Elul - Why Blow the Shofar Every Day?

By Ehud Ben Ami for jewishmag.com

We are all basically familiar with the custom that starting on the first of Elul, the shofar is blown in all the synagogues after the morning service. We know that our customs have been around for many years and have deep reasons, but this one custom is perhaps more interesting than most.

Most people if asked, will tell you that the custom of blowing the shofar during the month of Elul is to awaken that spark inside our hearts to remind us to return once again to G-d, since Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgement, is coming up.

This is true, of course, but why should a shofar be blown? Could not something else be used, maybe banging on a pot or someone announcing in the synagogue that Rosh Hashanah is coming?. True, we blow a shofar on Rosh Hashanah, and so the shofar blowing in Elul does remind us of the shofar that is blown on Rosh Hashanah, but still, what is the reason that a shofar is blown? Why not blow also, or in its place, a trumpet or saxophone?

Actually, I was surprised to find that the origin of this custom dates back to over two thousand years ago. It is brought down in a book call the "Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer". This book is a collection of teachings that were compiled by none other than Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol, the teacher of Rabbi Akiva! Now that's pretty heavy!

In this book, Rabbi Eliezer quotes Rabbi Yehosua ben Korcha who explains that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (the first time) with the first tablets of the laws (the Ten Commandments) and he saw the Jews dancing around an idol, he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them. This was on the seventeenth of Tamuz.

During the next forty-day period he was occupied with executing all of those who engaged in idolatry and grinding the golden calf (which was the idol) into dust.

At the end of this forty-day period, which begins on the eighteenth of Tamuz and finishes on the last day of Av, the next day is the first of Elul. On this day, G-d said to Moses, ascend to the top of the mountain and blow a shofar throughout the camp. This was so that when Moses would ascend the mountain, the Jews would not make the horrible mistake and involve themselves in idolatry.

The teaching continues, that as the shofar was blown, G-d himself ascended to the mountain as it is written in Psalms (47:6) "G-d ascends with the shofar sound, the L-rd is with the shofar."

Therefore, concludes, the teaching of Rabbi Yehosua ben Korcha, each year on the first day of Elul we blow the shofar. We however, seeing a good thing, have extended it for the entire month, with the exclusion of the last day.

Now that we have gotten to the truth of the matter it certainly is nice and comfy to know that our customs and traditions have a few (?) good centuries of practice behind them. What we should know is that there is more than a deep intellectual concept behind this, but really an action, that brings us benefits, both in the physical world and in the spiritual world.

The teaching shows us how the shofar reminded the Jews that although Moses had ascended onto the mountain, that he would re-appear bringing us an ability to achieve even greater spiritual heights than we had reached before. It also warned us, that we would pay for our mis-deeds.

The shofar at that time in history was the chief instrument for alarming a population that a danger is impending. Like a siren today that is sounded to warn people to seek shelter or prepare for battle with the enemy, the shofar was used to awaken the population to an impending danger, such as an attack.

Prior to this time period, the shofar was used only to assemble the people for extremely important matters. All who would hear the shofar would immediately drop all of their mundane affairs and run to the center of the camp to see what was so important that the shofar was sounded.

When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, the shofar was sounded, this time instead of as a calling to assemble, to remind the people of the impending danger of inappropriate behavior. It worked, and Moses descended from Mount Sinai forty days later, which was the tenth of Tishre, the day that has become famous for forgiveness, Yom Kippur. In his hands he had the second tablets (of the Ten Commandments). The Jews, of course, rejoiced at seeing Moses this time.

We also today sound that very shofar, for time exists for us today, as it did then in history. On each day, the light of history shines into our lives. We are able to utilize the historic occasions to raise our level of service to G-d to a loftier level, and in doing so, we are elevating ourselves.

Elul is now the period of introspection. Examining ourselves for spots of idolatry. It is where we can begin again to serve G-d as we were created to do so.

Rosh HaShanah 5774

ROSH HASHANAH 5774 is celebrated September 04 - 06 2013

Rosh HaShanah (literally, "Head of the Year") is the Jewish New Year, which marks the beginning of a 10-day period of prayer, self-examination and repentance. This period, known as the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe or High Holy Days), is widely observed by Jews throughout the world, many with prayer and reflection in a synagogue. There also are several holiday rituals observed at home.

