Spirituality DROP-IN WORKSHOP A 2.5" I TORAH PORTION JUST $5 PER PERSON! SMALL ART your art goes `A here Create works of art like Artist Trading Cards or Yom Kippur Shofar your own wine label. Sun., Sept. 27 1-4 PM Shabbat Shuvah, Parshat Ha'azinu: Deuteronomy 32:1-52; Hosea 14:2-10, Michah 7:18-20, Joel 2:15-27. • no reservations needed • appropriate for all ages • not just for kids! Efrat, Israel • spend 30 minutes or more to complete your project A BBArtCenter.org Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center 248.644.0866 1516 S. Cranbrook Road Birmingham 48009 1 rosa4 'Fun your old GOLD into CASH! We will buy ALL of your precious metals, diamonds & watches. Come see us Today. 1 . \I I I \III(•Pd. III II] , 1;11 1.1 I '1.1 (218) 855-173() 1.1111111114 1 41 :\ 11111 i1',. 111 Powerwashing • Patios • Exteriors • Drives Walks • Pavers • Pools • Boats $50 off INCREDIBLE FALL SPECIAL! Deck Cleaning Staining/Sealing Free Estimates 248-895-0978 Quality, Maintenance & Protection • Satisfaction Guaranteed • Owner Operated 44 September 24 • 2009 jN primal shofar sounds provides a pow- erful message: God is King not only ccording to its biblical of Israel, but also of the entire world description, Rosh Hashanah — and this causes me to shout exul- is "... the day of the sound- tantly with the knowledge that there ing of the shofar" (Numbers is an architect to creation, 29:1). that life is not "... a tale However, the shofar is not told by an idiot, filled with exclusive to Rosh Hashanah sound and fury, signifying because Yom Kippur, the nothing." Day of Atonement and But if God is truly King, Forgiveness, also includes then He rightfully holds us shofar blasts, which follow mortals accountable. Hence, the poignant Neilah (dos- we express sighs and sobs ing) prayer, dramatically at our individual failings. Rabbi Shlomo announcing the conclusion Nevertheless, we conclude Ris kin of the fast. with an exultant shout, since Specia I to the What is the biblical basis repentance holds out the Jewis h News — if any — for the shofar possibility of forgiveness, sound on Yom Kippur and reconstruction and repair. how does it differ from the shofar sounds on Rosh Hashanah? On Yom Kippur Let us first explore the significance Now we can begin to see the differ- of the Rosh Hashanah shofar. The sages ence between Rosh Hashanah and of the Talmud teach that the biblical Yom Kippur. ... day of the sounding of the shofar" The shofar blast on Yom Kippur is refers to the straight (tekiyah), broken derived from the straight and exultant (shevarim, teruah) and straight ram's tekiyah of Yom Kippur on the Jubilee horn blasts linked to the Musaf Amidah year, the majestic declaration of "free- (the additional standing prayer). dom throughout the land;' the glori- Indeed, the initial custom was to ous announcement of redemption. sound the shofar even during the silent This is proper for Yom Kippur, the Amidah — the common practice in day when God promises — and guar- most Sephardic and chasidic syna- antees — forgiveness and purification gogues, but considered too confusing after five prayers in which we affirm for most Ashkenazic synagogues. (and request) that our Temple be a Logic would dictate that if the shofar house of prayer for all nations. blasts are not considered an "interrup- And even though the Yom Kippur tion" of the Amidah, they must be seen blast nowadays is only a rabbinical as an integral part of the prayer. reminder of the Jubilee, every tradi- Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik, based tional Jew awaits the final shofar blast upon the rulings of Maimonides and by God with its inherent vision of uni- the explication of Rav Haim Brisker, versal Divine revelation — when "He explains the true significance of the will enable us to hear again before the shofar sounds as prayer by means of eyes of all living beings" the redemp- sounds. tive shofar call of God to the entire We pray with words — the ver- world in the days of the Messiah. ❑ bal formulations of God's kingship (Malkhuyot), God's remembrances Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr Torah (Zikhronot) and God's rams' horn Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel. blasts (Shofarot). And we pray with sounds — the exultant, victorious Conversations tekiyah shout, the sighing and sob- What significance does the bing shevarim-teruah cries and the shofar blast have for you, both concluding exultant, victorious tekiyah on Rosh Hashanah and Yom once again for added, final emphasis. Kippur? Will you think of it The experience of the crafted verbal differently now? formulation interconnected with the