayalon)

Rabbi Richman, from the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, talks about Birkat HaChama being a distraction from the greater issue that should be discussed regarding Erev pesach - that is the Korban Pesach and the Beis Hamikdash....

This promises to be an interesting venue for the upcoming Birkas Ha'Chama.... Har HaBayis!organized by a group from Hebron... I have a hard time believing the police will give permission for this, but hten again maybe it is going to happen without permission... The bracha is only a few words, so it can easily be said without being caught....

Ever hear the conundrum of what to get the person who has everything?

This is taken from the Neturei Karta's most recent newsletter....


The above conundrum can now be revised to say "What do you protest when you have already protested everything?"

Looks like all that is left now is the moon. Next month we will be protesting that nobody should say kiddush levana anywhere that has permission from the Zionists... stay tuned for details. We are making arrangements to fly to Iran for the ceremony...

Are you wondering about how big a deal everyone is making about the upcoming Birkat HaChama? A Simple Jew asked me for my thoughts on it...