Observing Birkat Hachamah, a Jewish holiday celebrated every 28 years, members of the Jewish community in Chicago flocked to their sanctuaries and the shores of Lake Michigan before dawn Wednesday to watch the sun rise.
Birkat Hachamah, a holiday named for the blessing of the sun recited at dawn, marks the day when, according to ancient rabbinical calculations, the sun returns to its original alignment with other heavenly bodies dating back to the fourth day of creation as told in the Bible's Book of Genesis. In recent history, observances have taken place on April 8.
This year's celebration falls on the eve of Passover, a confluence some believe to be particularly auspicious timing. The miracles of Purim and the Exodus reportedly took place in such years, Robert Augenlicht, a member of Temple Emanuel, a Reform congregation in Edgewater on the north side of Chicago, told local reporters.
He and a dozen other shivering members trekked to the beach behind the synagogue on Wednesday. Clutching coffee cups, they recited the traditional blessing, read from Genesis and sang psalms accompanied by the sound of the tide and the tune of seagulls.
According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, Carole Caplan, a yoga instructor and member of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston in northwestern Chicago, led dozens of congregants in sun salutations in their sanctuary facing east at daybreak.
Caplan said poses focused on "the sun's ability to sustain," reminding members of their own obligation to the sustainability of the planet.
"This idea of energy sustainability and how the sun is ever present can be harnessed to help us sustain ourselves while we do less damage to the earth," she said.
Source:Xinhua
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