While I am not usually a follower of such things, a recent journey down a Google rabbit hole led me to learn that tonight is supposed to be the peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower, one of four major meteor showers each year with a sharp peak. Apparently, under a dark sky with little-to-no moon, the Quadrantid shower can produce over 100 meteors an hour.
With little knowledge of astronomy, other than a pretty good sense of the moon phases (thanks, Jewish calendar), I cannot help but think there is something significant about this showering of light and stars right at the beginning of a New (secular) Year. The Jewish New Year is, of course, tied to creation — hayom harat olam, today is the birth of the world. And also, we read in our liturgy each morning that God is מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל־יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית: The One who renews the works of creation each day.
The rabbis of the Talmud teach (Berachot 59b):
One who sees the sun [starting] on its new circuit or the moon in its strength, or the stars in their courses, or the planets in their order says, “Blessed… Who hast made the Creation.”
And they also teach (Berachot 54a):
For shooting stars, earthquakes, thunders, storms and lightning one says, “Blessed… Whose strength and might fill the world.”
For the rabbis, of course, this is a space for debate and dialogue. When, they might ask, are you seeing stars in their course? Is a shooting star a star off course, or is it fulfilling its mission? Which blessing, they might wonder, does one say during a meteor shower?
For me, I am less concerned with the answers than with the premise. For me, it is less about which blessing we say than the fact that we bless at all. We are given a chance, each day, to experience the wonders of creation, whether in a sunrise, a sunset, a rainstorm, or the tiny miracle of a twinkling star.
And what better way to start a new year, even if not the Jewish one, than to offer blessings — for new beginnings, for bright lights, and for the chance to experience something new.
— Rabbi Sari Laufer