{"id":77011,"date":"2020-07-06T22:22:38","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T19:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77011"},"modified":"2020-07-06T22:22:38","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T19:22:38","slug":"is-the-shofar-the-voice-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/is-the-shofar-the-voice-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Shofar The Voice Of God?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"77011","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"516","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A sound that resonates in our souls\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beginning at Mount Sinai on the threshold of receiving the Ten Commandments, the shofar has been used to announce the new moon and the jubilee year, to signify the start of battle and celebrate victory, to anoint kings and install new Israeli presidents, and of course, to stir us to repentance on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as we pray for inscription in the book of life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What makes the shofar so significant to Jews and so emotionally stirring that hearing it can lead us to repentance? As a musical instrument it doesn\u2019t have the harmonious sounds of a violin. There are no lyrics that emanate from a shofar like beautiful poetry. And yet, while a passer-by might hear a cacophonous noise coming from a synagogue, as Jews, that singular sound of a shofar blast makes us stand still and silent, speaks to our inner core and deepens our prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an article by Dr. Gila Flam (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), she reviewed a 1919 paper authored by psychoanalyst and anthropologist Theodor Reik, entitled \u201cThe Shofar\u201d. In it, Reik postulated that the sound of the shofar \u201cwas no less than the voice of God.\u201d In support of his argument, Reik points to the story from Exodus when \u201cthe voice of the shofar sounded louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kol<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) (Exodus 19:19).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kol shofar<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 the voice of the shofar \u2013 was also present along with thunder and lightning in Exodus 19:16. In Exodus 20:15 we read that all the people heard <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><\/i><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kol hashofar<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 the voice of the shofar\u201d and asked Moses, \u201cYou speak to us, but let not God speak to us\u201d, because the sound of God\u2019s voice was overwhelming. And finally, in Exodus 20:19, God says to Moses, \u201cI spoke to you from the heavens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The shofar as the voice of God is reiterated in a pivotal moment in Joel Chapter 2. God\u2019s call for repentance through the words \u201cBlow the shofar in Zion\u201d (2:1 and 15), bookend the words \u201cThe LORD gave His voice (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kolo<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) to His army (2:11).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the reason that the shofar stirs us is embedded in our collective memory of God speaking to us. In the blessing over the shofar we\u2019re not commanded to blow it, but to hear the voice (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lishmo\u2019a kol<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), to internalize it, and let it resonate in our souls.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":48588,"id":48588,"title":"num29-shofarot","filename":"num29-shofarot.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num29-shofarot.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-two-shofars\/num29-shofarot\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"num29-shofarot","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":48569,"date":"2019-01-31 15:12:08","modified":"2023-06-22 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