How Do We Reconcile Modern Science With Ancient Tradition?
How Do We Reconcile Modern Science With Ancient Tradition? Monday April 6, 2009#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) A few days ago I wrote about the birkat hachama, which is an event that takes place every 28 years when Jews say a blessing for the sun. According to Jewish tradition, the birkat hachama celebrates the moment when the sun returns to the position it occupied at the moment of its Creation an event that takes place on April 8 this year. But where does this tradition come from and what does modern science have to say about it? The birkat hachama comes from the Babylonian Talmud, which says in a section about blessings: He who sees the sun at its turning point should say: Blessed be He who wrought the work of Creation. And when does this happen?… Every 28 years the [solar] cycle begins again and the spring equinox falls on the evening of Tuesday, the night before Wednesday. (Berakhot 59b) This text says something very interesting it says that the birkat
