The "Once Every 28 Year" Mitzvah Celebrated by Beth Shalom

From the Daytona News Journal

April 09, 2009
Special sunrise
Jews believe every 28 years the sun returns to the spot it occupied on the 4th day of creation
By KARI COBHAM Staff Writer
FLAGLER BEACH -- "I think it's coming," a woman says.
The huddled group moves instinctively toward the wooden rail as the sun's rays break pink and orange over the frigid Atlantic Ocean. Numb hands clutch at prayer sheets.
"I haven't seen the sunrise in a long time so I might as well see this one; it's a special one," says Philip Barish, a Flagler Beach retiree and Palm Coast Temple Beth Shalom member.
At daybreak Wednesday, similar scenes unfolded worldwide, as many devout Jews gathered to observe Birkat HaChama or the Blessing of the Sun.
The ancient ritual comes just once every 28 years -- perhaps three times in a lifetime -- and marks the moment observers say the sun returns to the spot in the sky it occupied on the fourth day of creation.
"Often to us in these modern times, there's this ancient association of the sun with power," said Rabbi Merrill Shapiro of the conservative Wellington Drive synagogue.
About 20 of its members gathered in the dim morning light on Flagler Beach. Over in Ormond Beach, members stood outside the Esformes Chabad Center after a 7:30 a.m. service to acknowledge the moment.
"Sun is one of God's creations and definitely there's something to be grateful to witness," said Rabbi Pinchas Ezagui, spiritual leader at the center. "It's very emotional."
This year's observance holds special significance because it happens to coincide with Passover, Shapiro said.
The weeklong Jewish festival celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery and commemorates God sparing them from a plague that killed the firstborns of Egypt.
"What this year and this era holds for us, we cannot know, but we know that that makes it important," Shapiro said.
But other area synagogues, some of which hadn't heard of the Blessing of the Sun, bypassed the somewhat obscure tradition to focus on the Passover celebration.
"In the total scheme of things, this is an interesting idea and certainly it does have the makings of a strong ecological message," said Rabbi Barry Altman of the reform Temple Beth-El in Ormond Beach.
Conservative Congregation B'Nai Torah in Ormond Beach also did not observe the blessing. Temple Shalom of Deltona members recognized it individually, treasurer Ellen Korn said.
Not all Jewish denominations teach about the tradition and because it doesn't come often it's not "top of mind," Shapiro said.
Flagler Beach retiree Barish arrived in the Wednesday morning cold clutching a cup of steaming liquid. This Birkat HaChama will likely be his last, the 74-year-old grudgingly admitted.
"I hate to think of it that way, but it comes with the territory," Barish said.
Abraham Fortun, a ninth-grader at Flagler Palm Coast High School, went mostly because his dad made him.
"I've also never seen a sunrise before," said Abraham, 14, his bespectacled face barely visible beneath a tightly drawn gray hoodie.
Shapiro remembered joining 400,000 Jews 28 years ago at the Wailing Wall, watching the sun come up over the gold Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem with his wife and two children. He was 34 years old then, 62 now.
"We're all sure that the sun will rise tomorrow, but what would happen if it didn't?" Shapiro said. "This is God manifest in our world."

www.staugustinejewishhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

Florida Fair Elections Center Executive Director Susan Pynchon to speak at April 19th Men's Club Breakfast

Florida Fair Elections Center Executive Director Susan Pynchon, a nationally recognized election reform and voting rights advocate will address a new initiative to end election district gerrymandering in the State of Florida at the a Temple Beth Shalom Men’s Club Breakfast on Sunday, April 19th at 10 a.m. The meeting is open to all and includes an elaborate breakfast. A $12 donation is requested. The public is urged to attend. Reservations can be made through the synagogue office at 386-445-3006.

For many years, Pynchon has monitored, researched, and wrote reports on various elections and election problems around Florida, including special reports on elections in Volusia County, Flagler County, and Sarasota County. She has made numerous trips to Tallahassee to speak on election-related issues before the Ethics and Elections Committees of the Florida House and Senate; advocated for verifiable paper-ballot elections in Washington D.C. and Tallahassee; studied election law and election “best practices.” Pynchon personally initiated and sponsored Florida’s first statewide election reform conference, which has become an annual event. She regularly gives talks to community organizations throughout Florida to help educate Floridians about the problems with electronic voting, partisan election administration, and other reform issues.

