The Shofar of Defiance

As we blow shofar in synagogue every morning of this month, and anticipate the grand shofar blowing on Rosh HaShanah, I would like to remind people of various times in history when blowing the shofar could not be taken for granted and represented much more than the (albeit wonderful and significant) fulfilment of a legal requirement. Following is the account of Rabbi Moshe Segal who blew the shofar, illegally, at ...

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The Shofar

The central commandment of Rosh Hashanah, and the defining feature of this festival in the Torah is the shofar.  The first day of the seventh month shall be a sacred holiday to you when you may not do any mundane work.  It shall be a day of sounding the ram’s horn shofar. A hollowed-out ram’s horn is blown on Rosh Hashanah to produce sounds known as tekiah, shevarim, and truah, a long ...

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