Birkat HaChamah Student Book

8/14/2019 Birkat HaChamah Student Book

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Birkat HaChamah, the blessing over the sun, the rarest event in

Jewish pracce, is recited only once in twenty-eight years. This year,

on April 8, 2009, the sun will arrive at the exact locaon of its cre-aonat the precise moment of the anniversary of its creaon.

Upon witnessing this extraordinary synchronizaon of me and place, Jews

gather together to recite a blessingBirkat HaChamah.

Birkat HaChamah


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Berachot/Blessings:Recognition and ThanksgivingText1

/ / / vfrc tkc vzv okugv in vbvha ostk uk ruxt :ibcr ub,:ktuna rnt rnt vsuvh crohna hasen vbvb ukhtf vfrc tkc vzv okugv in vbvbv kf"vtuknu .rtv wvk" (t'sf ohkv,) :ch,fu"vtuknu .rtv wvk" :ch,f :hnr huk hcr"ost hbck i,b .rtvu wvk ohna ohnav" (zy'uye ohkv,) :ch,fuvfrc rjtk itf 'vfrc osue itf 'thae tkt'vk ,ufrc

O R v g: I jy yg g g . . . . Rv Y

S: jy yg

g g g p g v, y, T L (/P 24:1). RLv x. I , T L (Ibid.), -, T v v L, H gv ( 115:16)! T : , g ; , . a l m u d , B e r a c h o t 3 5 a


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Text2

:ohbhn vaka ikuf ,ufrcv kf,umn ,ufrcu vhhbv ,ufrcvaecu vhsuvu jca lrs iva 'vtsuv ,ufrcuubnn vtrhku shn, trucv ,t rufzk hsfoube, ubhs ,hcu trzg ,ufrcv kf jxubuv-s't ,ufrc ,ufkv 'o"cnr

A

g v yp:g v jy, g ppg v, g

gvg, [ ] p g- q [ G-. A ] C y, H.R a m b a m ( M a i m o n i d e s ) , L a w s o B e n e d i c t i o n s 1 : 4 - 5

R. Moshe ben Maimon (11351204),

beer known as Maimonides orRambam, author ofMishneh Torah,

a compendium of Jewish law, and

Guide to the Perplexed. He was born

in Crdoba, Spain. Aer the conques

of Crdoba by the Almohads, who

sought to forcibly convert the Jews t

Islam, he ed and eventually seled

Cairo. There he became the leader o

the Jewish community and served as

court physician to the vizier of Egypt


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LearningExerciseMark down E for enjoyment, M for mitzvot, or T for

thanksgiving next to the appropriate berachot.

[ ] Shoong Stars

[ ] Bananas

[ ] Beauful Trees

[ ] Studying Torah

[ ] Shehecheyanu[ ] Thunder and Lightning

[ ] Prayer (shemoneh esrei/amidah)

[ ] Fragrances

[ ] The Sun


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Text3

"ipdv lhrcnv" iuakn "lurc"rjt ipd jnum oanu .rtk vrunzv atr ;pufaokug sgu okugn vfrcvu vgpav ,bhjc ubhhvuokugv lkn hukhd ,uhvk hsf okug sgu okugn vfrcvu vfanv ,uhvkokugv kf ihgk vtrb lrc,h u,ufkn hukhd tvha / / / tuv uz vfrc ihbgu / / /vfukn ,bhjc kg r,xvu okgv ,bhjcc okugv tvh tka"lurc" ohrnut vz hukhd ,uhvk hsfuubhekt ,bhjcc v"huv ,bhjc lanbu lurc tvha

T H baruch () ,I bent down (hamavrich) v ,

v g g v. T g g gy x . . . . T p brachah (-g ) x, v Kg v . . .

