Rosh Hashana Day 1 2006/5767
The Meaning of the Shofar Today
As a child, one of the most exciting times of this High Holiday season was listening to the Shofar. I couldn’t wait for the point in the service when the Shofar would be blown. How loud would the Shofar be? Would the blasts be true and clear? How long would the tekiah gedolah last? Even now that I get to stand right next to our ba’al tekiah (Shofar blower) and I have to focus as I call out the sounds, I still get that tingling feeling up and down my spine.
When the childish thrill wanes, I try to connect to the religious significance. Why do we blow the Shofar? What are we supposed to learn from it and what religious lessons are we supposed to derive? Every year we read the English prayers preceding the Shofar service which concentrate on the Shofar as a call to repentance. The blasts are supposed to be a call to arms – motivating us to change our ways and turn to the path of righteousness.
That explanation is certainly relevant and significant. We all need a jolt to get us to examine our ways. And that is what the High Holiday season is all about. But there are two other associations with the Shofar that can lead us to other valuable lessons.
We blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah to bring the Torah reading of Rosh Hashanah to life. The story from Genesis recounts events in the lives of Abraham & Sarah and their newborn Isaac. Today we read about his birth and the change in family dynamics that caused. Hagar – Sarah’s maid who became Abraham’s wife – had given birth to Ishmael. Shortly after Isaac was born Sarah convinced Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Tomorrow we will read about God asking Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on a distant mountain. At the last moment Isaac is saved and in gratitude Abraham offered the ram that happened to be caught in the bushes there as a sacrifice. And so we recall the miraculous intervention and the substitute sacrifice when we blow the ram’s horn.
Another association with the Shofar is the lesson the rabbis teach us. The rabbis, besides teaching us lessons from the stories in the Torah, also taught us laws. They derived legal interpretations to help provide a framework for our lives and opportunities for religious moments every day. They questioned which animal horns may be used for the Shofar. And they said that the horns of any kosher animal would be suitable - except the horns of a cow. Why? Because a cow is the symbol of the worst religious moment in Jewish history. Moses was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days getting the Torah and the 10 commandments. The Israelites were told that he would be on Mt. Sinai for 40 days. When the 40th day came and Moses didn’t show, the people got worried. Who would lead them? Who would be God’s mouth piece now that Moses was gone? They convinced Aaron – Moses’ brother – to fashion a golden calf around which they danced and sang. When Moses did come down later that 40th day and saw what the Israelites were doing, he smashed the tablets of the commandments on the ground. For that reason we can’t use a cow’s horn for the Shofar – we don’t want a symbol of idolatry to be used for Jewish purposes.
These are two very interesting associations because they represent extreme opposite positions. On the one hand we are reminded of what is considered the greatest act of faith in Jewish history – Abraham bringing Isaac to sacrifice – and on the other hand we are reminded of the greatest act of rebellion in Jewish history – the golden calf. It is fascinating that both are associated with the Shofar. Usually ritual objects only have a positive message – that’s the nature of religious symbols. So, then, why would the Shofar – arguably one of the most well known of all Jewish ritual objects – have a negative image associated with it? What should we learn from the intriguing duality?
One lesson we can learn relates to who hears the call of the Shofar. Abraham was certainly one of the most loyal and revered figures in Jewish history. He is considered to be the first Jew. God established a covenant with him and his descendents. His faith was tested and he passed with flying colors. By all accounts he was the most religious of people. He heard God’s call several times in his life and he answered faithfully and loyally each and every time.
The Israelites at Mt. Sinai were just the opposite. They had experienced God’s revelation at the mountain. They heard the Shofar blasts and the thunder, they saw the lighting, and they heard God’s voice. They even heard Moses say that he would be back in 40 days. Yet it’s as if it went in one ear and out the other. Their indifference and subsequent act of idolatry was the extreme opposite of Abraham. Yet, when Moses smashed the tablets and killed all those directly involved in the apostasy, he helped the people ask forgiveness. He continued to guide them and pray to God on their behalf.
Therefore, when we hear the Shofar we are reminded of these very different religious behaviors and we realize that everyone has a place in our community. The Jewish community isn’t just comprised of blind faith believers. And the Jewish community isn’t just comprised of agnostics and apostates. The Jewish community is comprised of everyone and everyone needs to find their place. Those who have more background and are at a high level of observance should help model and teach that behavior to others. And those who come back to synagogue after years of being away can be models of seekers and strivers. All Jews no matter their level of observance; no matter their background; no matter their commitment; man and woman, young and old, rich and poor, sinner and saint, everyone is an integral part of the community and each and every Jew needs to be feel valued. When the Shofar is blown the sounds become more melodious when they reverberate in a room filled with all kinds of Jews.
The challenge to us as a congregation is to reach out and bring in all those different type of Jews. Statistics from a variety of sociological studies of the Jewish community reinforce the picture of the Jewish community today. Only 40% are affiliated and therefore 60% have never stepped foot in a synagogue. Some of those 60% come to shul with their families on the High Holidays but otherwise shul attendance isn’t part of their routines. We as a shul can’t even take for granted that these Jews will join us when their children are of religious school age. Religious school isn’t enough of a draw anymore. We need to be creative and we need to go where the Jews are. We need to advertise our programs in the papers they read and we need to show that we are doing all we can to make Judaism and shul relevant to their lives. We need help doing this – all of us here today need to be committed to this ideal of bringing all Jews back into the fold. The image of the music of the Shofar reverberating in a room of all kinds of Jews can even be more effective if the music is different. It shouldn’t just be classical or traditional; we need new age and Jazz and all different styles to reflect the multi-faceted nature of the community. Being welcoming takes time and effort but the Shofar teaches us that we must do our best.
