10/7 – The Shofar Blasts Came Early This Year

During the Days of Awe, the blasts of the shofar are meant to awaken our slumbering soul. As Maimonides writes:

In the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashana, there is an allusion, as though saying: Awake you sleepers from your sleep, and slumberers arise from your slumbering…All who forget the truth in the follies of the times and err the whole year in vanity and emptiness that cannot benefit or save, look to your souls, improve your ways… -Rambam, Hilkhot Teshuvah 3:4

But on October 8th of last year, when the Jewish people experienced our worst massacre since the Holocaust and people began to blame us for being tortured, raped and murdered, Jews around the world were awakened from our sleep. We were roused from our slumber.

Like dreamers, we had been tranquilly coasting these last several decades in the U.S. Antisemitism wasn’t totally gone, but it wasn’t terribly disruptive. It was a hate on the back burner, one that we could live with, as we enjoyed a remarkably safe and prosperous snapshot in time.

October 8th changed all that. Every minority group had had their moment in recent years where hashtags came out and profile pictures were swapped to commemorate an atrocity.

The world stood in solidarity with each group as they mourned their tragedy. October 7th was magnitudes more violent, barbaric and affected so many more people than any of these recent tragedies combined, yet right away, enemies of the Jewish people began to rationalize and deny what was done to us.

We realized that our elders who had warned us about the oldest form of hatred were right. We cursed our naivety, believing that somehow, we were the one generation who got off Scot Free. While we were grateful for the allies who did step forward, what we did next was in our DNA, despite the vast majority of Jews not being very learned or observant.

As a nation, the Jewish people began re-engaging with traditions, praying more frequently and giving extra tzedaka. As the Rosh Hashana prayer Unesaneh Tokef spells out, the formula for reversing an evil decree is for the Jewish people to repent, pray and give extra charity.

On the Yom Kippur before October 7, there were major fights in Tel Aviv, as a prayer group, with separate seating was violently broken up. The country was on the brink of civil war due to fighting about judicial reforms and protests every night. Yet when October 7 struck, the division immediately dissolved.

In an instant we were like one man with one heart – the same unity we had as we stood at Mount Sinai, preparing to receive the Torah. The same unity we are reminded to increase each year on Tisha B’Av, as we mourn the destruction of our Temples and the exiles that followed.

Because the Jewish people have been awakened all year, engaged in unity, repentance, prayer and tzedaka like never before, when I heard the shofar blasts this Rosh Hashana, I did not tell myself to arise from my slumber. Instead this year I heard the shofar blasts that accompany Moshiach.

On that day a great shofar will be sounded, and those who are lost in the land of Assyria and those who are cast away in the land of Egypt shall come and bow down to God on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. –Isaiah 27:13

With each sound, I felt Hashem’s protection over our nation. I visualized our brave soldiers defeating our enemies, removing the weapons that make our people vulnerable. I saw the blasts opening up tunnels to free our hostages. And in the final blasts, I saw the beginning of our redemption.

No, I do not have prophecy. I simply used these moments to visualize the outcome we’ve been preparing for. If we’ve spent an entire year in Eseres Y’mei Teshuva mode, this time we’re in shouldn’t be more of the same. It is time we begin to ready ourselves for what could be next.

The shofar came early this year, and the Jewish people heard its call. Hashem, please herald in the shofar of our redemption next, speedily in our days.

If you found this content meaningful and want to help further our mission through our Keter, Makom, and Tikun branches, please consider becoming a Change Maker today.

Allison Josephs

Allison Josephs is the founder and executive director of Jew in the City has been involved in the field of Jewish Outreach for over twenty years and is the Partner in Torah mentor to actress Mayim Bialik. She was named one of NJOP’s Top Ten Jewish Influencers and one of the Jewish Week’s 36 under 36. Allison has been quoted or written about in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, People Magazine, NYPost, Daily News, TMZ, The Daily Beast, and Hollywood Reporter. She has appeared on numerous television and radio networks including CBS, ABC, Fox5, TLC, Associate Press TV, and NPR; her articles have appeared in publications including The Washington Post, JTA, Jewish Week, Jerusalem Post, The Forward, and Kveller. Pearson Education, the largest textbook company in the world, produced a video segment on Allison’s life for the Judaism chapter of their textbook. She is a sought-after international lecturer whose corporate clients include Con-Edison and NYU Langone and hosts a weekly podcast on the Nachum Segal Network. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in Philosophy and lives with her husband and four children minutes from the George Washington Bridge.