Rosh HaShanah is celebrated on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which—because of differences in the solar and lunar calendar—corresponds to September or October on the secular calendar. Customs associated with the holiday include sounding the shofar, eating a round challah, and tasting apples and honey to represent a sweet New Year.

The origins of Rosh HaShanah are found in the Bible.The Book of Leviticus (23:24-25) declares: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of rest, a memorial proclaimed with the blowing of the shofar, a holy convocation.” Although this day eventually became Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, it was not originally known as such.

In ancient times, there were four “new years” in the Jewish calendar. Each had a distinct significance:

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Prepent: 40 Days To Find Your Focus

On the first day of the last month of the Hebrew year, get ready to repent in style. Prepent offers 40 days of interactive online learning lead by Amichai Lau-Lavie. Subscribe to the daily blog and join Amichai and Lab/Shul on a journey into the Holy of Holies within Yom Kippur. Now in its third year, Prepent gets you into shape for a more meaningful and inspired High Holy days.
Stay tuned for subscription details coming soon.

WHAT IS LAB/SHUL?

Lab/Shul is a Jewish congregational model in the making based in NYC. The Lab/Shul community is dedicated to exploring, creating and celebrating innovative opportunities for contemplation, life cycle rituals, the arts, life-long learning and social justice.
Building on Storahtelling’s vision and practice, Lab/Shul seeks to redefine the role of sacred gatherings that nourish our thirst for meaning, connection, spirituality and community.

WHO IS LAB/SHUL?

Lab/Shul is a project of Storahtelling, led by Amichai Lau-Lavie, Storahtelling senior educators, artists and lay leaders.

Israeli archaeologists dig up artifact from time of Kings David and Solomon

Because there are no Jewish holidays, we're publishing an article we hope you'll enjoy.

Fragment of ceramic jar found near the Temple Mount bears earliest sample of written alphabetical text found in Jerusalem

By Nir Hasson (Haaretz)

Israeli archaeologists last week discovered a fragment of a ceramic jar they say dates back to the time of Kings David and Solomon and bears the earliest sample of written text ever found in Jerusalem.

The inscription is engraved on a large pithos, a neckless ceramic jar found during excavations at the Ophel site, near the southern wall of the Old City.
Researchers say the text is in the Canaanite language and dates to roughly 250 years before the earliest known Hebrew inscription from Jerusalem (the Siloam inscription) from the eighth century BCE.

The meaning of the inscription is unknown, but it contains eight letters, which could be part of the name of the jar’s owner or a description of its contents. Reading from left to right, the text contains a combination of letters, approximately 2.5 cm tall, which translate to m, q, p, h, n, (possibly) l, and n.

The inscription was engraved near the edge of the jar before it was fired, and only a fragment of it has been found, along with fragments of six large jars of the same type.

An analysis of the jars’ clay composition indicates that they are all of a similar make, and probably originate from the hills near Jerusalem.

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“Sing, O Barren One” – From Mourning to Consolation in the Haftarot

by Rachel Adelman, Ph.D

This period of the Jewish calendar, from the Shabbat following the Ninth of Av to Rosh Hashanah, is characterized as a time of consolation. Seven Haftarot from Isaiah trace a movement from mourning to comfort, from desolation to joy, over the course of these seven weeks. The midrash, cited in the Mahzor Vitri, gestures at the shape of that transformation. These Haftarot…

“… all speak of comfort…in the way that one comforts (a mourner) slowly by stages, for someone who offers comfort too close to the time of tragedy is like one who predicts the future: “Tomorrow you will be king,” which the bereaved cannot believe… Therefore: “Comfort, O comfort” (Isa. 54:1), “But Zion said, ["The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me]” (Isa. 49:14) – although Zion is destroyed, do not say that she is abandoned [as it says, “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted]” (54:11). Since the Lord has “comforted” her already in His mercy, He does not call for mercy again. Up until this point the prophets comfort her; from here onwards He comforts her. And once she has received consolation, we follow with: “Sing, O barren one,” (Isa. 54:1, the fifth); “Arise and shine,” (Isa. 60:1); “I shall rejoice” (Isa. 61:10).

