Why "Shofar"?
Why did we choose the name "Shofar" for our newsletter and journal?
The shofar (pronounced show-FAR) is a hollowed-out ram’s horn which is blown like a trumpet during the Jewish High Holy Days, beginning with the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah and culminating on Yom Kippur.
The shofar blast calls us to return to the path of righteousness. Or as the prophet Isaiah reminds us, in a traditional reading at the height of the Yom Kippur service:
"Raise your voice like a trumpet ... to loose the chains of injustice ...
to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer
with shelter ... to clothe the naked ..." (Isaiah 58:1-7)
We have chosen the name Shofar because it symbolizes the traditional Jewish commitment to justice. May we be worthy of the name.
—Larry Goldbaum, editor
Director of the Office of Jewish Affairs
February 1998
