How To Celebrate A Meteor Shower The Jewish Way
Image by Getty Images
By Laura E. Adkins May 1, 2017
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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.
