MELVILLE, New York — A rare New Jersey-centered earthquake shook the greater metropolitan New York area and was felt as far away as Philadelphia and Boston. The 4.8 quake and its smaller aftershocks thankfully did no significant damage though many were quite startled by the event. Earthquakes in the Middle East are more common, with references in the books of Amos, Zechariah and Ezekiel to an earthquake believed to have occured around 760 BCE. In fact, the very first line of Amos reads, “The words of Amos, a sheep breeder from Tekoa, who prophesied concerning Israel in the reigns of Kings Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” Judaism has blessings for almost all occasions. What blessing is specified in the Talmud to be recited upon experiencing an earthquake?