Are You Listening?

As we approach Rosh Hashana and anticipate the blowing of the shofar during prayers, I would like to present five different shofar soundings from our history. The sixth will be, G-d willing, the shofar that heralds the redemption and the Mashiach. Shofar During the Inquisition - Sefer HaTodaah, Rosh Hashanah, Eliyahu KiTov Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain, expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492. It was the ...

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For The Shofar Blows for Thee…

The month of Ellul just began this week, heralding in the period of prayer and repentance culminating in Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.  It is the custom of Ashkenazim to sound the shofar every weekday morning during this month, and the custom of Sephardim to say special Selichot prayers early every morning.  The central commandment of Rosh Hashanah, and the defining feature of this festival in the Torah is the ...

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Hope and Optimism

It is customary to add a Psalm to our prayers during the month preceding Rosh Hashanah.  The Psalm is Chapter 27 and is one of most beautiful prayers in the book of Psalms. “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, my enemies and my adversaries, ...

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The Month of Elul – Preparing for the High Holidays

We have just entered the month of Ellul, the month during which we prepare for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.  One of preparations is the addition of certain prayers to our daily service and also the daily sounding of the shofar.  According to Jewish tradition, before G-d created the first human being, a debate took place in the heavenly court. When the Holy One blessed Be He came to create man, ...

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