THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509220259
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Rabbi Elliott Marmon puffs up his cheeks and blows hard into the long, marbled spiral of a polished gazelle's horn called a ``shofar.''
The low-pitched wail that ensues is a ``prayer without words,'' explains the rabbi of Temple Emanuel. ``It is a plea to God for a good year to come.''
The rabbi was tuning up Thursday in preparation for Rosh Hashana, the three-day Jewish New Year, which begins Sunday evening and extends through Tuesday.
Rosh Hashana heralds in a 10-day period of introspection for millions of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews worldwide - 20,000 in Hampton Roads alone - and leads up to Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement, Oct. 4.
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are the highest of Jewish holy days, and the only time when the sound of the shofar is heard. Though the instrument may be made from the horn of any kosher animal, most frequently a ram's horn is used. Jewish law allows practice on the instrument for a month prior to the high holy day.
The blowing of the shofar, which will take place in temples and synagogues, commemorates a biblical event recognized by Christians and Jews alike - the Old Testament account of the realization by Abraham that God does not want human sacrifice.
According to the Bible, Abraham was poised and ready to plunge a knife into the breast of his son Isaac in order to appease God, when he saw, nearby, a ram with its horns entangled in brush. Abraham took this as a sign from God.
When Abraham spared his son and sacrificed the ram, instead, it sealed a ``quid pro quo'' arrangement with God, explains Rabbi Marmon.
The wail of the shofar is a sound meant to ``express deep longings for a good year and a plea that we merit'' it, says Marmon.
``It is our conception that, during this time, God examines our deeds and decrees what is in store for the next year,'' the rabbi says. This personal introspection is important ``in an age when we humans can be depersonalized by numbers and machines can outdo us.''
Rosh Hashana is the day of judgment when Jews can have ``confidence that they are praying to a forgiving God. A time to do soul searching, make restitution'' and repent, says Marmon.
Special services will take place in temples and synagogues throughout Hampton Roads during the 10-day period, which links the two Jewish holidays. Readings from the Torah will focus, Monday, on the birth of Isaac and, Tuesday, on the account of his binding by Abraham.
Perhaps the most well-known of Jewish traditions - that of eating only kosher foods - also has its origins in the occasion of Abraham's vision, and, as a symbol of this, Jewish families will gather to share meals and participate in other traditional observances.
Rosh Hashana emphasizes ``the individual as opposed to the holidays that connect us to the past,'' says Marmon. ``It reminds us all that we are all unique,'' and speaks not only to ``frailties,'' but also ``the power of individuals to achieve.'' MEMO: Three synagogues are located in Virginia Beach: Temple Emanuel, 25th
Street and Baltic Avenue; Kehillat Bet Hamidrash, 952 Indian Lakes
Blvd.; and Congregation Beth Chaverim, which meets at Ascension Catholic
Church, 4853 Princess Anne Road.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by NANCY LEWIS
Rabbi Elliott Marmon tunes up on the shofar - in this case a
gazelle's horn - for Sunday evening's beginning of Rosh Hashana, the
Jewish New Year.
by CNB