Devout Jews around the world on Wednesday April 8th 2009 observed a ritual performed only once every 28 years, by reciting a special prayer ‘Birkat Hachamah’  under the open sky in a ceremony called the “blessing of the sun”.
“God created the world in seven days. 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 prayer came on the eve of the weeklong Passover festival, in which Jews commemorate the exodus from slavery in Egypt. The timing was coincidental, but added to the joyous feeling felt by many worshippers.