In case you hadn't heard, according to talmudic astronomical calculations, once every 28 years, the sun is in the same allignment that it was at the time of creation, and this year is that year, and the moment will occur at sunrise on the day before Pesach begins. No one knows for sure what will happen this year, but it sounds like some crazy things have gone down in the past (Exodus, Purim) and now, thanks to thanks To Vera Schwatz, Professor at Wesleyan, we know of another story of this event from 112 years. This article is from the New York Times Archive, April 8th, 1897. The story details a large group of Jews gathering in Central Park (without a permit) to celebrate and bless the sun, and the police arresting the leadings rabbis because they were illegally assembling.
The best Paragraph, in my opinion, reads as follows:
The Celebration is rather a complicated matter to explain to anyone. Rabbi Klein's knowledge of English is slight, while [park officer] Foley's faculties of comprehension of matters outside of park and police regulations and local events are not acute. The attempt of a foreign citizen to explain to an American Irishman an astronomical situation and a tradition of the Talmud was a dismal failure.
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