H Kgp v olam ( ) heelem() H Kgp. v , baruch(), , G-, Havayah, [pg G- - ] H Elokim [pgG- pp ].R a b b i S h n e u r Z a l m a n o L i a d i , o r a h O r , M i k e t z 3 7 c

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of

Liadi (17451812), the Alter

Rebbe, author ofTanya,

an early classic of Chassidism;

Torah Or; Likutei Torah; and

Shulchan Aruch HaRav,

a halachic commentary.

He founded the

Chabad school of myscism.


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A BlessingRevealing G-dlinessin the World

Text4

,ujurv kgu ohngrv kgu ohercv kgu ,uguzv kgu ihehzv kg"okug tkn u,rucdu ujfa lurc" :rnut,urcsnv kgu ,urvbv kgu ohnhv kgu ,ugcdv kgu ohrvv kg

",hatrc vagn vaug lurc" :rnutkusdv ohv ,t vturv :rnut vsuvh wr"kusdv ohv ,t vaga lurc" :rnutoherpk u,ut vtura inzc,ucuyv ,uruacv kgu ohnadv kg"chynvu cuyv lurc" :rnut,ugr ,uguna kgu",ntv ihhs lurc" :rnutc'y ,ufrc vban

Up g g , q,p, , gg, y: B H g

g . Up g , ,, v, y: B H g . R Y y: I G S, y: B H G S, [ ] -

v. F g g y:B H g g. F vg y: B jg.

M i s h n a h , B e r a c h o t 9 : 2


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Table1

SheKochoUGevuratoMalei OlamWhose strengthand mightfill the world

OsehMaaseh Bereishit

Who enactsthe work of creation

Sheasah etHaYam HaGadol

Who madethe Great Sea

HaTovVeHaMeitiv

Who is goodand bestows

good

DayanHaEmet

The true judge

Shooting Stars Mountains The Great Sea Rain Evil Tidings

Earthquakes Hills Good Tidings

Thunderclaps Seas

Storms Rivers

Lightning Deserts


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A Meditation

Questionsfor Discussion1. How do we recognize G-d when witnessing the sun?

2. To what degree is life on earth dependent upon the sun?

Text5

Te Heavens recount the glory o the Almighty

T v v p - v. Ty , f

, , g. W y y , p

q v p- vy . Y, y

y y y g, , -

, pg vg x. W g - jy y-

g? I py -p gy v p. T

gy vy p y p g - v v . S vy - y , g


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. A gx ; , y . Cy, p y q gx y g. Ev p v g v p y C. T xp v, L p y y , (Yy/I 40:12)?

R a b b i M e n a c h e m M e n d e l S c h n e e r s o h n , Y a h e l O r , e h i l i m 1 9 : 2

Understanding the PracticeWhy It Does Not Resemble Idolatry

Text6

,ukznv ,tu ohcfufv ,tu vbckv ,tu vnjv ,t vturv",hatrc vaug lurc" :rnut,rjt lrs uz hrv vnjv kg lrcnv :rnut vsuh hcru'u ,ufrc t,pxu,

Up g , , , -, : B H

g . R Y y: I v p .o s e t a , B e r a c h o t 6 : 6

Rabbi Menachem Mendel

Schneersohn of Lubavitch

(17891866) also known

as the Tzemach Tzedek,

aer the tle of his major

work on Talmudic law.

Seled in Lubavitch (today

in Belarus) where he led

the Jewish community

during a me of severe

persecuons, including the

censorship of Jewish pub-

lishing and the kidnapping

of Jewish boys to serve

harsh, lengthy terms in the

Tsars army. The Tzemach

Tzedekwas the grandson

of Rabbi Schneur Zalman

of Liadi.


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Questionfor DiscussionWhy might Rabbi Yudah consider blessing the sun

a deviant pracce?

