The month of Elul has arrived. This week, my shofar came out of the closet. I dusted it off and checked my sounding skills. After a year they were shaky as I expected. As I return to the regularity of sounding the shofar each morning, I have faith that my lungs will once again strengthen and my lips become more secure in their placement.
Elul is considered to be the month for introspection and preparation as Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur draw near. The shofar calls on us each morning to penetrate the shadows of our lives in the search for truth and to practice t’shuvah (a return) to our best selves. On Rosh HaShanah 100 blasts continue the call to delve into our souls as we stand before our Maker. Rabbi Art Green says, ‘The shofar sound represents prayer beyond words, an intensity of longing that can be articulated only in a wordless shout…. “ (Seek My Face, p 169) The sound of the shofar is truly unique. The blasts operate on one single breath which comes from the depths of our bodies. The tekiah is strong, the shevarim a little uncertain and t’ruah, the fractured cry of brokenness. The final note of Rosh HaShanah is hopeful, the tekiah gedolah, an extra long, solid, and strong blast as if to say, we have dug deeply and we stand here, together renewed and in strength. The shofar calls us to awareness and action. The shofar calls on us to be strong.
Back in April, which seems like lifetimes ago, and sadly is many lives ago, the JGH News (Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Canada) spotlighted Cantor Henry Granek. Cantor Granek would arrive outside the hospital each afternoon and blow the shofar as an expression of gratitude to healthcare providers fighting the coronavirus. He said of his actions, “The sound of the shofar is a call to action, sometimes on a personal basis, but also collectively. That’s why I’m hoping that in addition to saying ‘Thank you’, it will inspire people to act during this time of crisis”. https://jghnews.ciussswestcentral.ca/tag/shofar/
It is now August, and Covid-19 is still messing with our lives. Gatherings are eliminated or at least limited and even if small groups gather, projecting the breath through the shofar may transmit infection. 2020 has been a year of traditions broken, community events shattered, and with it a lack of human touch. We have never, in our lifetimes, had to deal with something like Covid-19. We are learning, we hope to do better, and we continue to make positive progress toward finding the balance between pikuach nefesh (saving a life), economics and our dearly held traditions. We will find that balance, and each day this month, as the shofar is sounded, we are again called to examination and strength.
As we inch our way toward the High Holidays we concurrently read the book of D’varim (Deuteronomy) with Moshe recounting all that has happened since the burning bush. As the final act of his life, each day he draws on great Gvurah, heroic strength, to teach the people all they will need to know as they enter into the Promised Land. Rabbi Marc Margolius once taught “A middah (trait, gvurah is one example) is not an action; it represents a pool of sacred energy we identify within ourselves as a quality available to generate action fostering greater holiness or wholeness in this world.” (Seven Weeks Toward Wisdom, 2019). Moshe draws on this sacred energy up until the final moments of his life to prepare others for what he will not live to do.
We too may need to draw more deeply on gvurah this Elul. We have returned to our homes, our families, the simplicities of life. In many ways we have been reminded of what is truly important in life as the ability to continually run and obtain has been curtailed. We are rediscovering ourselves, building new traditions and making changes that perhaps we were unable to see or accept last winter. But the road has been and continues to look long. Many of us are tired.
The shofar calls to us to strength and t’shuvah, a return to our best selves. This year in addition to the ‘normal’ examinations that often accompany Elul, we move through each day with the additional weight of Covid. It is natural to be challenged by those things in our lives where we have historically struggled. We make mistakes and we can always do better. Likewise, it is natural to want to return to ‘normal life’ as soon as ‘normal’ is once again achievable. This year the shofar can also be a reminder that when the doors to the world reopen, we do not have to run through and forget about our new and beautiful pandemic rituals.
Perhaps though, what we need right now from the sound of the shofar is the feeling of strength. The strength to keep giving our all. To prepare for the High Holidays with the same vigor as each year, to enter our prayer community, whatever it may look like, with the same open hearts and souls. We may not stand in the same physical space this year, but we can stand together in our hearts and allow the sound of the shofar to penetrate the deepness of our souls. We can still wrap one another in socially distanced metaphorical arms. We can help strengthen our community and accept the strengthening that community provides.
However you hear the sounds of the shofar, remember that not even Covid-19 can stop the stirrings of our hearts for another year of tshuva, of joy, and of life. Like tekiah gedolah, may our lives in the coming year be long and strong. May we stand on the solid ground of thought and intention. God left us in charge of ourselves and the world, together let us hear the shofar as a call to be intentional about building our best world.
Leave us a comment – what does the shofar do for you?
Register today for “Preparing our Heart and Soul for the High Holidays.” https://rabbihannahestrin.com/on-line-courses/
Shanah Tovah