Susan Pynchon co-founded the Florida Voters Coalition; served as a member of the Election Protection Coalition; and served on the Advisory Board of VoteTrustUSA. She has been Interviewed frequently by local, state, and national news media on election-related issues, including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Daytona Beach News Journal, the DeLand Beacon, and the Orlando Sentinel; appeared in the Emmy-nominated documentary Hacking Democracy.

Pynchon is well-known for having forged cooperative relationships with established civil rights organizations to monitor proposed legislation on the state and national level and to advocate for needed election reforms. She Initiated the preservation of Florida election records, which would otherwise have been destroyed, for the 2000, 2004 and 2006 elections so that historians and researchers will forevermore have access to those records.

Susan Pynchon was the recipient of the 2008 Nelson Poynter Civil Liberties Award, Florida ACLU The Nelson Poynter Civil Liberties Award has been presented for 29 consecutive years to an individual or group of individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of civil liberties. The award is named for the former crusading editor of the St. Petersburg Times, who was never afraid to stand up for unpopular causes. He fought racial segregation, defended the right of a free press, exposed corruption in government and supported the rights of the elderly and the poor. He also led the fight for the Sunshine Law, opening Florida’s government to public scrutiny and accountability. The first recipient of the Nelson Poynter Civil Liberties Award was the late Florida Governor LeRoy Collins in 1978, who was recognized for his courageous leadership in upholding racial justice and opposing the death penalty. Other recipients have included Florida Supreme Court Justice Gerald Kogan; Florida Bar Association President Chesterfield Smith; Immigrant Rights Attorney Cheryl Little; and, in 2007, author and columnist Carl Hiaasen.Together with three colleagues, I received the 2008 Nelson Poynter Civil Liberties award for “defending voting rights in Florida,” which included rallying diverse organizations across Florida in the successful push for statewide implementation of verifiable paper ballot voting systems in 2007 and other election reforms.

Susan Pynchon's Educational background:American College, Paris, France – one year; Liberal ArtsEckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL – two years; Liberal ArtsUniversity of Maine, Augusta, Maine – one year; Liberal ArtsUniversity of New Hampshire, Durham, NH – Business MathTechnical training: Honeywell, Inc., Minneapolis, MN Election Conferences: Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Kissimmee, FL; DeLand, FL;

Area Jews Gather to Greet the Rising Sun of Creation in Flagler Beach, Wednesday, April 8th

Members of the local Jewish community who do not avail themselves of the opportunity to greet the rising sun of Creation, Wednesday morning, April 8th need not be concerned. They’ll have another chance to do it again on Wednesday, April 8th in 2037! Once every 28 years, the Sun returns to the position it occupied when it was created at the beginning of the fourth day of creation as described in the opening chapter of the book of Genesis:
And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night and the stars. And God placed them in the sky of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from darkness; and God saw that it was good. And it was evening and it was morning, a fourth day.
A two thousand-year-old tradition calls upon Jews to institute a special prayer acknowledging God's might and creation of the world. This ritual is known as The Blessing on the Sun, or, in Hebrew, Birkat HaChamah.

The local Jewish community organized under the auspices of Palm Coast’s Temple Beth Shalom under the leadership of Rabbi Merrill Shapiro will gather just north of the Flagler Pier at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 8th. For tradition also prescribes that one should rush to fulfill the commandment and complete the ritual as soon as possible, in this case as the sun rises on the fourth day of the week, on a Wednesday during spring’s Hebrew month of Nisan.
“The calculations are complex,” explains Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, “but accessible. Anyone wishing to go through them can and they are readily available. But the mystical meaning is equally important. The teachers of Kabballah, of Jewish mysticism, noted the significance of the 28-year cycle of the sun and its relation to the powers and abilities of human beings. It is as if a sun-human being connection is being created bring warmth, strength and power to the world.”
This sun-human connection is significant, others say, as we here on earth learn to harness the power of the sun to power our electric grid and the needs of a modern world. Floridians, of all of America’s citizens, have the greatest connection with the sun. And the cycle of the sun and the cycles of women make them especially tuned to the actions of the heavens.
All of these elements will be addressed at the brief service that welcomes the new sun cycle to begin April 8th. All are welcome to attend, just north of the Flagler Pier at 6:45 a.m. The day is significant for after greeting the sun, Jews the world over will prepare to celebrate the Passover that same evening, recognizing that the sun provides warmth and strength for all and that no person can enslave another!