Text7a

thra t,bhfa vrag hc kft'yk ihrsvbx

T v P p vy gg J.

a l m u d , S a n h e d r i n 3 9 a

Text7b

wuf ,ukkf,vv h"g "o,ut lrchu" vz hsh kgu "otrc vcebu rfz"

vauseca rcs ohrnut vrag ;urhmc unfuthra t,bhfa vrag hc kftsunmg hbpc sjt kf vragv ukt kf uhv ot if ihta vn

He created them [A Ev] man andwoman, He [G-] blessed them, g. J

py gp , vP p vy gg J,

.o r a h O r , o . c i t . , B e r e i s h i t / G e n e s i s 1 0 d


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Questionfor DiscussionWhy might the presence of a group enhance the presence of the

Divine?

Text8

wuf 'vrua vbhfa teus vragcvnhka vnue ruhmc ,ukhmts xg sdb ova teus vragcs ouan;ux iht rut ,ukkf vrua oa

T Dv P py p gp p sefrot (v ) Atzilut (W

E) g; y Or Ein So( g).Rabbi Sholom DoBer Schneerson, Seer HaMaamarim 5672, . 1457

Text9

Qkn ,rsv og cr

I pp g gy.

M i s h l e i / P r o e r b s 1 4 : 2 8

Rabbi Shalom DovBer Schneersohn

(18601920), also known as the

Rashab, author of many volumes of

discourses. The Rashab had the di-

cult responsibility of leading the Jew

community in Russia during mes ofgreat persecuon, war, and upheava


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When Do We Recite Birkat HaChamah?

Text10

v,pue,c vnj vturv :ibcr ub,",hatrc vaug lurc" :rnut / / /?huv ,nhtuihba vbunau ohrag kf :hhct rntgcrt hvdb ,k,s t,rutc ht,cac ixhb ,pue, vkpbu ruzjn rsvuc'yb ,ufrc

O R g: H g p . . . y, B H g . A

[ pp]? Ay y: Evy y-gy y g g N [pg, L I NHp] qx S vg y, gg Wy.

a l m u d , B e r a c h o t 5 9 b

Table2

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Jupiter Venus Saturn Sun Moon Mars Mercury


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Text11

/ / / okugv trcb hra,c :rnut rzghkt hcr 'thb,/ / / okugv trcb ixhbc :rnut gauvh hcrrzghkt hcrf kucnk ihbun ktrah hnfj :ibcr ub,gauvh hcrf vpue,kut'ch-t'th vbav atr

I g: R E y: I . . . . R Y y:I N . . . . O R

g: T I R E g F, R Y g y. a l m u d , R o s h H a s h a n a h 1 0 b , 1 1 a , a n d 1 2 a .

Table3

Sage Creation Kabbalah In practice we follow

RabbiEliezer

Tishrei(autumn)

Actual creaon For years

RabbiJoshua

Nisan(spring)

Creaon inthought/potenal

For seasons


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TheBirkat HaChamahCeremony

Oponal Secon

Text12

lrcn tuv okug ka udvbn kg tkv :rnt, otu?lfc vn vrutn vbvh tka ukhptuwufu "lurc" rnut vausjc vbck vturv :vsuvh wr rnt tvs :t,hk tv

I y y: I g g v v? Ev g g, y g-

? T , R Y : , . . . .

R a b b i D a i d b e n S o l o m o n i b n A i Z i m r a , R e s o n s a , V o l . I , 3 4 1

Rabbi David ben Solomonibn Avi Zimra(14791573),RaDBaZ,was a Sephardic

sage and halachist who

authored responsa

and a commentary to

Maimonides. Following

the expulsion from Spain

in 1492, he lived in Egypt

and Israel.


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The Actual Ceremony

Text13

v,pue,c vnj vturv :ibcr ub,",hatrc vaug lurc" :rnut/ / /?huv ,nhtuihba vbunau ohrag kf :hhct rntgcrt hvdb ,k,s t,rutc ht,cac ixhb ,pue, vkpbu ruzjn rsvuc'yb ,ufrc

O R g: H g p . . . y, B H g . A

[ pp]? Ay y: Evy y-g y y g g N[pg] qx S vg y, gg Wy.

a l m u d , B e r a c h o t 5 9 a


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The MessageThe Sun-Moon Relaonship

Text14

oheOt wv idnU JnJ hch'sp ohkv,

F L G- .

e h i l i m 8 4 : 1 2


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KeyPoints1. By reciting blessings, we recognize and thank Gd and reveal

His Presence.

