The shofar is once again reverberating through the late summer air as Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur quickly approach. It’s alarming and mystifying sounds are intended to wake us up from our spiritual ...

The shofar’s blast is more than a call; it’s a symbol of Israel’s resilience, unity, and hope, echoing through times of grief and awakening hearts for the future. The month of Elul has arrived. Each ...

(JTA) — Rabbi Janise Poticha had been blowing the shofar on her terrace every evening at 7 for five months when the daily ritual began to take on a new meaning. Her sister contracted COVID in August ...

We are God’s stake in human history, and we could not make a greater mistake than to believe that we could ever be a nation like other nations. To believe that is to commit spiritual suicide. When ...

The Torah urges us to return to God. One prominent term describes God’s hope that we, the Jewish People, will “lishmo’a b’kolo” (hearken to His voice; Deuteronomy 30:20). The word kol (voice) ...

This weekend marks the culmination of the Days of Awe, a time of intense soul-searching that began with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Jewish communities gather to listen to the trumpet-like ...

The celebrated first Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook (1865-1935) is recognized as being among the most important Jewish thinkers of all time. His writings reflect ...

We in Israel heard so many sirens this year, but now comes the clear and simple sound of the shofar. This is another annual siren- a positive and good one. Shofar - is derived from the word ...

Answer: Well, I don’t want to toot the shofar’s horn too much, James, but it really is pretty special. Allow me to explain. In your question you asked about why we don’t use a real trumpet, and I ...

Never before has Israel had such a high need for those schooled in the rarefied art of shofar blowing. The wail of the biblical shofar — made from the horn of a ram or a certain antelope species — is ...

For Janise Poticha, unable to be near her sister ill with COVID, the ritual became a symbol of life with biblical meaning. And she’s not sure when it will end. (JTA) — Rabbi Janise Poticha had been ...