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Birkat HaChammah: An Evocative Blessing By: Rabbi Dr. J. David Bleich Why Is This Erev Pesach Different From Every Other Erev Pesach? To a Jew every mitzvah is treasured; each is a source of delight. As expressed by the psalmist, "Happy is the man who fears God, who desires His mitzvot greatly" (Psalms 112:1). Little wonder then that Birkat haChammah, despite its relative simplicity and infrequency of occurrence, has received extensive treatment in rabbinic literature. The very rarity of its occurrence has served to magnify the rejoicing in its performance and to enhance the scholarly attention it has received. Birkat haChammah is indeed a rare event-an event that recurs only every twenty-eight years. Even rarer is the occurrence of Birkat haChammah on the fourteenth day of Nisan, erev Pesach, as will be the case this coming spring. The phenomenon marked by Birkat haChammah did coincide with erev Pesach in 5685 (1925). However, before 5685, there was a gap of more than six centuries since Birkat haChammah's last previous occurrence on an erev Pesach in 5069 (1309). It is popularly assumed that the universe was created in Tishrei. That assumption is prompted, at least in part, by the fact that the calendar year begins on the first day of Tishrei. However, the Gemara, Rosh Hashanah 10b-11a, records a controversy between Rabbi Eliezer and and Rabbi Joshua with regard to whether the world was created in Tishrei or in Nisan. Birkat haChammah was ordained on the basis of the hypothesis that the universe was created in Nisan. Genesis 1:14-19 records that the sun was created on the fourth day of the week. According to rabbinic tradition, the sun was created at the very beginning of the day and appeared in the sky in the position occupied at Tekufat Nisan, i.e., the sun was set into place upon the onset of the fourth day at the position of the vernal equinox. Thus, Birkat haChammah is recited whenever the vernal equinox occurs at the very beginning of the fourth

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