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Birkat Hachama
''Birkat Hachama'' (ברכת החמה, "Blessing of the Sun") refers to a rare Jewish blessing that is recited to the Creator, thanking Him for creating the sun. The blessing is recited when the sun completes its cycle every 28 years 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. Because the blessing needs to be said when the sun is visible, the blessing is postponed to the following day, on Wednesday morning. According to Judaism, the Sun has a 28-year solar cycle known as ''machzor gadol'' (מחזור גדול, "the great cycle"). A solar year is estimated as 365.25 days and the "Blessing of the Sun", being said at the beginning of this cycle, is thus recited every 10,227 (28 times 365.25) days. The last time that it was recited was on April 8, 2009 (14 ''Nisan'' 5769 on the Hebrew calendar.) From an astronomical point of view, there is nothing special to these dates; e.g. the su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Although the Sun appears to "rise" from the horizon, it is actually the ''Earth's'' motion that causes the Sun to appear. The illusion of a moving Sun results from Earth observers being in a rotating reference frame; this apparent motion is so convincing that many cultures had mythologies and religions built around the geocentric model, which prevailed until astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus formulated his heliocentric model in the 16th century. Architect Buckminster Fuller proposed the terms "sunsight" and "sunclipse" to better represent the heliocentric model, though the terms have not entered into common language. Astronomically, sunrise occurs for only an instant: the moment at which the upper limb of the Sun appears tangent to the horizon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
March Equinox
The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. The March equinox is known as the vernal equinox (spring equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and as the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. On the Gregorian calendar, the northward equinox can occur as early as 19 March or as late as 21 March at 0° longitude. For a common year the computed time slippage is about 5 hours 49 minutes ''later'' than the previous year, and for a leap year about 18 hours 11 minutes ''earlier'' than the previous year. Balancing the increases of the common years against the losses of the leap years keeps the calendar date of the March equinox from drifting more than one day from 20 March each year. The March equinox may be taken to mark the beginning of astronomical spring and the end of astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere but m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orach Chaim
Orach Chayim, (''manner/way of life'') is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of Halakha (Jewish law), Arba'ah Turim. This section addresses aspects of Jewish law pertinent to the Hebrew calendar (be it the daily, weekly, monthly, or annual calendar). Rabbi Yosef Karo modeled the framework of the ''Shulkhan Arukh'' (שולחן ערוך), his own compilation of practical Jewish law, after the ''Arba'ah Turim.'' Many later commentators used this framework, as well. Thus, ''Orach Chayim'' in common usage may refer to another area of halakha, separate from Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation. Orach Chayim deals with, but is not limited to: *Washing the hands in the morning, *Tefillin *Tzitzit (ritual fringes), *Prayer, *Sabbath, *Festivals, *Torah reading in synagogue. Commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch - Orach Chayim * Taz (Turei Zohov) - by Rabbi David HaLevi Segal * Magen Avraham - by Rabbi Avraham Gombiner * Biur HaGra - by the Vilna Gaon * Pri Megadim - by Rabbi Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chofetz Chaim
The ''Sefer'' ''Chafetz Chaim'' (or ''Chofetz Chaim'' or ''Hafetz Hayim'') ( he, חָפֵץ חַיִּים, trans. "Desirer of Life") is a book by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who is also called "the Chofetz Chaim" after it. The book deals with the Jewish ethics and laws of speech. The Sefer The title of the ''Chafetz Chaim'' is taken from Psalms: The subject of the book is ''hilchos shmiras halashon'' (laws of clean speech). Kagan provides copious sources from the Torah, Talmud and ''Rishonim'' about the severity of Jewish law on tale-mongering and gossip. Lashon hara, meaning "'evil speech" (or loosely gossip and slander and prohibitions of defamation), is sometimes translated as "prohibitions of slander", but in essence is concerning the prohibitions of saying evil/bad/unpleasant things about a person, whether or not they are true. The book is divided into three parts: * ''Mekor Chayim'' ("Source of Life"), the legal text. * ''Be'er mayim chayim'' ("Well of living water"), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Israel) by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later. Together with its commentaries, it is the most widely accepted compilation of Jewish law ever written. The ''halachic'' rulings in the ''Shulchan Aruch'' generally follow Sephardic law and customs, whereas Ashkenazi Jews generally follow the halachic rulings of Moses Isserles, whose glosses to the ''Shulchan Aruch'' note where the Sephardic and Ashkenazi customs differ. These glosses are widely referred to as the ''mappah'' (literally: the "tablecloth") to the ''Shulchan Aruch's'' "Set Table". Almost all published editions of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' include this gloss, and the term "Shulchan Aruch" has come to denote ''both'' Karo's work as well as Isserles', with Karo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artscroll
ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Rahway, New Jersey. Rabbi Nosson Scherman is the general editor. ArtScroll's first president, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (July 13, 1943 – June 24, 2017) was succeeded by his oldest son, Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz, whose name is listed secondarily in new publications as general editor, after that of Rabbi Scherman. History In 1975, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, a graduate of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, was director of a high-end graphics studio in New York. The firm, ArtScroll Studios, produced ketubahs, brochures, invitations, and awards. Rabbi Nosson Scherman, then principal of Yeshiva Karlin Stolin Boro Park, was recommended to Zlotowitz as someone who could write copy, and they collaborated on a few projects. In late 1975, Zlotowitz wrote an English translation and commentary on the Book of Esther in memory of a friend, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asher Ben Jehiel
Asher ben Jehiel ( he, אשר בן יחיאל, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1327) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew acronym for this title, the Rosh (, literally "Head"). His yahrzeit is on 9 Cheshvan. Biography The Rosh was probably born in Cologne, Holy Roman Empire, and died in Toledo. His family was prominent for learning and piety, his father Yechiel was a Talmudist, and one of his ancestors was Rabbi Eliezer ben Nathan (the ''RaABaN''). Asher had eight sons, the most prominent of whom were Jacob (author of the ''Arba'ah Turim'') and Judah. In 1286, King Rudolf I had instituted a new persecution of the Jews, and the great teacher of the Rosh, Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, left Germany but was captured and imprisoned. The Rosh raised a ransom for his release, but Rabbi Meir refused it, for fear of encouraging the imprisonm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Israeli Ben Joseph
Isaac Israeli ben Joseph or Yitzhak ben Yosef (often known as Isaac Israeli the Younger) was a Spanish-Jewish astronomer/astrologer who flourished at Toledo in the first half of the fourteenth century. He was a pupil of Asher ben Yehiel, at whose request (in 1310) he wrote the astronomical work ''Yesod Olam'', the finest contribution on the subject in Hebrew literature. The book includes chapters on: geometry and trigonometry; the structure and position of the globe; the number and movements of celestial spheres; the time differences in days and nights in various parts of the Earth; the movements of sun and moon; solstices, ''neomeniæ'', eclipses, and leap-years. It also contains astronomical tables (ephemeris) and a perpetual calendar. It also deals with the chronological systems of other nations and religions (iv, § 17), especially Christianity, and lists notable personages of the Biblical, Talmudic, and geonic periods, as per ''Sefer ha-Qabbalah'' of Abraham ibn Daud, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Solstice
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Either pole experiences continuous darkness or twilight around its winter solstice. The opposite event is the summer solstice. The winter solstice occurs during the hemisphere's winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the December solstice (usually 21st or 22nd December) and in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the June solstice (usually 20th or 21st of June). Although the winter solstice itself lasts only a moment, the term also refers to the day on which it occurs. The term midwinter is also used synonymously with the winter solstice, although it carries other meanings as we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summer Solstice
The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is the day with the longest period of daylight and shortest night of the year, when the Sun is at its highest position in the sky. Within the Arctic circle (for the Northern hemisphere) or Antarctic circle (for the Southern), there is continuous daylight around the summer solstice. The opposite event is the winter solstice. The summer solstice occurs during summer. This is the June solstice (usually 20 or 21 June) in the Northern hemisphere and the December solstice (usually 21 or 22 December) in the Southern. On the summer solstice, Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°. Likewise, the Sun's declination from the celestial equator is 23.44°. Since prehistory, the summer solstice has been seen as a significant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
