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COLLECTION.
You Make Me Wanna Shout
Should we be screaming to God instead of blowing the shofar
on Rosh Hashanah?
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Tender C harge Way!
Q: I just heard the best news you
can possibly imagine — that The
Pelvis himself is Jewish! Now this
has nothing to do with the fact that
he regularly wore a Magen David; I
already know he had both a star and
a cross because he didn't want to
be refused entry to heaven "on a
technicality."
What I'm talking about is the fact
that Elvis' mother's real maiden
name was Mandel. Tell Me Why, I
can't wait to have the good news
confirmed!
A: Sorry, pal, but you're going
to be singing the blues when
you hear the news.
What you're repeating is a
rumor that has been circulat-
ing for some time now, and
even appeared last May in an
article in the Jewish Chronicle
of London. But it was debunked
in a recent issue of the
Jerusalem Post, which went so
far AS to find some of Elvis' long-
lost cousins to check it out —
alas, discovering the singer's
mother's maiden name was in-
deed Smith, the whole family
was Smith, and nothing but
Smith.
That doesn't mean, however,
that a vital connection between
Elvis and the Jewish people
does not exist. When you're
next in the Middle East, be sure
to check out the Elvis Inn in
Neve Ilan, just off the highway
connecting Tel Aviv and Israel.
The 10-year-old museum was
built by Uri Yoeli, whose din-
er/shrine features more than
800 photos of "the King" in all
his glory, as well as movie
posters, napkins bearing his
likeness and other memorabil-
ia coveted by thinking men and
women everywhere. At the
front stands a huge statue
(fourth-largest of its kind in the
world) depicting Elvis in his
younger, and slimmer, days.
It's enough to make you want
to hop on a plane and get to Is-
rael this very moment, isn't it?
Pass those fried peanut-butter-
and-banana sandwiches.
Q: Before I get to the heart of the
matter, I would like to express my
admiration for your vast knowledge
and your devotion to detail. I sur-
mise that you must often spend
much time and effort to track down
the answers to some of the queries
that you receive. Keep up the good
work.
DAVID S ILVERMA N/MEDIA
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Lovin' him tender in Israel.
Now to the matter at hand: Re-
ferring to why we blow the shofar
on Rosh Hashanah. In the texts
Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1,
the key word in both places is
"teruah," which is the basis for the
obligation to hear the blast of the
shofar. We, of course, accept that
teruah means the hundred sounds
we are expected to hear on both
days of Rosh Hashanah.
The Karaites do not blow the
shofar on Rosh Hashanah, which
they celebrate for only one day, be-
cause they interpret teruah as a
shout. And so, on Rosh Hashanah,
they proceed to shout to the Lord.
While Rabbinate Jews do not
question the interpretation of teru-
ah, from a purely etymological
point, the Karaites have a strong
case. Whenever the word teruah or
variations thereof appear in the
Bible (as in Psalm 100), the word is
interpreted as "shout."
In the texts of Leviticus and Num-
bers the word teruah is translated
by Onkelos as "loud weeping."
I consider myself an observant
Jew and make sure to hear the 100
blasts of the shofar on each day of
Rosh Hashanah. But I also am in-
trigued by the linguistic implica-
tions of the word teruah. What is
your opinion?
From reader S.R. in West Palm
Beach, Fla.
A: Readers like you — in-
sightful, thoughtful, brilliant and
no doubt remarkable in every
other way (and this has nothing
to with your first paragraph, of
course) — are what make this
job worth the effort. Now on to
your interesting question.
I cannot claim to be an expert
in Hebrew linguistics, but my
reading of the Tanach, from
strictly a textual point of view,
does not yield the interpreta-
tion of "teruah" you and the
Karaites see.
As you cited, teruah appears
in the Torah in Leviticus 23:24
and Numbers 29:1 regarding
Rosh Hashanah, and the word
may be open to interpretation.
In Leviticus 25:9, however,
the text states: Ve-ha'avarta
shofar teruah ("You shall make
a shofar teruah"). It seems ob-
vious that the Torah is not
talking about the shout of a
human voice, but a blast from
the shofar.
In Numbers 10:2, God com-
mands Moshe to make two sil-
ver trumpets. In verse 5,
regarding the trumpets, God
says Utekatem teruah ("And
when you sound a teruah").
Clearly here the reference is
not to the human voice mak-
ing the sound, but to the trum-
pets.
True enough, Psalm 100
states, "Shout (hariu) unto the
Lord, all the earth," which
could be interpreted as a hu-
man shout. But look at Psalm
98, verse 6: Ba'chatzotzrot ve-
kol shofar hariu lifnei ha-
("With
melech hashern
trumpets and the sound of the
shofar shout ye before the
Lord"). The same word, hariu,
is used, but clearly, it refers to
the shofar, not the human
voice.
I would say the Karaite case
is not so strong. Score another
one for the Rabbinate Jews.
Send questions to "Tell Me Why".
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