How To Celebrate A Meteor Shower The Jewish Way
Image by Getty Images
By Laura E. Adkins May 1, 2017
Cinco de Mayo and the Sabbath won’t be the only celebrations going down on the night of Friday, May 5 — science nerds will also have a chance to rejoice as the Eta Aquarid meteor shower grants us with its peak performance.
PASS IT ON! The Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower is Friday & Saturday night. 50 meteors possible per hour. Photo: Ben Jacobi. #MeteorShower #Space pic.twitter.com/lcuHDdLrNz
— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) May 1, 2017
Other than just staring at the sky, what’s a good Jew to do?
Like most things in Judaism, there’s a blessing for that.
When witnessing a meteor shower, one can say the blessing one would use for other natural sources of wonder and inspiration: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, oseh ma’aseh bereishit — Blessed are you, Lord Our God, King of the universe, who makes the work of creation.
Laura E. Adkins is the Forward’s contributing network editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @Laura_E_Adkins.
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