klahr@csd2.UUCP (Phillip Klahr) (10/01/86)
ROSH HASHANA
________________
Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, triggers different types of
memories in different people. For most of us, our first recall is the sight
and sound of the blowing of the Shofar, the ram's horn. The echoes of the
piercing sounds of the Shofar, which is blown on this holiday, tend to
reverberate through one's consciousness with little difficulty. So much of the
holiday that tradition tells us is the Day of Judgement, the beginning of the
Ten Days of Repentance that culminate in Yom Kippur, seems to revolve around
the Shofar. The Torah refers to Rosh Hashana as Yom T'ruah, the "day of the
Shofar blowing", and many of the holiday's prayers make repeated reference to
the Shofar. Somehow, the Shofar seems to embody the essence of Rosh Hashana.
What is the symbolism of the Shofar?
One answer to this question is rooted in the pattern of notes that we
blow with the Shofar. A single continuous blast is followed by a series of
broken and quavering notes, which in turn is followed by another sustained
unbroken note. The complete notes at beginning and end represent the
"complete" sources we have strayed from and wish to return to. Rosh Hashana
is the time of the year designated for us to "look through the retroscope"
and review our actions of the previous year, recognizing where we have lapsed,
both in our relations with G-d as well as in our relations with each other.
But it is also the time for us to renew our connections to our past ideals and
values, those embodied by G-d's Torah and commandments, and rededicate
ourselves to them in the future.
The broken, quavering notes in the middle, which really form the heart
of the Shofar blowing, represent a breakinf off and away from every attachment
that estranges us from G-d, from each other, and from our true selves. They
symbolize a breaking away from every impediment that we have allowed the
ordinary course of life to place between the way we behave and the way we want
ourselves to behave. In a world we usually view as operating deterministic-
ally, with our actions inevitably shaped by causal mechanisms, the broken notes
of the shofar proclaim our ability and intent to effect deep reaching change
within ourselves.
But in addition, the plaintive cry of the Shofar manages to say other
things as well. If a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps there are
times when a sound can succinctly evoke what a thousand pictures cannot. The
cry of the ram's horn, produced by an amplification of a human breath via a
pure product of nature, expresses most genuinely what we cannot fully and
sincerely articulate with mere words. It expresses our recognition of our
own inadequacies, of our sense of isolation and distance from G-d, man, and
nature, of the internal and external fragmentation that we must constantly cope
with. It articulates our yearning to return to G-d, to awake from our
slumber and insensitivity and resolve to follow His commandments, and to
improve our actions in relation to other people and to G-d. It conveys our
acnkowledgement of G-d's sovereignty, our realization that G-d is judging us,
and our plea to G-d and to our fellow man to forgive us. As in the story of
the illiterate man who stood outside the synagogue, reciting the letters of the
alphabet and asking G-d to arrange the letters for him into the prayers he did
not know how to say, we ask G-d to help us in the just beginning year to
fulfill a little more of the vast potential we are all capable of. And when we
do this, G-d too renews His relationship with us and forgives us. May we all
have a meaningful Rosh Hashana,and be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good
year.
Tichleh shana v'killeloseha, tachel shana u'virchoseha
May a year and its curses come to an end, may a year and its blessings begin.
Pinchus Klahr {allegra, ihnp4, ...} ! cmcl2!csd2!klahr klahr@nyu-csd2.arpaklahr@csd2.UUCP (Phillip Klahr) (10/02/86)
ROSH HASHANA
________________
Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, triggers different types of
memories in different people. For most of us, our first recall is the sight
and sound of the blowing of the Shofar, the ram's horn. The echoes of the
piercing sounds of the Shofar, which is blown on this holiday, tend to
reverberate through one's consciousness with little difficulty. So much of the
holiday that tradition tells us is the Day of Judgement, the beginning of the
Ten Days of Repentance that culminate in Yom Kippur, seems to revolve around
the Shofar. The Torah refers to Rosh Hashana as Yom T'ruah, the "day of the
Shofar blowing", and many of the holiday's prayers make repeated reference to
the Shofar. Somehow, the Shofar seems to embody the essence of Rosh Hashana.
What is the symbolism of the Shofar?
One answer to this question is rooted in the pattern of notes that we
blow with the Shofar. A single continuous blast is followed by a series of
broken and quavering notes, which in turn is followed by another sustained
unbroken note. The complete notes at beginning and end represent the
"complete" sources we have strayed from and wish to return to. Rosh Hashana
is the time of the year designated for us to "look through the retroscope"
and review our actions of the previous year, recognizing where we have lapsed,
both in our relations with G-d as well as in our relations with each other.
But it is also the time for us to renew our connections to our past ideals and
values, those embodied by G-d's Torah and commandments, and rededicate
ourselves to them in the future.
The broken, quavering notes in the middle, which really form the heart
of the Shofar blowing, represent a breaking off and away from every attachment
that estranges us from G-d, from each other, and from our true selves. They
symbolize a breaking away from every impediment that we have allowed the
ordinary course of life to place between the way we behave and the way we want
ourselves to behave. In a world we usually view as operating deterministic-
ally, with our actions inevitably shaped by causal mechanisms, the broken notes
of the shofar proclaim our ability and intent to effect deep reaching change
within ourselves.
But in addition, the plaintive cry of the Shofar manages to say other
things as well. If a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps there are
times when a sound can succinctly evoke what a thousand pictures cannot. The
cry of the ram's horn, produced by an amplification of a human breath via a
pure product of nature, expresses most genuinely what we cannot fully and
sincerely articulate with mere words. It expresses our recognition of our
own inadequacies, of our sense of isolation and distance from G-d, man, and
nature, of the internal and external fragmentation that we must constantly cope
with. It articulates our yearning to return to G-d, to awake from our
slumber and insensitivity and resolve to follow His commandments, and to
improve our actions in relation to other people and to G-d. It conveys our
acnkowledgement of G-d's sovereignty, our realization that G-d is judging us,
and our plea to G-d and to our fellow man to forgive us. As in the story of
the illiterate man who stood outside the synagogue, reciting the letters of the
alphabet and asking G-d to arrange the letters for him into the prayers he did
not know how to say, we ask G-d to help us in the just beginning year to
fulfill a little more of the vast potential we are all capable of. And when we
do this, G-d too renews His relationship with us and forgives us. May we all
have a meaningful Rosh Hashana,and be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good
year.
Tichleh shana v'killeloseha, tachel shana u'virchoseha
May a year and its curses come to an end, may a year and its blessings begin.
Pinchus Klahr {allegra, ihnp4, ...} ! cmcl2!csd2!klahr klahr@nyu-csd2.arpa