Saturday, September 19, 1998

A musical celebration of faith

By LORETTA FULTON

Senior Staff Writer

The sounding of the shofar at Temple Mizpah Monday morning will mark the beginning of Rosh Hashanah for Jews, and it can have special significance for others within earshot.

"Hearing the shofar is a blessing, and whoever hears it will be blessed if they are descendants of Abraham," said Dave Bach, cantor at Temple Mizpah, 849 Chestnut.

Counted among the descendants of Abraham are Jews, Moslems, and Christians.

"If anything can unite the three great religions of the world -- Islam, Christianity, and Judaism -- it is the sound of the shofar," Bach said.

High Holy Days observances begin at Temple Mizpah at 8 p.m. Sunday, with Rabbi Sherman Stein and Bach presiding. An oneg yountiff will follow the service, courtesy of Temple Mizpah Women's Auxiliary.

The first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, will be observed at 9:30 a.m. Monday with Stein and Bach presiding. A catered lunch will follow and an evening service will begin at 8.

On Tuesday, the second-day service will begin at 10 a.m. The High Holy Days or Days of Awe will culminate on Sept. 29-30 with observance of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Even before the sounding of the shofar on Monday, Jewish families in Abilene will join others worldwide in marking the beginning of Rosh Hashanah on Sunday evening.

The traditional observance includes lighting candles during a festive meal of round challahs or egg bread, sweet wine, and apples dipped into honey. Also a blessing calling for a sweet and healthy New Year is recited.

Rosh Hashanah is seen as the time of judgment, and Jews ask to be "inscribed in the Book of Life."

At services, the recitation of sins and errors is both individual and communal, emphasizing the ultimate collective responsibility of the community to "repair" the world.

One of the most moving symbols used during the High Holy Days is the shofar, a ram's horn that calls upon Jews to acknowledge God's creativity and sovereignty.

The shofar is mentioned 69 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, or Old Testament.

"Not only was the ram's horn's shrill sound used to crumble the walls of Jericho, it was also used at coronations and during the 50-year Jubilee Year to commemorate liberation from slavery and freedom through the land," Bach said.

The shofar used at Temple Mizpah was a gift of Abe Allen, who purchased it on a trip to the Holy Land while he was serving as mayor pro tem of Abilene.

The sounding of the horn serves as a wake-up call or call to prayer, Bach said, quoting the 12th century philosopher Maimonides, "Wake up you sleepers from your slumber, examine your deeds, and above all remember your creator."

Bach explained that the shofar is sounded with three basic tones: a "shevorim" or a stacatto of a five short notes, "teruah," which is three wavering sounds, and "tekeah," which is one long sound ending in "gadola," which is even longer.

Whichever sound is produced, the effect on the listener can range from a "wake up call" to a sense of connectedness with the divine. The 13th century Jewish mystic Zohar said that blowing the shofar is "like a lover serenading his beloved: Isreal seeks to awaken divine love and link the higher and lower worlds."

The founder of the Chassidic movement, The Ba'al Shem Tov, told the following story to illustrate the shofar's significance.

"Once, a man who was blowing the shofar thought so hard about why he was blowing the shofar that he was overwhelmed and couldn't blow. Tears filled his eyes until, finally, a blast came forth. Said The Ba'al Shem Tov: Don't mind all the meanings. The main message is your tears."

Bach, the cantor at Temple Mizpah, understands full well what Shem Tov meant.

"If I missed it for one year, I'd feel cheated," Bach said. "It's just a wonderful feeling that goes through you -- it's like an audio type blessing in a musical form."

Bach traveled the world during his 30 years in the military, and although he never heard the shofar blown in Israel, he has heard the mystical sound in places far and near. His favorite is near.

"I kind of like it here in Abilene," he said.