Rabbinic Reflections: Issue 128

September 23, 2022 (27 Elul 5782)

Meanings of the Shofar


Dear Holy Friends,

I hope this correspondence finds you doing well and in good health. We look forward to having you join us this Saturday morning at 10:30am for our in-person services, which will take place in the sanctuary and be available on our regular zoom prayer link. Additionally, I personally look forward to wishing you a Shana Tova on Monday and Tuesday morning, when we gather at the Fort Lee High School for Yuntif services.

One of the many highlights of Rosh Hashana is the magical sounding of the shofar. Its stirring, yet imperfect notes are blasted over 100 times during the davening.

Sa'adiah Gaon, a ninth century rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete, who wrote primarily in a strange Judeo-Arabic language, offered the following ten reasons for the sounding of the shofar:

  • The sound of the shofar is analogous to the trumpet-blasts that announce the coronation of a king. On Rosh Hashanah, God created the world and assumed the role of its Sovereign, and in the sounding of the shofar we acknowledge Him as our King.

  • Rosh Hashanah is the first of the 10 Days of Repentance, and the shofar is sounded to stir our conscience, to confront our past errors and return to God, whoever is ready to welcome the penitent.

  • The shofar is reminiscent of God’s revelation at Sinai, which was accompanied by the sounding of a shofar. It thus reminds us of our destiny — to be a people of Torah, to pursue its study and to practice its commandments.

  • The sound of the shofar is reminiscent of the exhortations of the prophets, whose voices rang out like a shofar in denouncing their people’s wrongdoing, and in calling them to the service of God and man.

  • The shofar reminds us of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and it calls us to strive for Israel’s renewal in freedom and in fellowship with God.

  • The shofar, which is a ram’s horn, reminds us of the ram that Abraham offered as a sacrifice in place of his son Isaac. It thus reminds us of the heroic faith of the fathers of our people, who exemplified to us the highest devotion to God, of which humankind is capable.

  • The shofar summons us to the feeling of humility before God’s majesty and might, which are manifested by all things and by which our own lives are constantly surrounded.

  • The shofar is a reminder of the Day of the Final Judgment, calling upon all people and all nations to prepare for God’s scrutiny of their deeds.

  • The shofar foreshadows the jubilant proclamation of freedom when Israel’s exiled and homeless are to return to the Holy Land. It calls us to always believe in Israel’s deliverance and under all circumstances.

  • The shofar foreshadows the end of the present world order and the inauguration of God’s reign of righteousness throughout the world, with a regenerated Israel leading all people in acknowledging that God is One and His name One.

Friends, while Saadia offers his ten reasons for the sounding of the Shofar, I invite you to find your own personal meaning in the magical sounds you experience this holiday season. Allow yourself to be moved. Allow your heart to be awakened. Allow your soul to be stirred.

As we enter this Shabbat, I pray that the New Year be filled with health, happiness, fulfillment and sweetness for you, our congregations, the Jewish people, and all of humankind.

Shabbat Shalom and wishes for a Shanah Tova U’Metukah,

Rabbi Eric Wasser, EdD, Hon.DM
Elw613@gmail.com
201 562 5277

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CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL OF THE PALISADES