Another lesson derived from the duality of Abraham and the golden calf is how easily good intentions can lead to grievous errors. Abraham heard a call from God and he understood that God wanted him to offer his son as a sacrifice. His intention was to follow God’s command and some rabbinic commentators even suggest that he did slaughter his son. Abraham’s intention was to show faith and trust in God. But, his zealous pursuit of loyalty led to attempted murder.
The people of Israel just wanted a substitute for Moses. They recognized that they would be lost without him and they worried for their future. How would they get to the Promised Land? Who would intercede with God on their behalf? These were important questions but they led to an act of idolatry.
Both Abraham and the Israelites reacted immediately and spontaneously. God spoke to Abraham, apparently in a night time dream, and immediately upon waking he set out on the journey. The 40th day came and immediately the people began imploring Aaron to do something.
From both we learn the necessity of thinking through our actions. Though an instinctive, immediate reaction may have good intentions, it could lead to mistakes and actions that may never be rectified. We all can think of decisions we have made which have affected our jobs or our families. For most of them we have had time to think and deliberate. But some are thrust upon us and require immediate action. In those instances we can only hope that the values we have learned and the knowledge we have gained and the advice we had sought lead us to the proper course of action.
In Abraham and the Israelites we see what happens when matters get out of control. The Shofar blast then helps us take a step back from where we are. The Shofar says, hold on – think about what you’re doing and where you’re going – make sure you’re doing the right thing. The Shofar, representing Abraham and the golden calf, reminds us to look around and step gently into the future.
The obvious example for us is our decision to move as a congregation to Olney. It clearly wasn’t something that came to us in a dream and then acted upon immediately. We know that we have been deliberating for years and working on the details for years. We’ve all been involved in the Town Hall meetings and we overwhelmingly approved the sale of the shul and the purchase of the land and the building of the building. It has been a trying process for all involved. We’ve learned a lot about our congregation and we are indebted to you for staying with us and being excited. We’ve worked together so far and we look forward to the day when we can be back together in our own building.
That deliberative process is what the Shofar teaches us. Abraham’s quick decision led to an event that still has a spiritual impact today – 3500 years later. And the golden calf left an indelible stain on Judaism. Those quick actions have lasted millennia. Imagine then, the Shofar teaches, what the impact would have been had Abraham thought it through or the Israelites had waited.
The Shofar, by means of Abraham and the golden calf, teaches us about welcoming all Jews and it teaches us to consider the consequences. It also teaches us about religious behavior. When Abraham followed God’s command to take Isaac to the mountain, he was acting as a fundamentalist. He heard the command and he followed it literally. He didn’t ask questions or offer alternative interpretations of his vision. He didn’t share the vision with anyone else and try to find out if he was crazy for wanting to follow through on such a command. He thought God told him to sacrifice Isaac and he was going to sacrifice Isaac. That is a sure sign of a fundamentalist.
The people of Israel on the other hand had a wanton disregard for Moses and God’s commandment. The important factor for their consideration was getting out of the desert and into the Promised Land. Sure God and Moses had a plan as to how to achieve that goal, but the people had another idea. The commandments they just heard 40 days before – including thou shalt not worship idols – were irrelevant now that Moses wasn’t there. They still had to get to the land of Israel. Even though the commandments would structure their lives so that they would appreciate the land better, the people transgressed and fashioned the golden calf.
Abraham and the Israelites teach us then about the awful consequences of these extreme religious behaviors. Fundamentalism, at least with Abraham, led to attempted murder. And transgressing the commandments led to serious punishment. Neither approach is acceptable. The world has seen the awful result of the actions of religious fundamentalists. So called fundamentalists blow themselves up in the name of some religious ideal and many of the faithful praise them as saints. In the Torah, when one man acted in such a manner – the priest Pinchas – God taught us a lesson. Pinchas using a spear, killed an Israelite who was sinning and God established a covenant of peace with Pinchas’ descendents. The letter vav in the word shalom is written in a broken manner in all Torah scrolls. The vav looks like a spear and the broken vav reminds us that we need to stop violence in the name of religion. Fundamentalism in general is not the appropriate way to act.
But neither is it appropriate to completely disregard the laws. Laws help guide our lives. They educate us as to how to structure society and they help us be compassionate toward one another. Disregarding laws for the sake of a short term, selfish goal is wrong.
What the Shofar then teaches us is to follow a middle path. We need to listen to God’s word, but we need time to digest it and consider it. God wants us to search for God in the world. God wants us to be aware of the divine presence around us. God wants us to find spirituality in everything we do. But God doesn’t want us to act blindly. God doesn’t want us to take the word literally. When we hear God’s word we automatically transform the word into human language. We take something from God and transform it into language we understand. That process could immediately lead to mistranslation and error. It is in fact wrong to just listen and do without considering and interpreting. God’s language is different from human language and we need to be able to work at the language and figure out what the real message is. If it takes time to figure out what our dreams mean, how much more so would it take time to figure out what God wants from us?
These then are some of the lessons we learn when we see and hear the Shofar. The rabbis were brilliant in deriving this duality – this message of extremes. The compelling figure of Abraham and the dramatic transgression of the Israelites unite in the Shofar. Together they teach us to be open to all Jews and ensure that we do everything we can to make our shul a welcoming place. Together they teach us to carefully consider our actions so that every decision we make will be to our benefit and the benefit of those we love. And together they teach us to balance our religious behavior – to recognize that fundamentalism is just as horrendous as sinning.
Let us pray then that when we hear the Shofar that we will be motivated to true and righteous living and that this year will be one of blessing and health. Amen.
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