Shalom I am Rabi Jonathan Ginsburg, this video is about the Shofar, the ram’s horn. We are approaching and according this on the summer, we are approaching this as we got closer to the month of Elul which is the sixth month of the year according to the bible and that is preparing us for what the book of numbers calls Yom Truha and the book of Leviticus Vaikra calls Zechaonrtua. The day of the sounding of the Shofar, each day during the month of Elul, the Ashkanas of Jews from Europe blow here the Shofar and blow it every morning except the Sabbath, leading us or preparing us for Roshashana. On Roshashana it self both days, unless one is the Sabbath in which case we only blow it on a none Sabbath day. The shofar is sounded 100 times, there are three basic notes, let me just show you the different kind of Shofar wrote.
Ashkanas in Jews use a ram’s horn that looks like this, they come in all kinds of sizes , basically they have to be curved and by tradition the ram’s horn. Blow it obviously from this end and there are three notes but first I will show you a different kind. This is a more of the triadic tradition Yamanides which is also a ram’s horn and also just as good, it will make different notes. So, there is three notes, the short one there are nine Stuccado blast called Trua (Demo)sounds like that and with the Ashkanazik so far it sounds like this (Demo) and the middle note is called Shivarim, three middle size (Demo) and then Tekiya is the long blast (Demo). Then at the very end of the whole series, there is a really long one where they blow basically as long as they can so Shivarim, the middle one would be like this on the Ashkanazik Shofar (Demo ) and then the Tekiya (Demo) I am not a professional Shofar blower but you get the idea (Demo).
Now why do we blow it? It is associated clearly with the day, it is called the day of the blowing of the horn. Maimonides the great medieval Rabbi says the following, awake, awake sleepers from your sleep, slumbers arise you from your slumbers and examine your deeds return in repentance and remember your creator. Those of you who forgot the truth and the Folice of the time and go astray, the whole year in vanity and emptiness, which need a prophet nor save. Look to your souls and prove your ways and your works bend every one of you is evil course and thought that it is not good, So for Maimonides is to awake from my spiritual slumber.
A great Rabi who preceded him named Sa'adiah Gaon, one of the great leaders of Babylonian Jewelry had ten reasons for the Shofar. First he said it is an elegist to the trump of blast announcing the coronation of the king on the high holidays we call it the king of kings. It also on the first, it is sounded on the first days of the ten days of repentance between Roshashana and Yom Kippur, to store our conscience that is basically Maimonides said. Three, the Shofar is reminiscent of God revelation at Sinai in Exodus 20 and 19, it says that the Shofar sound louder and louder during the giving of the Ten Commandments. Four, he said it is reminiscent of the exhortation of the prophets to stir us. Five, it is reminiscent of the destruction of the temple and calls upon us to renew ourselves and freedom and fellowship with God.
Six, it is reminiscent of the ram caught in the horn and thinking of the Torah reading for Genesis 22 in place of Isaac so it reminds us of the heroic faith of our ancestors and to stir us to walk faith. Seven, to feel humble before Gods majesty and might. Eight, to remember the final judgment day. Nine, for shadowing the Jubilant proclamation of freedom, it will come at the end of time and Ten, it fore shadows the end of the present world order, the inauguration of God’s reign of righteousness. So those are some of the basic ideas of the Shofar, it is very powerful time during the Roshashana service. It is also blown in the series of the very end of Yom Kippur to conclude the ten days of penitence. So again just to take a look at the Shofar, so you can see kind of what they look like, different sizes, different colors and here again as the longer Aspartic Eminent one hope you enjoyed the presentation and we look forward to hearing the sound of the Shofar in the high holidays.
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