Behind the Mitzvah - What is a Shofar?

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The shofar wakes us up and reminds us to think and to break free from habit and rote.

Stop sleepwalking through life.

Wake up to a better you.

A short video about the shofar.

Sleep is not only something that we do at night and in our bed. Many of us find ourselves sleepwalking through life. Have you ever arrived at a destination and you don't remember one moment of driving there? Have you finished a meal and you don't remember eating one morsel of food? So many activities we engage in each and every day.

We're creatures of habit. We're creatures of rote. The momentum is carrying us and we're living that same day over and over. Sleepwalking through life. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, we blow the shofar and the shofar is an alarm. It wakes us up. It stirs our soul. It says, wake up to a better you.

It's not only a new year. It's a new you. It's a new day. It's a new and fresh opportunity to grow, to make progress, to change, to be different, to realize who we are meant to be. Stop living the same year again and again, and calling it a life. To truly be alive, every day, every week, every month, every year, we grow, we change. The world is filled with invitations and opportunities to be a better us to make a bigger difference, to have better relationships with the people around us and with our Creator above. That shofar this Rosh Hashanah, as you hear it pierce not only your eardrums, but your heart and your soul is calling you to wake up, to embrace life and embrace a better you. The one who blows the shofar takes a deep breath in and pushes that air out in order to produce that sound that is the alarm to wake us up.

That breath that comes from inside ourselves reminds us on our birthday of being created Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, the anniversary of the creation of humanity. When God first breathed life into us. The Torah, the Bible, tells us that at creation, God took a deep breath and breathed into us.

He put a piece of Himself inside each and every one of us, we are an animal being. We have animal impulse, animal instinct, but we also have a godly soul. A חלק אלוק ממעל ממש.

We literally have a piece of breath of God in us. It gives us that sense of discipline and control. It gives us that drive for holiness, not just happiness. It inspires us to make the world a better and more elevated place. And when we hear that sound of the shofar from the one who produces it from the breath inside, we affirm: "God that piece of You is still inside me. As we celebrate our birthday, the anniversary of Your having created me. I'm still in it with You. I'm your partner. I'm waking up that alarm is working for me to be Your partner in making the world a better place." So this year I'm on Rosh Hashanah, when you hear the sound of the shofar, let it not only pierce and penetrate your ears, but let it enter your heart and your soul. Take a moment, as you hear its alarm sound to think about three things in life where you're a creature of habit, three ways that you are being carried by momentum, three areas of sleepwalking through life and affirm with the breath of the shofar that you are going to wake up.

How are you going to be a better husband or wife, mother, or father. How are you going to be a better friend to God and to people around you? In what way will you be more mindful while you eat and sleep and drive and live life. How will we study and challenge ourselves to leave our comfort zone? How will we volunteer to do chesed, acts of loving kindness for others?

Stop sleepwalking through life. Let the shofar wake you up. Not only to a new year, but to a new you.