Monday, March 16, 2009

Halocho #290 A rare Mitzvah: once every 28 years

In the Gemara in Brachot (59b) we learn: "When seeing the sun at its Tekufah, the moon at its strength, the stars in their paths, and the Zodiacal constellations in their order, one says Blessed be the Maker of creation. " "And when does this happen? " "Abaye said: Every 28 years when the cycle begins again and the Nisan equinox falls into Saturn on the evening of Tuesday, going into Wednesday." As recorded in the Chumash, the sun was created on Wednesday - and every 28 years it returns to the same spot. You can read more about it at http://www.answers.com/topic/birkat-hahammah This year on Wednesday Erev Pessach (8 April 2009) is the 206th time the sun will be back at its original location. There's an entire order-of-prayer that is traditionally said and can be found at http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/pdf/pdf93/birkatHamaA.pdf At the very least one should say the following Bracha when first seeing the sun on Wednesday, Erev Pessach (8 April 2009)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלקֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם עוֹשֶׂה מַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית
The Bracha said as early as possible after sunrise, and cannot be said after noon. Source: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 60:6, 7 - Danny Monday, 20 Adar 5769 Note: Birkat Hachama happened on Erev Pessach 3 cycles ago - in 1925 - and many years ago in 1309. The year we left Egypt (2447) and the miracle of Purim (3403) were not Birkat Hachama years. All this despite the claims of the Qadosh Elyon and emails to the contrary.

2 comments:

  1. Yishar Koach for dismissing those myths that Birkat Hachama occured "only three times" including Yetziat Mitzrayim & the event of Purim.
    I always have believed in checking out what someone says, even if said by the Gadol HaDor, not only to check if it is actually true, but to have a better understanding of the issue. When I write Gematrios on my blogspot at www.gematriot.blogspot.com, I double check & triple check that everything I am writing is true. And when you pointed out to me that there is a second Parsha with no special spaces in the Sefer Torah, I checked it out, and then I changed what I originally wrote to reflect that.

    I would just like to point out here that indeed it may be the 206th time that the sun is COMING to its same position as it originally did, it will technically be the 207th time that IT WILL BE in the same position. The Hebrew word OHR which literally means LIGHT, is the Gematria of 207, and the very beginning of Maseches Pesachim starts off immediately with OHR L'Arba'ah Asar - "On the evening of the 14th of Nissan, we check for Chametz..." According to Halacha, we start this immediately when it is night of the 14th of Nissan, AND THIS IS THE VERY TIME that the 207th cycle of the sun begins, which falls out this time ALSO on the 14th of Nissan! Could it be that this Remez in the Mishna hints to the ultimate light/spirituality that we will start experiencing with the coming of Moshiach which may start happening at this very time that the 207th cycle begins, on the day that the Korban Pesach was brought ushering in the Holiday of Redemption? Stay tuned!

    Check out more amazing Gematrios at www.gematriot.blogspot.com

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  2. Interesting that this is Post #290. You see, the word HaChamah is the Gematria of 58, and five times that is 290.

    The very word given as a sign for the number of Pesukim in the Chumash - "The Five Books of Moses" is HACHAMA, as Hei=5, Cheis=8, Mem=40, Hei=5. Take out the 0, put the other numbers together, and it's 5845. And for this post, it's HaChama=58 times the 5 Books of the Chumash which is 290. And there are 290 Pesuchos in the Chumash - the amount of sections in the Sefer Torah that allow for wider spaces between one section and another (as opposed to others with smaller spaces).

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