Our Goofy Looking Instrument

Photo from ReformJudaism.org

What a goofy looking instrument. In the Reform Movement generally and at Woodlands specifically, we have modernized so many parts of our Jewish experience. We have projector screens in our sanctuary, we include egalitarianism and modern notions of science in our prayers, we have an electric ner tamid, we play acoustic guitars with plug-ins to a sound system…but we still use a ram’s horn to announce the beginning of the year. Wouldn’t a trumpet or bugle provide a cleaner, crisper sound? Why do we use this awkward, rough, imperfect piece instead of a modern instrument?

Sure, there’s the biblical tie in to the ram Abraham sacrificed in Isaac’s stead on Mount Moriah, but I think it’s more than that. We come to expect a rough and imperfect sound out of the shofar. It is jarring, and it awakens us. We appreciate and are in awe of any sound that someone gets out of that thing, but how powerful the symbolism when someone makes a stunning, melodic sound ring out from such a twisty, rough, and unexpected place?

Just like the shofar, we have our own rough, unpolished edges. We can seem out of place and awkward, but we have the potential. When we prepare and execute in just the right, we can make music.

This was the introduction to the Shofar service for the second day of Rosh HaShanah.