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Rams Horn To Again Mark High Holy Days
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Published: September 27, 2008
It's all in the notes.
Rabbi Shalom Adler has been practicing his shofar skills, making sure he blows the perfect note.
Shofars are the ram horns that are blown in synagogue services during the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
This year, the holy days will begin with Rosh Hashanah at sunset on Monday, Sept. 29, and end with Yom Kippur an hour after sunset on Thursday, Oct. 9.
The 10 days from the beginning of Rosh Hashanah to the end of Yom Kippur are the Ten Days of Repentance, a time when Jews examine their lives and ask for forgiveness from anyone they have harmed.
Blowing the shofar is no simple thing, said Adler, who is a rabbi with the Palm Harbor-based Young Israel-Chabad of Pinellas County.
Young Israel is part of Chabad-Lubavitch, the Orthodox Hasidic movement.
"It's complex," he notes. "You have to make sure the sound is not too short or too long."
Adler has already taken out his seven shofars for inspection and cleaning. He and his synagogue have been preparing for the Holy Days for the last month in services in which Adler blows the shofar - although in a different pattern than on the High Holidays.
The sound of the shofar in these pre-holiday services is designed to remind worshippers of the coming holidays so that they can prepare themselves mentally and spiritually for the introspection that is meant to accompany the New Year, said Rabbi Yossi Eber of Chabad Jewish Center of West Pasco.
"Every morning, after prayers, we sound the shofar to waken our soul to remind you Rosh Hashanah is coming, and it's time to shape up," Eber explains.
The custom of blowing the ram's horn reminds Jews of the Biblical story of God's replacing Abraham's son Isaac with a ram at the moment Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac because of a command from God to do so.
Shofars heralding the New Year will sound next Tuesday instead of at the actual beginning of Rosh Hashanah at sunset the evening before.
Jewish law specifies they should be blown only in the day, according to Eber. Under Jewish commandments, followers are commanded to hear the shofar blown during the two days of Rosh Hashanah.
It is also customary to eat apples with honey during Rosh Hashanah.
As the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei.
Unlike the light-hearted festivities associated with the Western New Year, Rosh Hashana ushers in a time of introspection and repentance.
"It's not just a calendar New Year," said Eber. "The New Year is the most important part of the year because you think about the past year. You make resolutions to strengthen your commitment to the Torah and to become a more spiritual person."
The Torah, Judaism's main religious text, corresponds to the first five books of the Old Testament portion of a Christian Bible.
Religious self-examination continues between the ending of Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is one of the most solemn of Jewish holidays.
This year, it begins at sunset Wednesday, Oct. 8, and ends an hour after sunset the following day. It is the ninth day of the Jewish month Tishrei.
Jews abstain from food and drink during Yom Kippur and spend the day in prayer. They break the fast an hour after sunset in meals often enjoyed at synagogues.
The High Holidays are "days of awe," says Eber, because worshippers are meant to think about their relationship with their higher power. "When you think about God, you are in awe of God," he observes.
High Holiday Services
Synagogues have a variety of services associated with the High Holidays. Please contact them for individual schedules.
Chabad Jewish Center of West Pasco (Hasidic), New Port Richey, telephone 727-376-3366.
Congregation Beth Tefillah (Conservative), Port Richey, telephone 727-847-3814.
Congregation B'nai Emmunah (Reform), Tarpon Springs, telephone 727-938-9000.
Young-Israel Chabad of Pinellas County (Hasidic), Palm Harbor, telephone 727-789-0408.
Temple Ahavat Shalom (Reform), Palm Harbor, telephone 727-785-8811.
Beth El-Shalom (Messianic), New Port Richey, telephone, 727-375-7502.
Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 or cbentley@suncoastnews.com.
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