Different ways of Hearing the Shofar
admin April 30th, 2008
Rabbi Greenberg’s Rosh HaShanah Sermon
Rabbi C. Michelle Greenberg
Temple Sinai / Denver
Rosh HaShanah
September 7, 2001 / 5763
Ways of Seeing
A Shofar sound heard differently by all of us
Each year the Shofar is blown to herald the New Year. With a piercing call it speaks to the whole community. It tells us to prepare for a new time, to review ourselves, to make plans for the coming year. It speaks to us in the languages that we speak.
Moses - hears it with a lisp
Moses did not want to be a prophet. As the voice of God, how could he inspire fear and awe with the lisp that had plagued him since . . . . Despite his pleas to be overlooked, God chose this flawed man to speak to the people. So, when the Shofar first blew at Sinai, Moses heard it sing with a lisp. To him, the true voice of God heralded great moments with the very language that Moses spoke. God and Moses spoke the same language.
Isaac - cannot see it and does not know when he will hear the blast
Isaac was blind. His sight diminished since the tears he sobbed at his father’s betrayal at Mount Moriah.
Hannah - hears nothing but the gasps as it vibrates in the air
We each hear the Shofar according to our language, our way of perceiving the world
Toledot
The holiness of Isaac and Abraham lies in their not seeing themselves according to their own eyes, rather, according to the merit of the other
How does it affect how we listen and hear the words our families speak to us?
Placing what is holy and separate in relationship
Are one in God’s holiness, but the honor accorded one another through naming shows the holiness each sees reflected in the other party
Each of us has a place, a special niche carved by our own strength and essence. Each of us has a place in which we find our special way.
The Baal Shem Tov explains elohei avraham, elohei yitzchak, elohei yaakov. For each of our ancestors there is a specific relationship with God different from that of the others. Each was set apart through the power of his own eetzel, solitude and essence.
We perceive the world differently. We see it through the lenses of our skills and shortcomings. The model of the Shofar is that each of us is deserving of language that we understand. In our classrooms, in our homes, we are obligated to find ways of speaking that encourage growth, not limit opportunity.
God speaks in every language. We too, must honor the unique spark of each person by learning to do so as well.
Itturay Torah, volume 1, page 204b
Itturay Torah, volume 1, page 87e