Adelaide, Friday 25 July
Ba Rosh Hashana…Ba Rosh Hashana… Sound the Shofar The Torah tells us to sound the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Following are some reasons given for the Shofar: It was customary to sound trumpets at the coronation of Kings. Similarly, on Rosh Hashanah, when we accept Hashem as our ultimate authority, we "coronate" Him with sounding a Shofar.
The call of the Shofar is also meant to 'awaken' people to return to G-d, as the prophet proclaimed (Amos 3:6): "If a shofar were blown in a city would the people not tremble?" So the message, in Maimonides' words, is: "Arise sleepers from your slumber and ponder over your deeds; remember your Creator and return to Him in penitence. Don't be of those who miss realities in their pursuit of shadows, and waste their years in seeking vain things that cannot profit or deliver. Look deeply into your souls and consider your deeds; forsake each his evil way and thoughts and return to G-d, so that He will mercy you". The Shofar sounds represent outcries of a person who recognizes his spiritual void but whose feelings are too deep to express in words, so he expresses them in a wordless cry.
The Tekiah - a plain, drawn-out sound - represents a cry from the bottom of the heart. The Shevarim-Teruah - the broken sounds - are the groans and sobs one makes when beyond even crying-out. Similarly, the shofar is compared to a forlorn child in a distant country who forgot the language of his people and his father, the King. Upon his return and face to face encounter with his father, his only means of communication is a simple cry. The father recognizes his voice and brings the child back to him. Similarly, when Rosh Hashanah comes and we seek to reconnect to our roots, we sometimes realize we may have lost our common language with our father in heaven. So, from the bottom of our souls we call out "Father, Father", to which G-d responds and brings us closer to him. Before we received the Torah at Mount Sinai, there was "the great sounding of the Shofar".
We blow the Shofar as a reminder of our statement at that time: "Na'ase V'nishma" -we will do and we will listen-, as we accepted the Torah without question. It is also a 'reminder' to G-d that we accepted Him, His Torah and Mitzvot. The Shofar is made from a ram's horn, to 'recall' before G-d our forefather Isaac, who was prepared to sacrifice his life for G-d, but was exchanged with a ram. The Shofar then, represents the horn of the "ram of Isaac". The Shofar is bent, to teach us humility, and to "bend" our hearts in humility before G-d.
L'Shana Tova Tikatevu V'Tekatemu
Below is a helpful reminder of the Shabbat Times for Adelaide for this Shabbat coming.
For more information on Shabbat, visit Chabad.org.
