United Kingdom - Orthodox Jewish - Prayer

Hundreds of Orthodox Jews gathered today (8th of April 2009) in Springfield park, Stamford Hill, to celebrate the festival of Birkat Hachama (blessing of the sun). It is a Jewish blessing that is recited in appreciation of the Sun once every twenty-eight years, when the vernal equinox as calculated by tradition falls on a Tuesday at sundown. Jewish tradition says that when the Sun completes this cycle, it has returned to its position when the world was created. According to Judaism, the Sun has a 28 year solar cycle known as machzor gadol

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Copyright: Andrew Aitchison
Image Size: 3543x2363 / 538.5KB; Aitchison Andrew Andy Birkat Hachama Hasidic Jew Jewish Jews Judaism Kingdom London Orthodox Park Peyes Springfield Stamford United beard blessing book borsalino clouds creation crowd equinox gathering glasses hat hill machzor gadol men pray prayer read reading silhouette sill sun sunlight tradition world

Hundreds of Orthodox Jews gathered today (8th of April 2009) in Springfield park, Stamford Hill, to celebrate the festival of Birkat Hachama (blessing of the sun). It is a Jewish blessing that is recited in appreciation of the Sun once every twenty-eight years, when the vernal equinox as calculated by tradition falls on a Tuesday at sundown. Jewish tradition says that when the Sun completes this cycle, it has returned to its position when the world was created. According to Judaism, the Sun has a 28 year solar cycle known as machzor gadol