Reach out for the opportunity to hear the shofar at home!  Or request a shofar blowing tutorial to brush up on your skills to blow your own shofar!

The month of Elul is a time of preparation, a time of introspection and renewal. As the month begins, we begin the process of ḥeshbon hanefesh (literally, accounting of the soul; taking stock of oneself). This process is a personal one in which we are asked to look back on the year that is coming to a close, to look carefully at our lives, to re-evaluate and reexamine who and where we are, and to look forward to the ways in which the year that will soon begin can be different. It is also a time to seek to heal relationships, to offer overdue apologies and to repair the damage we have caused to others.

The journey of Elul is heralded by the sounding of the shofar (ram’s horn), which is sounded daily (except on Shabbat) throughout Elul in synagogues that have a daily morning service. The shofar can also be sounded at home. The shofar serves as a literal wake-up call to the work of t’shuva. The commandment is to hear the sound of the shofar, thereby underscoring the need to listen.

After last year’s successful launch of this project, we are again offering the opportunity to hear the shofar at home before sundown courtesy of a drive by shofar blower. If you are interested in arranging to hear the shofar blown near your home, please fill out this form.

If you want to volunteer to blow the shofar please contact Donald Fried-Tanzer at hr@bettorah.org. If you want to blow shofar but need assistance in perfecting your craft, private lessons can be arranged as well.