Chapter 60:4-6
Blessing Recited over Unusual Sights
4. A person who sees a rainbow recites a blessing: Boruch Attoh A-d-o-n-o-i
E-l-o-h-e-i-n-u Melech ho'olom zocher habris v'ne'emon bivriso v'kayom
b'ma'amoro. (Blessed are You, G-d, our Lord, King of the Universe, Who
remembers the covenant, who is faithful to His covenant and Who keeps His
word.)
It is forbidden to gaze extensively at a rainbow.
5. On seas* and tall mountains of international repute, one should recite
the blessing oseh ma'aseh vereshis.
* {The Shulchon Oruch 228:1 states that upon seeing the Mediterranean Sea,
one should recite the blessing: Boruch Attoh A-d-o-n-o-i E-l-o-h-e-i-n-u
Melech ho'olom oseh hayom hagodol. (Blessed are You, G-d, our Lord, King of
the Universe, Who creates the great Sea).
However, other authorities recommend that the text of the blessing should
be amended to the past tense, she'osoh hayom hagodol. They also maintain
that the blessing should be recited only when one sees an ocean (Mishnoh
B'rurah ibid, 2,3).}
6. Those who see the sun at the beginning of the cycle - i.e., once every
twenty-eight years when the spring equinox falls on a Tuesday evening -
should, on Wednesday morning when the sun shines, recite the blessing:
Boruch Attoh A-d-o-n-o-i E-l-o-h-e-i-n-u Melech ho'olom oseh ma'aseh vereshis.
Before the blessing, Psalms 148, which begins "Halleluy-oh, Praise G-d from
the heavens...," is recited. Afterwards, the blessing is recited, then the
hymn Ei-l Odon until its conclusion, v'chayos hakodesh, and then Psalm 19,
which begins "The heavens declare the glory of G-d..." Afterwards, Oleinu
and kaddish are recited.
