Making new year horn a blast for Hebrew students

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This article was published 23/09/2022 (1103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHILDREN are usually taught not to blow their own horn. But at the Shofar Factory, they are encouraged to do it.

That’s what a group of students from Brock Corydon school did a week ago at the Factory, located at the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Learning Centre in River Heights.

The students, who are part of the school’s Hebrew bilingual program, went to the Learning Centre to find out about shofars — the horn sounded during services at the start of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year — and make their own.

“It’s a way to connect students with their culture, traditions and religion,” said Lars Sigurdson, principal of Brock Corydon school, part of the Winnipeg School Division.

About 200 of the school’s 300 students are part of the Hebrew program, he said, adding that the school is not officially connected to the Learning Centre.

“We appreciate how it helps our students celebrate their Jewish culture through things like the Shofar Factory,” he said.

Lilia Shwaitser teaches Hebrew at Brock Corydon. She took four classes, about 80 students in total, to the Factory.

“It’s part of the learning in the Hebrew program,” she said. “We want to expose students to our Jewish traditions.”

Students worked together to fashion a shofar from a goat horn, and then got to try it out.

“It’s not easy,” said Shwaitser, who found she couldn’t get sound out of it. “But many of the students were able to blow it.”

In addition to making the shofar, students learned about its origins and meaning, as well as about Rosh Hashana.

Rabbi Boruch Heidingsfeld has been running the Shofar Factory at the centre for 20 years.

“They can be made from ram, goat or kudu horns,” he said, the latter being a type of antelope found in eastern and southern Africa.

He guides students through the process of sawing, drilling, sanding and polishing the horn to create a genuine kosher shofar.

He also teaches them how to sound the traditional sequence of notes that are used during the Rosh Hashana service.

“It’s not about the tone so much, as the length,” he said.

While making the shofar is fun, equally important for Heidingsfeld for students to learn more about what it means.

“The shofar is like an alarm clock,” he said. “It awakens our souls from slumber to focus on God.”

During Rosh Hashana, which begins Sunday at sundown and ends Tuesday evening, Jews pray for a new year of health and peace and resolve to live lives of good deeds, he said.

“The climax of the service is the sounding of the shofar,” he said. “Its stirring sound simulates the sound of a human cry of remorse and it is an awakening call to repentance.”

The shofar is traditionally blown in a synagogue during a new year service, but during the pandemic the Learning Centre started hosting Shofar in the Park — something it will continue to do this year.

“Lots of people found it easier and more comfortable to do,” he said, adding that information about Shofar in the Park can be found at www.chabadwinnipeg.org

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