Sun emerges to be blessed in the Five Towns

28-year cycle observed by hundreds in Cedarhurst Park

By Michael Orbach

Special to thejewishstar.com / Posted April 13, 2009

For a few anxious minutes it seemed that the sun did not want to be blessed but then the clouds parted.

According to tradition the sun returns to the place it occupied at the time of creation once every 28 years. 2009 was the year and April 8 was the day. Several hundred people gathered in Cedarhurst Park on the Wednesday morning of Erev Pesach, sipping coffee and rubbing their hands together for warmth.

The crowd seemed to be a mix of the Jewish spectrum of the Five Towns: men in business suits holding small children, Chasidim pushing strollers, middle-aged women in sweat pants waiting to take their sons for haircuts, and teenagers who flirted with each other before turning to wait for the sun. A cold breeze whistled past and a cloud bank hung over the village hall.

“There is nothing we take for granted,” said Rabbi Zalman Wolowik of the Five Towns Chabad Center though a microphone by the gazebo. “We thank Hashem for everything.” Rabbi Wolowik began to sing a wordless tune, a nigun.

Small pamphlets with the sun and a pair of sunglasses on the cover containing a service for Bircat Hachama were donated in memory of his young son, Levi Yitzchok Wolowik, who passed away less than two months ago.

After a short time the sun appeared, first as a small yellow ball wreathed in gray; then emerging as a blinding light, casting illumination on the crowd below. The blessing was made; families took pictures and lollipops were given to the children. The 7:58 Long Island Rail Road train howled and left the Cedarhurst station. Pesach would begin in twelve hours; the crowd dispersed.