On the High Holy Days we do a most peculiar thing. We blow a horn, a shofar, a Jewish instrument. I say it’s “peculiar,” because musical instruments are not generally part of the Jewish treasure chest of rituals (although they were in fact played in the Temple), especially one made from the horn of the ram.

The shofar is a fascinating little thing. I have blown the shofar a number of times over the years, and I delight in the opportunity to do so. I do because, like a blues guitarist playing a haunting melody in a hall, where the lights are low and a collective feeling of introspection and wonderment is prevalent, the moment I wrap myself in a tallit and blow the shrill notes of tekiah, truah, shvarim, a spiritual quiet envelops the shul.  

Sometimes I will peak out from underneath my woolen shawl as I blow this Jewish horn and watch as others close their eyes, tilting their head ups at the sound of the tekiah and truah – described in the Mishnah, as the “wavering cry.”

The shofar is blown every day during the month of the Elul, the 30 days leading up to the High Holy Days. It is said that Moses ascended Mount Sinai and blew the shofar so that the children of Israel would not fall back into idol worship and forget the important meeting that was happening between God and their leader.

According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, the shofar is considered to be one of the earliest musical instruments known to humankind. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, fourth edition, the word shofar is related to the Akkadian word sapparu, meaning wild sheep, and to the Sumerian word segbar, meaning fallow deer. It is mentioned sixty nine times in the Torah and regularly in the Talmud.

Anthropologists say the shofar was blown to scare off demons, the Satan and evil spirits, so it is, therefore, appropriate that we blow it on the High Holy Days to frighten away the prosecuting attorney.

The great Jewish philosopher Saadiah Gaon listed 10 reasons we blow the shofar, including to proclaim the sovereignty of God; as a reminder of the Akedah (Abraham’s near offering of his son, Isaac), since the ram that was substituted for Isaac was caught in the thickets by the horns; to inspire awe; as a summons to the heavenly court to be judged on the Day of Judgment; and as a reminder that the shofar will call together Israel’s scattered remnants to return to Israel.

Maimonides (the Rambam) says that we blow the shofar to, “Awake O sleepers from your sleep, O slumberers arouse ye from your slumber, and examine your deeds, return in repentance and remember your Creator” (Yad Teshuvah 3:4).

On the High Holy Days, listen closely to the blowing of the shofar. Some say it is a crying instrument, each note signifying tears that have rolled down the faces of millions of our people over years of suffering.

That may be, but watch the face of the ba’al tekiah, the shofar blower, once he has completed his task of blowing that little horn.

Frequently, he will express a joyous look, one of great triumph. Could it be that between the cries, he has heard the sounds of happiness emanating from the great accomplishments of our people despite the pogroms, destruction of the Temples and the Holocaust.

Wake up, oh Jews! Wake up all nations!

Learn from the shofar and understand that there have indeed been reasons to cry, then and now, but even more reasons to embrace the bliss and exhilaration that exists around us, within us and within every moment of our existence.

Tekiah, shvarim, truah. Wake up from your slumber and examine your deeds.

Avrum@veahavta.org. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Sedrot? Sudan?

October 9, 2009
Categories: Jewish . . Author: avrum

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