How is this not pagan? And how do they know exactly where god put teh sun in teh very beginning??/ Jews observe sun ritual for first time since 1981 JERUSALEM - Devout Jews around the world on Wednesday observed a ritual performed only once every 28 years, saying their morning prayers under the open sky in a ceremony called the "blessing of the sun." Tens of thousands of worshippers stood next to the Western Wall in Jerusalem's walled Old City, the holiest site where Jews can pray. Hundreds headed to the ancient desert fortress of Masada, while others prayed on the roof of a Tel Aviv high-rise and congregated on road sides. "God created the world in seven days," said Yona Vogel, one of the estimated 50,000 who attended the Western Wall prayers. "On the fourth day he put the sun into orbit and every 28 years it returns to the original place that it stood when God created the world." The special blessing — called the Birkat Hachamah in Hebrew — was marked in many time zones, starting with members of the small Jewish community in New Zealand. In hundreds of places, from Israel and Italy to New Zealand and Kyrgyzstan, observant Jews rose before dawn for outdoor prayers and dancing....
Yeah, place-compared to what? Anyway I guess it's not pagan if they don't worship the Sun, just bless it.
I don't think distance is important, this is religion remember. The Sun is in the universe, right where it was 6000 years ago. It'll be there 28 years from now too. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Well, going through the 3 usual definitions used for "paganism": 1) by definition of it being of Judaism, it's not polytheistic. 2) by definition of it being a Jewish rite, it's not a non-Abrahamic ritual. 3) it's not necessarily a "nature-centred" rite, because Judaism holds that Yahweh emanates through everything in existence; thus it isn't venerating the sun itself or a deity personifying the sun, but using it as a metaphor for the omnipresence of Yahweh.
I'm with the "why should we care?" people on this one. Pagan is just something religious people call other religious people so they can hate them better. Judaism has all kinds of odd ball crap, like most religions. Does the Morman majic underware make them pagans? Would it matter if it did?
Depends. Under one of the three common definitions, yeah, paganism is polytheistic. However, the definition can be broader than that. Often it is expanded to mean any non-Abrahamic nature-based religion, usually polytheistic and/or animistic but not necessarily. "Paganism" is an incredibly vague concept, with many definitions; but it is generally accepted that the Abrahamic religions have certain qualities that make them not fit under the category of "paganism" as it is understood now. Of course, the term originally derived from Romans branding provincial folk who practised in a "deviant" way from the urban-dwelling Roman citizenry; as the urban population gradually became more and more composed of Christians, the term came to be used as a general term for polytheists, and as Christianity expanded further, any non-Abrahamists. So, the definition of the term has changed all throughout history.
Did someone delete my post? I'm sure it was an error. The upshot is: Great. Good. Or who cares? Who are they harming? No one. It's interesting and unusual, sure, but harms no one. When we start wondering about the paganity or not of things, it always ends up on the same old river.
I doubt it. Mine was also deleted. Apparently pointing out that sacrificing a lamb is not a pagan custom is out of bounds.
Hmm. Then the bounds should be expanded. Also, can't you just bless whatever you want? Go on, bless the sun. The moon, the earth. How would a blessing be pagan?
************* M*W: I would explain this astro-logically by saying that the lamb refers to the Sign of Aries (The Ram). "Sacrificing" the lamb means the movement of the Sign through the zodiac until the lamb-ram is "gone" into the Sign of Taurus, the Bull and into Mithras worship. Even the name of Abraham refers to the "ram."