2.The sun reveals Gds Presence and His constant guiding hand

that keeps creation in motion.

3. We recite Birkat HaChamah in a group whose collective power

elicits infnite divine energy.

4. We recite Birkat HaChamah at the alignment o the time and

place o the suns potential creation, recognizing the suns spiri

tual source.

5. Birkat HaChamah is the rarest event on the Jewish calendar. It

transpires only once in twentyeight years.

6. Birkat HaChamah will be recited on the morning o Wednes

day, April 8, 2009.

7. At the ceremony, we will recite selected Tehilim, a passage

rom the Talmud, the blessing on creation, and Shehecheyanu.

8. The message oBirkat HaChamah is to acknowledge the

Creator and renew our commitment to Him.


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Our Other HeadBy Rabbi Yanki Tauber

Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher

Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

And Gd spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

saying: This month shall be to you the head of months

the rst of the months of your year.

Exodus 12:1-2

Rabbi Eliezer says: The world was created in Tishrei...

Rabbi Joshua says: The world was created in Nissan

Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 10b-11a

The Talmud tells of an exchange between the wise men

of Athens and Rabbi Joshua in which the Greek philoso-

phers challenged the Talmudic sage to idenfy the exact

center of the world. Rabbi Joshua pointed to a eld atop

a nearby hill, and said: In the middle of that eld is a well.

That well is the center of the world. You can take ropes

and measure it, if you wish.

As every schoolchild knows today, the earth is a sphere,

meaning that its every point can be considered the cen-

ter of the earths surface. If a certain point is regarded as

the top or boom of the globe, or a certain half is des-

ignated as its eastern or western hemisphere, these are

expressions of a parcular historical or conceptual view

of our world. In purely geometrical terms, the surface of

a sphere has no denive top, boom or center, just as a

circle is a line with no denive beginning or end.

The me we inhabit is also circular in form. As we travel

through me, we come in contact with the various qual-

ies imbued in it by its Creator: freedom on Passover,

awe on Rosh HaShanah, joy on Sukkot, and so on. But

each year we return, like a traveler circling the globe, to

the same point in the annual cycle at which we stood a

year earlier. Theorecally, any point in this cycle can be

regarded as its beginning.

This explains a curiosity of the Jewish calendar. We know

that the Jewish year begins on the rst of Tishreia day

we observe as Rosh HaShanah, The Head of the Year

and ends twelve (or thirteen) months later, on the 29th

of Elul. But if the head of the year is on the rst of Tishrei,

why does the Torah (in Levicus 23:24) refer to Tishrei

as the seventh month of the year? And why is the month

of Nissan, occurring midway through the Tishrei-headed

year, designatedin the very rst mitzvah commanded

to the Jewish peopleas the head of months, the rst

of the months of your year?

But like a sphere with two poles, the Jewish year has two

heads or primary points of reference; each of which is

equally its beginning. Our annual journey through me

is actually two journeysa Tishrei-to-Elul journey, and a

Nissan-to-Adar journey. Every day on the Jewish calendar

can be experienced on two dierent levels, for it simul-

taneously exists within these two contexts.

(For example: in the Tishrei-to-Elul year, Yom Kippur is

the climax of the Ten Days of Repentance that begin on

Rosh HaShanah; on the Nissan-to-Adar calendar, Yom

Kippur is the second Giving of the Torah, culminang a

120-day process that begins on Shavuot. In the Tishrei-to-

Elul year, the seventh day of Passover is the cosmic birth

of the souls, following their concepon on Shemini

Atzeret, the eighth day of Sukkot; in the Nissan-to-Adar

year, Passover is the rst fesval, commencing a cycle

that culminates in Purim, the last miracle and nal

froner in our quest for connecon with G-d.)

