4pi A Record Blast Susan Yackolow of Marblehead, Mass., joins the shofar- blowing crowd. Hundreds get out their shofrot and make some noise. AMY SESSLER POWELL Special to the Jewish News T he Jewish Federation of the North Shore Massachusetts blew 393 shofars to set a Guinness World Record for the most shofars blown in unison at the fourth annual Great Shofar Blowout last month. Drawing a crowd of more than 800, this year's blowout represented a celebra- tion of Jewish pride and community. Many of those attending the event were attracted to the opportunity to do something Jewish with the entire Jewish community. "It feels so wonderful to be among all these Jews," said Ronald Pressler of Amesbury, Mass. "This is a wonderful unifier." Ira Lerman of Beverly, Mass., said he was looking for a way to reconnect to the Jewish community and the shofar train- ing seemed like a good venue. "I was brought up in a very Orthodox environ- ment in Malden [Mass.], and I thought the people who blew the shofar must be so special. This was the chance of a life- time to catch up with my past." Getting Ready To prepare for the Great Shofar Blowout, the North Shore Jewish Federation offered several one-hour training sessions throughout the summer. Aug. 17 was selected because it was the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul, the day when Jews traditionally started to blow the shofar daily leading up to Rosh Hashanah. To satisfy the requirements for the Guinness World Record, the shofar blowers registered and then proceeded under police escort to the beach. To complete the requirement and secure the world record, the Federation will send Guinness the log sheets of the registrants, video, photo and print media coverage and letters from the authenti- cators" who acted as official witnesses to the process. But for many, the world record was secondary to the spiritual feel- ings ignited by the event. "When we were walking, I felt like we were leaving Egypt," said Amy Resnic of Swampscott, Mass. "My children were helping my dad, and I had a feeling of community and belonging that was so powerful." "There are people here from all over, from Israel and New Jersey and from all generations," said Marla Mindel, of Marblehead, Mass. Robert Miller and his son Jonathan, 15, drove from Englewood, N.J., when they heard about the event. "We had to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime event." Sam Poulton of Chelmsford, Mass., Photo by Stuart Garfield had just returned safely from a year in Iraq, where he and his son, both part of the Army Reserves, had been deployed. "Today is the first day of blowing the shofar for the season and last year I was not able to do it," he said. "Today, I blow the shofar in honor of all the soldiers overseas. May we have the same mazel as Yehoshua and blow down the walls of terrorism and hatred. Maybe if we are loud enough, it will happen." El Getting Better High Holidays compel a focus on self-reflection and improvement. SUSAN TAWIL Special to the Jewish News G 4314 9/17 2004. 78 reat people are "capable of great- ness," Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky told a lunch and learn audience of 100 in Southfield. The purpose of the rabbi's Sept. 9 talk was to inspire his audience with the confidence to change in light of the upcoming High Holidays. "Start taking steps in the right direction," he urged. "Keep working on yourself and get bet- ter. It's never too late!" Ohr Somayach Detroit, the local branch of an international adult educa- tion outreach organization, sponsored the talk at the Franklin Fitness Athletic Club. Rabbi Orlofsky, a native New Yorker, is a senior lecturer and instructor at the Ohr Somayach and Ohr LaGolah schools in Jerusalem. He was also scholar in residence at a West Bloomfield Shabbaton held at Congregation Keter Torah and Congregation Ohel Moed, in conjunction with Ohr Somayach Detroit, on Sept. 10 and 11. At the lunch and learn, Rabbi Orlofsky combined stories, jokes and serious talk to discuss Jews' ability to change for the better and the opportuni- ty afforded by the High Holidays to do so. The talk was titled "Inside Kreplach," a reference to the traditional wonton-like food eaten prior to the Yom Kippur fast. Just as the meat is hidden inside the dough pocket, a person's true value can be found inside, too. Rabbi Orlofsky's premise was that although Jews may have done bad things in the course of the previous year, the sins do not represent the real us. "If you think you're bad, nothing is demanded of you; you don't have to examine yourself or change," he said, explaining how people rationalize their resistance to self-improvement. The rabbi spoke about the Jewish tradition of tashlich, a ceremony per- formed on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, in which one's sins are sym- bolically cast away into a body of water. This act Rabbi Orlofiky: helping us find the real us allows us to begin the Aseret Driay Tshuvah (Ten Days of Repentance, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) with a clean slate. Rabbi Orlofsky noted that tshuvah is mistranslated as "repentance," which implies "penance," a Christian concept of suffering for one's sins. The Hebrew term tshuvah really means "return," a positive term indicating the need for us to return to our pure essence. Rabbi Orlofsky criticized excuses peo- ple use to exempt themselves from changing. "So if you can't be completely good, is it better to do nothing and be consistently bad?" he challenged. "We're not hypocritical; we're just inconsistent. Sometimes, we forget our priorities." Dr. Janet Snider, of Southfield, found the talk "inspiring and entertaining — a great way to start the new year." Harriet Drissman, of Farmington Hills, said: "I was learning all the time I was laughing; it was a painless way to get the ideas down. You don't have to do everything — just start!"