A shofar is a ram’s horn that has a lot of history, dating back even to the time of Abraham. It can symbolize the cries of pain of the Jewish nation, the hope for the coming of the Messiah, or even a wakeup call to better oneself and traits.
Next Saturday night, the entire process of repentance in Elul and Tishrei will culminate in a single long, loud blow to end Yom Kippur as our fate is sealed until next year.
Every person thinks about and experiences different thoughts and emotions while listening. Here are some examples from students polled by The Boiling Point during Orientation Week. — Mati Hurwitz, Torah Editor
By Max Helfand, Staff Writer; Laly Chriki, 10th grade; and Alec Fields, 9th grade
Freshmen
Nicole Miles: “That everybody’s sicknesses will be healed.”
Miriam Arnan: “[It] awakens the fact that I am part of a Jewish nation which also gives me a second family to lean on.”
Dana Alkoby: “That my family is blessed with parnasa [financial health].”
Eli Hayman: “I feel on a different spiritual level.”
Jonah Kaye: “[That] Mashiach is coming soon.”
Leon Levy: “That I should atone for my sins.”
Sophomores
Jonah Gill: “I think about a time 2,500 years ago when that [sound] would unite all of the Jews, and how the Jews now need unifying”
Eric Bazak: “When I hear the shofar, I am always amazed by how this was one of the most ancient instruments in the world, and that we still use it today. I think the shofar is one of the most symbolic objects Judaism has today, and is a representation of our religions continuity throughout history”
Jake Benyowitz: “I think about what I did this year and what I can do to make my self a better person.”
Liana Tabaroki: “I ask for forgiveness, and feel a connection and leading path to G-d. I also think about hopes and wishes for the year.”
Juniors
Margo Feuer: “I think about Jewish freedom, Jewish heritage and the Jewish future. It reminds me of the many times the shofar was blown in the past thousands of years, in so many circumstances, and heard by so many people.”
Rachel Glouberman: “I don’t really know what I think when I hear it. I guess I think about our past. To tell you the truth though I also think about how long the guy blowing the shofar will blow tekiah gedolah for.”
Adam Kaufler: “When I hear the piercing sound, in a sense it clears everything from my mind as it gives me time for self-reflection. It’s all but too often that we get caught up in the motion of whatever we are doing, and I personally find the shofar blasts very powerful in their ability to make us to stop and think deeply.”
Tom Amzalag: “I think about how the sounds of the shofar are able to connect the Jewish People and God in a very unique way. I also think about how grateful I am for the things God has given me.”
Seniors
Danielle Lowe: “The shofar is used to as a calling to the Jewish people. I think this calling is different to each person because everyone is being called to do something different, whether it be to forgive, move forward, be kinder, or work harder. So when I hear the shofar, I think of my personal goals I’m being called to fulfill.”
Natalie Dahan: “I think about our history back then and it makes me proud to be Jewish.”
Paul Merritt: “I imagine the walls of Jericho crashing down.”
