Rabbi Shneur Silberberg explains the message of the shofar end instructs children on how to make their own. New Year Blast A bout 400 people participated in the Shofar Factory and pre- High Holiday fun Sept. 18 at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. Sunday school students par- ticipated in the morning, and the program was open to the public in the afternoon. Adults and children enjoyed learning about bees and honey from beekeeper Joel Letvin, how to inscribe their names in Hebrew Torah letters from Rabbi Levi Kagan, dipping apples in caramel and top- pings, designing honey dishes and seeing a fascinating exotic shofar display. But the highlight was when participants crafted their own shofars from genuine ram's horns. Rabbi Shneur Silberberg of Bais Chabad explained to the group that the blasts of the shofar are wake-up calls. "They resemble the sound of a baby's cry, as we are God's babies begging to be heard on the important day of judgment," he said. "Rosh Hashanah is the time to shake out of our spiritual slumber, recon- nect to our source and recommit to our divine mission in this world." Earlier in the week, the traveling Shofar Factory stopped at Hillel Day School and Temple Israel Hebrew School, where Silberberg and two yeshiva students from New York brought shofars, drills, a stuffed ram and shofar inspiration to more than 600 boys and girls and their parents. The Shofar Factory is sponsored by the Hyman and Sonya Blumenstein Outreach Division of Bais Chabad, the Sara and Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center, Shalom Street, the JCC's Charach Art Gallery and the Sherrill Berman Art Education Fund. 1 , 36 October 6 • 2011 Chabad Shofar Factory helps students learn about shofars and create their own. UMW Ai Scribe Rabbi Levi Kagan helps Ashton Spector, 4, of Farmington Hills, write his name in Hebrew, while his mother, Marci Spector looks on. Nisson Deitsch of Brooklyn, helps Temple Kol Ami Hebrew School students Jacob Cassel, 9, of Commerce and Maya Keen, 8, of Farmington Hills make their shofars. mho ALMV.adk Amira Skoczylas of West Bloomfield helps her grandson Aaron Skoczylas, 2, of Southfield with an apple-shaped honey dish project. Ethan and Lisa Gilan of West Bloomfield watch their children, Eden, 11, and Jonah, 9, J.J. Jacobs, 6, of Southfield, takes a bite of a sprinkle-coated apple. make candy apples with the help of volunteer Molly Shomer of West Bloomfield.