SivaGanesha 2 #1 April 8, 2009 I'm not Jewish (and I'm sure I'll be corrected in the details by someone who is), but I couldn't help but notice that today is a very interesting and unique day on the Jewish calendar. It is both Birkat Hachama (Blessing of the Sun) and Pesach (Passover, beginning at sundown tonight). Birkat Hachama only occurs once every 28 years and it is even rarer still for it to coincide with Pesach. Birkat Hachama can only be observed during the first quarter of the day and only then if the sun is visible to be blessed--if the sun is obscured by clouds Birkat Hachama cannot be observed. I thought this was especially interesting given how much time we spend concerned with cloud cover in our sport. It has been cloudy here in the SF Bay Area but the sun just broke through the clouds as I've been typing this. Anyways I'm sure someone who is Jewish will soon correct me on the details Blue skies,"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #2 April 8, 2009 i find religious cults fascinating too stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skyrad 0 #3 April 8, 2009 Okaay....When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy. Lucius Annaeus Seneca Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SivaGanesha 2 #4 April 8, 2009 Quote i find religious cults fascinating too Here is a bit more information: Israel celebrates blessing of the sun Clouds may cast shadow on rare Jewish blessing of the sun A cult? More than half the world's population has at least a cultural connection to Judaism or one of its descendant religions (Christianity, Islam, etc). If Judaism is a cult then everything is a cult. Today was an event seen only two or three times in the whole history of Judaism--which is to say the whole history of Western organized religion. But I'm still curious to know what December 21, 2012 is going to be like!"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
falxori 0 #5 April 9, 2009 Quote But I'm still curious to know what December 21, 2012 is going to be like! It's going to be a Friday... "Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #6 April 9, 2009 Quote Quote i find religious cults fascinating too Here is a bit more information: Israel celebrates blessing of the sun Clouds may cast shadow on rare Jewish blessing of the sun A cult? More than half the world's population has at least a cultural connection to Judaism or one of its descendant religions (Christianity, Islam, etc). If Judaism is a cult then everything is a cult. Today was an event seen only two or three times in the whole history of Judaism--which is to say the whole history of Western organized religion. But I'm still curious to know what December 21, 2012 is going to be like! it's going to rain that day (and 'the whole history of western organised religion' is a story of wacky cult upon cult )stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SivaGanesha 2 #7 April 9, 2009 Quote It's going to be a Friday... Very true...it didn't take me long to find a website that placed great spiritual significance on this fact. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SivaGanesha 2 #8 April 9, 2009 Quote it's going to rain that day (and 'the whole history of western organised religion' is a story of wacky cult upon cult ) Well that would be disappointing The word "cult" loses all useful meaning if it is applied to all religions because it then becomes just a synonym for "religion" and all religions are "cults"."It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #9 April 9, 2009 Quote Quote it's going to rain that day (and 'the whole history of western organised religion' is a story of wacky cult upon cult ) Well that would be disappointing The word "cult" loses all useful meaning if it is applied to all religions because it then becomes just a synonym for "religion" and all religions are "cults". religion is just a word to differentiate between small and larger cults (children shouldn't be taught any religion until they are mature enough to decide for themselves - wouldn't you agree?)stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SivaGanesha 2 #10 April 10, 2009 Quote(children shouldn't be taught any religion until they are mature enough to decide for themselves - wouldn't you agree?) Not completely. Religion plays an important social role--I believe that all religions are primarily social groups, although some religions play up this side of things and others downplay the importance of social interactions. By observing their parents interacting socially in their church/synagogue/temple/mosque/etc of choice, children learn about adult social interactions and how their parents see themselves in relationship to other adults and members of the community. Religion is often the only social network to provide this opportunity. School is only for children so there are no good (or bad) role models for appropriate adult social behavior. Work is only for adults so the children never see their parents in that environment. Religion bridges the gap between adults and children in the community and plays an important role that isn't always easy to find elsewhere."It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamdancer 0 #11 April 10, 2009 Quote Quote (children shouldn't be taught any religion until they are mature enough to decide for themselves - wouldn't you agree?) Not completely. Religion plays an important social role--I believe that all religions are primarily social groups, although some religions play up this side of things and others downplay the importance of social interactions. By observing their parents interacting socially in their church/synagogue/temple/mosque/etc of choice, children learn about adult social interactions and how their parents see themselves in relationship to other adults and members of the community. Religion is often the only social network to provide this opportunity. School is only for children so there are no good (or bad) role models for appropriate adult social behavior. Work is only for adults so the children never see their parents in that environment. Religion bridges the gap between adults and children in the community and plays an important role that isn't always easy to find elsewhere. if the parents are part of a cult it is very hard to extricate the children from their delusional beliefs. church/synagogue/temple/mosques are not healthy places for children (they have no choice about being there). religion should be for adults only stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
