Rabbi Sandra Bellush: Sounds of the New Year

Rabbi Sandra Bellush.

Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish year. One of the highlights of the Rosh Hashanah worship service is the sounding of the shofar, a ram’s horn. It is a primitive and visceral sound that many explain as a “wake-up call.” Jewish tradition teaches us that the sound of the shofar wakes us up to the need and possibility of spiritual growth and the ability to make our world a better place.
In ancient times the shofar was sounded at the coronation of a new king and heralded the new moon. In biblical times the shofar was an instrument that signaled war. One midrash (early rabbinic commentary on Hebrew Scripture) explains that on the morning that God was to reveal Torah (the Five Books of Moses), all of the Israelites overslept. From this perspective, the sound of the shofar was truly a wake-up call for the Jewish people.
In another midrash, this one on the story of the binding of Isaac in the Book of Genesis, Abraham asks God to show mercy on the children of Israel in repayment for Abraham’s absolute faith in his willingness to sacrifice Isaac. God agrees and gives Abraham the shofar as a symbol of forgiveness. According to the midrash, at Rosh Hashanah the children of Isaac must sound the horn to remind God of God’s promise of forgiveness. So, from this perspective, the sound of the shofar is a call to God. It is a call that we are here and in need of God’s presence. With God in our lives we can do the hard work of making our world a place of justice and equality.
The blowing of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah awakens us to the beginning of the Yamim Nora’im, The Days of Awe, which are the 10 holiest days in the Jewish calendar, and conclude with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. During the 10 days, we engage in an honest, self-assessment of the year that has just passed. The process is called cheshbon hanefesh, which means “an accounting of the soul.” From this perspective at Rosh Hashana, the shofar awakens us to a time of reflection and introspection. This time of accounting allows us to acknowledge and apologize to those we’ve hurt or disappointed during the past year.
When we hear the sound of the shofar may we be reminded that our minds and hearts seek peace and well being for ourselves, our loved ones, our spiritual community, and the larger community of which we are a part. May this New Year of 5779 bring a more caring and peaceful world for all of us.