A Miraculous People

As already noted, both these beginnings for the Jewish

year are referred to in the Torah as heads: the rst

of Tishrei is Rosh HaShanah, The Head of the Year,

while the month of Nissan is designated as the head

of months.

AdditionalReadings


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The head is the highest part of the body, both in the lit-

eral, spaal sense, as well as in that it is the seat of its

loiest and most sophiscated facules. More signi-cantly, it serves as the bodys nerve and command center,

providing the consciousness and direcon that guides

the bodys diverse components toward a unied goal.

And the Jewish year has not one but two heads. For

Jewish life embraces two dierentindeed, contrast-

ingmodes of existence, each with its own nerve-center

and headquarters.

The Head of the Year that were all familiar withthe

one on which we sound the shofarand pray for a healthy

and prosperous yearoccurs on the rst of Tishrei. The

rst of Tishrei is the anniversary of G-ds creaon of theuniverse, parcularly His creaon of man. On this day we

rearm our commitment to G-d as our Creator and King,

and ask that He inscribe us in the book of life.

But if the rst of Tishrei is the rst day of human history,

the month of Nissan marks the birth of Jewish me. On

the rst of Nissan, 2,448 years aer the creaon of Adam,

G-d commanded His rst mitzvah to the edgling naon

of Israelto establish a calendar based on the monthly

lunar cycle. On the eenth of that month, the Jewish

people exited the land of Egypt and embarked on their

seven-week journey to Mount Sinai.

The Jew is a cizen of G-ds worlda status he shares with

all other peoples and all other creaons. As such, his head

of the year is the rst of Tishrei, the birthday of man and

the Rosh HaShanah of the natural world. But the Jew also

inhabits another realitya reality born of the supra-natu-

ral events of the Exodus, the spling of the Red Sea, and

the divine revelaon at Sinai. This dimension of his life has

its own headthe miraculous month of Nissan.

For the rst twenty-ve centuries of human history, the

basic, natural relaonship between Creator and creaon

held sway. The Torah records miracles and supernatu-ral events prior to the Exodus, but these are excepons,

temporary departures on the part of G-d from His nor-

mal manner of running the world in accordance with the

pre-dened formula we call the laws of nature. The

Exodus, on the other hand, produced the Jew, a being

whose very existence is a perpetual miracle. The Jew

makes redempon a constant, living a life in which the

miraculous is the norm.

G-d of the Exodus

This is why when G-d revealed Himself to us at Sinai He

proclaimed: I am the L-rd your G-d, who has taken you

out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

Would it not have been more appropriate, ask the com-

mentaries, for G-d to introduce Himself as the creator of

the heavens and the earth? Is not the fact that we owe

our very existence to G-d more signicant than the fact

that He took us out of Egypt?

But G-d as the creator of the heavens and the earth, G-d

as the author of nature, is the G-d that Israel shares with

the rest of creaon. At Sinai, however, G-d did not speak

to us as the G-d of creaon, but as the G-d of the Exodus.

At Sinai, a new chapter was opened in divine-human

relaons as G-d and the people of Israel commied

themselves to a miraculous relaonshipa relaonship

that does not recognize the dictates of convenon and

normalcy.

It is for this reason that our sages queson the very inclu-

sion of the rst 2,448 years of history in the Torah. In his

commentary of the very rst verse of the Torah, Rashi

cites the queson posed by Rabbi Yitzchak:

Why does the Torah begin, In the beginning [Gd created

the heavens and the earth]? It should have begun, This

month shall be to you [the head of months], which is the

rst mitzvah commanded to Israel.

If the Torah is the document that outlines our mandate as

a people unconstricted by the laws of nature and history,

of what relevance are the events of the pre-Exodus era?