Zion, the personification of Jerusalem, of the Promised Land, of Israel’s hope of return, does not at first accept the words of comfort from the prophets, in particular from Isaiah to whom G-d beckons: “Comfort, O comfort my people” (Isa. 54:1, the first of the Seven Haftarot of consolation). But Zion, like a tragic figure who refuses to accept that he will one day be king, does not respond to the prophets’ words (Isa. 49:14, the second Haftarah); she is storm-tossed, afflicted, not comforted (Isa. 54:11, the third of the Haftarah), until G-d finally reassures her directly in the fourth Haftarah: “I, I am He who comforts you” (51:12). From that moment onward, Isaiah’s words are full of jubilation.

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How Tisha B’Av Helped Me Heal

Cancer, and a year of chemotherapy, gave me a new perspective on Jewish holidays—starting with Tisha B’Av 

By Raffi Leicht for Tablet Magazine

The day before Tisha B’Av three years ago, I ate the egg and ashes prescribed as the meal before the fast begins, taking my last bite of the sliced white bread. On the eve of the darkest date in Jewish history, as I sat on a milk crate and gazed into a field and its tree-lined background, I began to cry.

I wasn’t only crying because of Tisha B’Av, but also for myself: I knew something was wrong. For weeks, while I’d been teaching at an Orthodox Jewish summer camp in upstate New York, I had been waking up in bed sheets dampened by sweat, despite sleeping in air-conditioning. My exhaustion and the lumps in my chest and throat had grown so rapidly that even in my bed, I could find no rest. Before settling upstate for the summer, I had gone to see a dermatologist to deal with an insatiable itch throughout my body; like a fire spreading, it gave no warning, no sign of rash. A prescription for an ointment to soothe my skin was filled but never used. And now, weeks later, I was getting worse.

The next morning, on Tisha B’Av, I read Eicha, Lamentations, at camp—it was the first time I’d read it publicly. Assigned the fifth chapter, I came across verses that left me trembling, just as I did when I tried to sleep, shuddering from a cold that wasn’t there.

The fifth and final chapter of Lamentations is different from the previous four. It is the only one not arranged alphabetically, symbolizing the chaotic order and misalignment I felt going on within me. “Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers; our houses to foreigners,” it reads (5:2), much like my own body. “Upon our necks we are pursued; we toil, and we find no rest,” (5:5), much like the protrusion in my own throat.

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Overview: Book of Lamentations

Jeremiah describes the tragedy of the Temple's destruction. The lessons are true still today.

 

by Rabbi Avi Geller for aish.com

The traveler's sobbing was so intense that it awoke Berel the innkeeper. His wife was very nervous. "Why is our guest crying so bitterly in the middle of the night?" she asked. "Something must have happened!"

Berel entered the guestroom to find a simple Jew, dressed like a peasant, shoeless, sitting on the floor, crying bitter tears over the Jewish exile from Israel. [This man was really a pious chassidic master, traveling "incognito" to learn of the situation of the world. Every midnight (besides Shabbat and festivals) he would arise to bemoan the destruction of our Holy Temples.]

"Why are you crying?" asked Berel. "What disaster has befallen you?"
The rabbi replied simply, "I cry over our Temple's destruction, and I beseech the Almighty to bring the Messiah who will return us to the Holy Land."

Berel was relieved, "Is that it?! Then please keep your wailing down so that you don't disturb the other guests!" With that Berel returned to his bedroom and informed his wife of the cause of the disturbance.

Five minutes later there was a knock on the rabbi's door. It was Berel again. "My wife would like to know if the Messiah comes and brings us back to the Land of Israel, will we be allowed to take our chickens with us?"
The rabbi was taken aback by the question. "Chickens? As far as I am aware, it doesn't say anything about chickens. You might have to leave your chickens here when the Messiah comes."

Berel duly informed his wife.

Five minutes later, another knock. Berel: "My wife asks you to please not pray anymore for the Messiah to come. We are doing fine here and would prefer to stay with our chickens."

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