Just a little over five hundred years ago, the
Spanish Inquisition was raging. Torquemada,
the grand inquisitor, was rounding up hundreds of Jews and burning
their bodies in order to save their souls. Many Jews continued their
Jewish practices in secret, in closed rooms, and in damp cellars.
Though they longed to be in the synagogue to hear the somber
blasts of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, they
knew that it would be impossible because the agents of the hated
Torquemada were everywhere, and any display of Jewish custom
or ritual could betray family and friends. The Jews of 1492 Spain
knew that they could not fulfill the sacred commandment to hear
the shofar.
But then a rumor began to spread in the street: ÒShhh, keep it to
yourself.Ó It was in the city of Barcelona that word began to spread
of a special concert to be given to Spanish royalty and church
officials. Jews bristled at the thought of spending Rosh Hashanah
eve, one of the most sacred days of the year, in the Royal Concert
Hall, but it was also an opportunity to pretend to their tormentors
that no ties remained to the despised religion, Judaism.
An undercurrent, a whisper went around, ÒJust go, you won't
be sorry.Ó The hall was filled to capacity and there were huge
crowds outside. Spanish royalty believed that the full house was
due to the prominence of the composer, Don Fernando Aguilar.
Don Fernando, himself a secret Jew, had announced that on Rosh
Hashanah eve he would present a concert featuring instrumental
music of various peoples. The compositions were many and the
instruments unusual. At the crescendo of one very moving piece
came shofar sounds, in full keeping with Jewish tradition.
None of the dignitaries was aware of the significance of the
shofar sounds to their Jewish compatriots. All the royalty and the
leading figures of the inquisition were presentÑthey all heard, and
saw, but they understood nothing. They could not sense the hidden
emotion that electrified the air all around them. Do you wonder
why these Jews imperiled their lives to hear this call that we can
listen to in this land of freedom?
There have been other times in Jewish history when Jews risked
death to hear the sound of the shofar. Among the many things that
it has come to signify, it is a reminder of the indomitable spirit that
struggles to survive all attempts at subjugation and repression. But
there is more to the call of the shofar than just a reminder of the will
to survive in a hostile world.
When the shofar sounds, I have listened and I have heard the
echoes of our lives. The shofar has spoken to Jews across the span
of time and the bridge of years. In the shofar's blasts I have heard
the voice of childhood, the dialogue of youth, the wisdom of
adulthood, and the sagacity of old age. The shofar is a call to life; it
sounds the clarion call of hope.
Rabbi Stephen S. Pearce, Ph.D
Worship & Spirituality 