Hundreds of Orthodox Jews gathered today (8th of April 2009) in Springfield park, Stamford Hill, to celebrate the festival of Birkat Hachama (blessing of the sun). It is a Jewish blessing that is recited in appreciation of the Sun once every twenty-eight years, when the vernal equinox as calculated by tradition falls 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.

---

Size: 4096px × 2731px
Location: Stamford Hill, London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Andrew Aitchison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: aitchison, birkat, blessing, community, hachama, hassidic, hassidim, hats, hill, jew, jewish, jews, male, men, orthodox, religion, religions, religious, silhouette, stamford, sun