Teaching Team
It’s Elul, Shofar Up!
Today is Rosh Chodesh Elul and thus we begin the forty days before Yom Kippur. This is a time of solemn reflection and repentance. It’s a time to make right relationships that have gone astray and mend fences that have been broken. While forty days might seem like a long time to do this, we need all the time we can get for self introspection. It is even possible that today was when Messiah began his time of tempting in the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days.
One of the traditions for this month that helps keep the repentance theme in perspective is the custom to blow the shofar everyday after morning prayers (except on Shabbats). This continues for the full month of Elul. However, it is not blown on the last day before Rosh Hashanah. Since it is a mitzvah to blow and hear the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the Sages stated that it should not be blown on the day before to make Rosh Hashanah special.
This morning I decided to begin the month with a fresh blowing of a dusty shofar. The sound went all throughout the house as the shofar beckoned us to prepare for Yom Kippur--and to simply get out of bed.
If you are interested in buying a shofar I would like to give you a little advice about where to buy one. Years ago I met a man named Ya’akov Rice. When I was first introduced to him he did not look like your typical shofar blower/salesman. As I got to know him I could tell that he had a real love for the shofar and was one of the better guys to buy one from. You can always tell when he has his table set up at a conference, because except for Shabbat you’ll hear them blowing all day long. I encourage you to check out his website: ShofarsRus. He will work hard to get you the shofar that is right for you.
Search in Blogs...
Browse through Blogs
Feeds
Use this RSS feed to track our blogs in your favorite reader.
The FFOZ Blogs RSS Feed
Blogs by Category
- Back Office
- Events and Administration
- Founder’s Blog
- Guest Authors
- Lessons from the Land
- Levertoff Documentary
- Mishlei Musings
- Publications
- Road Trip 09
- Shalom Tour
- Teaching Team
- The Siddur Project
- Torah Club
- Video Blogs
- Site Info Blog
Blogs by Author
- Aaron Eby
- Boaz Michael
- D. Thomas Lancaster
- FFOZ Staff
- Guest Authors
- Media Staff
- Hope Egan
- Seth Dralle
- Toby Janicki
More Recent Posts
- Remembrance and Repentance
- Passover and the Death of James the Just
- Hosting Your First Passover Seder
- Devil's Children
- Vacation Time
- Visit Israel with FFOZ
- A KISS from me to you
- Eating biblically? Let's chew the fat.
- Kosher Sunday School
- Messer and the Messianic Mess
