The Blessing of the Sun
Birkat ha-Hammah (ברכת החמה, also: ha-Chamah, Hahammah, Hachammah), is Hebrew for "The Blessing of the Sun."
This is a special prayer recited once every twenty-eight years, the period of a solar cycle as understood by the Jewish calendar. According to the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Berachot 59b), it is said when the Earth returns to the same position relative to Sun that it had when the universe was first created. The prayer is traditionally recited outdoors at sunrise.
Classical rabbinic texts prescribe no set liturgy for this occasion. The earliest known liturgy is found in the Shulkhan Arukh. Later authorities, including Moses Sofer, also known as the Hatam Sofer (1762-1839) and Yisrael Meir Kagan, also known as the Chofetz Chaim (Poland, 1838-1933) have offered their own liturgy.
- Quotations about the sun from the Tanakh
- Four verses from the Tanakh which spell out the Tetragrammaton
- Some of Talmud Berakhot 59b
- Parts of Psalms 148 and 90
- The Blessing of the Sun (Barukh Atah...maaseh vereishit)
- Psalms 121, 8 and 19
- The hymm El Adon al kol hama'asim
- Aleinu
- The mourner's kaddish
References
J. David Bleich, Bircas Hachammah, Blessing of the Sun: Renewal of the Creation: a Halachic Analysis and Anthology. Brooklyn, N.Y., Mesorah Publications, 1981
Lasker, AA and Lasker DJ. Birkat Hahammah: The Blessing of the Sun. Conservative Judaism 1981;34:17-28