And even if they are of historical and educaonal value,

should the Torah begin with these stories?

Cross-References

And yet, the Torah does not begin with that rst mitzvah,

commanded on the rst of Nissan, but with the creaon

of the world on the rst of Tishrei. Our covenant with G-d,

though a product of the Exodus and of a Nissan/miracu-

lous character, has its roots in the natural soil of Tishrei.


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The Paradox

Our mission in life is to transform the very nature ofreality; in the words of the Midrash, to build A dwelling

for G-d in the lower realms. This, writes Rabbi Schneur

Zalman of Liadi in his Tanya, is what man is all about; this

is the purpose of his creaon and the creaon of all the

worldsthat we transform the lower realms (i.e., the

natural, material world which, by its nature, conceals the

face of its Creator) into an environment recepve to the

divine truth, into a place in which the goodness and per-

fecon of G-d is at home and is the dominant reality.

But here comes the paradox, a seemingly closed logical

circle: are we ourselves part of this lower realm we

are to transform, or are we a step above it? If we are

part and parcel of the material world, how can we truly

change it and upli it? As the Talmudic axiom goes, A

prisoner cannot release himself from prisonif he him-

self is bound by its parameters, from where might derive

his ability to supersede them? On the other hand, if we

are, in essence, transcendent beings, exisng beyond the

connes of the natural reality, then whatever eect we

have upon the world cannot truly be considered a dwell-

ing for G-d in the lower realms. For the worldper se has

not been transformedit has only been overwhelmed

by a superior force. The true meaning of a dwelling in

the lower realms is that the lowly realms themselves

change, from within.

So to achieve His aim in creaon for a dwelling in the

lower realms, G-d created the Jew, a hybrid of the Tishrei

and Nissan realies. For only in incorporang both these

time-cycles in our lives, combining a norm-defying

approach with a natural-pragmac modus operandi, can

we achieve the redempon of ourselves and our world.

Only by drawing from above to change from within can

we make our world a home for G-d.

www.chabad.org

Originally published in Week In Review

Republished with the permission of MeaningfulLife.com.

Indeed, the Exodus itself also has its beginnings in the

month of Tishrei: the Talmud notes that the process of

our liberaon from Egypt began on the rst of Tishrei,when the hard labor imposed upon our forefathers by

the Egypans ceased six months before they actually le

Egypt.

The reverse is also true: the creaon of the natural world

on Tishrei has its origins in the month of Nissan. Our sages

tell us that while the physical world was created in the six

days that culminate in the rst of Tishrei, the thought

or idea of creaon was created six months earlier (con-

ceptual months, that is, since physical me is itself part

of the physical creaon), on the rst of Nissan1.

In other words, the natural and the miraculous me-sys-

tems are mutually interconnected, each serving as the

basis for the other.

As Jews, we follow both cycles, straddling both worlds.

On the one hand, even the most natural aspects of our

lives are predicated upon the miraculous, and are per-

meated with a norm-transcending vision. On the other

hand, our most miraculous achievements are grounded

in the natural reality.

For our mission in life can be achieved only by inhabing

both worldsonly by being a part of the natural world

and, at the same me, rising above it to transcend its

strictures and limitaons.

1 The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah b-a) cites a debate be-

tween two sages: Rabbi Eliezer says: The world was created

in Tishrei... Rabbi Joshua says: The world was created in

Nissan. The Kabbalists explain that Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi

Joshua are not debang the date of G-ds actual creaon of

the universe, which, aer all, is a maer of historical fact.

Rather, both sages agree that the physical world was created

in Tishrei, and that the idea of creaon was created in the

month of Nissan. Where they dier is on the queson of

priority and emphasis: is the day that the physical universe

was completed to be regarded as the primary anniversary of

creaon, or is the worlds true date of birth the day that it

was conceived in the divine mind?

Documents

Birkat HaChamah Student Book