In 1925, Rabbi Leo Trepp was just 12 years old when he stood in the main square in Mainz, Germany to recite a prayer for the sun.
It was dark outside, but as the sun peaked up over the horizon, “We all joined in and sang the blessing over the sun,” Trepp recalled. “And the sun shown down brightly and happily.”
In the 83 years since then, people have recited that blessing — the Birkat Hachamah — only twice: in 1953 and in 1981.
Another opportunity comes around next week.
Indeed, this is the rarest of Jewish rituals. It is observed only once every 28 years when, it is believed, the sun returns to the same point in the firmament it occupied during the creation of the world.
As the sun rises at 6:44 a.m. on Wednesday, April 8, a smattering of Bay Area Jews will gather at marinas, parks, hilltops and even Coit Tower to watch the sun rise and recite a blessing thanking God for “renewing the works of creation.”
Trepp, a retired rabbi who lives in San Francisco, will be one of them.
The 96-year-old, who helped start Congregation Beth El in Berkeley and also led congregations in Santa Rosa and Napa, isn’t quite sure where he’ll be for the special sunrise. But as one of the few people to be able to say four Birkat Hachamahs in a lifetime, he doesn’t want to miss it.
The service is relatively short, as is the blessing itself, and there is little halachah, or Jewish law, around the ritual. The only requirement is that the blessing be said as the sun rises, or before midday if it’s cloudy all morning.
Such simplicity “means that people from every part of the spectrum of Judaism can come together in a way that is inclusive, pluralistic and inviting,” said Oakland’s Zelig Golden, who’s helping to organize an East Bay gathering for the ritual.
Birkat Hachamah once coincided with the vernal (spring) equinox, though because of changes to the Julian and Gregorian calendars, it occurs 19 days after the equinox. It always occurs on a Wednesday, the fourth day of creation, when the Torah says that God created “the sun, moon and all heavenly bodies.” It occurs as the sun, according to the Babylonian Talmud, completes its 28-year cycle and returns to the position it was in when the universe was created.
The blessing should be said after sunrise and before a quarter of the day has elapsed, but earlier is most common. It is often accompanied by a shecheheyanu and psalms. Also, it should be recited outdoors amidst community.
“This is not a ceremony that happens inside a synagogue, but in view of God’s creation,” said Julie Wolk, who is working with Golden and volunteers from Chochmat HaLev and Kehilla Community Synagogue to coordinate a 6 a.m. gathering April 8 at the Berkeley Marina.
“It’s an incredibly Earth-connected celebration, and the reason we go outside to celebrate this is so people can connect with the land and creation,” Wolk added.
Twenty-eight years ago, sun prayers and other Earth rituals were generally lost to obscurity, but Birkat Hachamah is receiving a decent amount of attention in 2009.
The Jewish environmental community is seizing the occasion as an opportunity both to connect people to the wisdom of Judaism and also to promote the imperative to treat the planet with greater care.
“People are awakening to an awareness of our relationship to the Earth in a way we probably haven’t experienced for generations,” Golden said. “Birkat Hachamah is a testament to that.”
After the prayer is recited at the Berkeley Marina, attendees will sit in a “generations circle,” where the elders will share their wisdom with the younger Jews in attendance, and the young adults and children can also share their own thoughts.
Coordinators felt such a discussion dovetails perfectly with the prayer, since 28 years is about the length of a generation.
“It’s not just about commemorating the moment of creation and the birth of the sun, but a recognition that because it happens every generation, we are passing down a significant part of our tradition every generation,” Golden said.
Rabbi Daniel Lev of Berkeley remembers observing the ritual 28 years ago, when he stood in Berkeley’s Tilden Park with about 30 other people for a “quiet and calm” gathering to bless the sun.
For him, the Birkat Hachamah also inspires self-reflection and personal or communal rebirth. He’s looking forward to once again joining the community to bless the sun.
“It’s not just some empty ritual,” he said. “When the sun comes up, it represents renewal, and in a way, we can renew who we are just as the sun is renewing what it is.”
Where to bless the sun
Birkat Hachamah is a prayer said once every 28 years to celebrate the sun. Observances, most of them environmentally focused, will occur around the Bay Area at daybreak on Wednesday, April 8.
San Francisco
• Sun prayer at sunrise, 6:44 a.m., on the top of Twin Peaks. Morning service to follow. Sponsored by Chabad of Noe Valley.
• Morning blessings and sun prayer 6:45 a.m. at Coit Tower. Breakfast to follow. Sponsored by Chabad of San Francisco and North Beach Chabad.
East Bay
• Blessings from 6 to 8:30 a.m. in the northern part of the Berkeley Marina, in Cesar Chavez Park at the solar calendar. Sponsored by Kehilla Community Synagogue, Chochmat HaLev and Wilderness Torah.
South Bay
• Morning service at 6:30 a.m., sun prayer at 7 a.m. at Baylands Nature Preserve, east end of San Antonio Road in Palo Alto. A breakfast will follow at 7:15 a.m. Sponsored by congregations Beth Am, Beth Jacob, Etz Chayim, Keddem and Kol Emeth, and the Oshman Family JCC.
• Morning service at 6:45 a.m., sun prayer at 7:45 a.m. at Chabad of the Greater South Bay, 3070 Louis Road, Palo Alto. A bagel breakfast will follow.
North Bay
• Morning service at 6:30 a.m., sun prayer at 7 a.m. at Lake Ralphine in Howarth Park in Santa Rosa. A light breakfast will follow. Sponsored by Chabad Jewish Center of Sonoma County.