* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
“What is the most important thing to do on Rosh Hashanah?” a teenage girl asked me at the end of a lecture.
“To hear the shofar, of course,” I told her. “That is the mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah.”
“Oh, we don’t need to do that,” she replied. “We already heard the shofar during the Selichot prayers at the Western Wall.”
I explained to her that hearing the shofar during Selichot is beautiful, but on Rosh Hashanah hearing the shofar is an obligation. Although the actual commandment written in the Torah is to blow the shofar, the rabbis formulated this as an obligation to hear the sound made when it’s blown. There is a special blessing recited before the shofar blasts and we then listen to the sounds of the shofar in complete silence.
And one more thing: This year, Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on Saturday and Sunday. The shofar is not blown on Shabbat. On Sunday, the shofar will be sounded during the morning and early afternoon hours in synagogues, parks, hospitals, apartment buildings, and wherever Jews are found throughout the world. In many places, the exact time when the shofar blowing begins is announced, so it is a good idea to check and find out in advance, or simply arrive at the beginning of the service.
The girl thanked me and said she would tell her parents too. She said she had thought that apples and honey were the main thing on Rosh Hashanah...
It is a small story, but a significant one: We are living in a time of a great thirst for knowledge, but sometimes the basic knowledge is missing.
So don’t be embarrassed to ask, and don’t be embarrassed to answer and share your knowledge with others.
