April 1, 2009
Rabbi arrested for The Blessing Of The New Sun
I normally breeze by the bulk of emails I receive from Jewish organizations. I'm not even sure how most of them got my email address.
Today, however, I was intrigued by the snippet of a subject line that appeared in my Blackberry: “Rabbi arrested.”
The email came from the Intown Jewish Academy, a Chabad-related outfit located here in Atlanta and it took me to a reprint of a New York Times article from April 8, 1897 in which a rabbi was arrested in New York's Tompkins Square for not obtaining a permit before performing the Blessing of The New Sun with his congregation in the square.
Here's more:
“Orthodox Hebrews in every part of the world celebrated yesterday what is familiarly known among them as “the new sun.” The festival comes once every twenty-eight years, on the fourth day of the first week of the Hebrew month Nisan, corresponding practically to the month of April. The celebration in New York was spoiled for some hundreds of people by the interference of two park policemen with a gathering in Tompkins Square, the arrest there of Rabbi Wechsler, and the flight of Rabbi Klein.
Lucky for the rabbi, the observance comes only once every 28 years. I presume the congregation was able to get a permit by the time the next one came around.
You can find the full text of the article on the Intown Jewish Academy Web site.