Long ago there was a young man traveling from village to village. There was a day when this young man had arrived in a particular village, not far from his own. The village had a watchtower, high up above the other buildings, and a watchman who sat and waited, looking here and there at all times. If the watchman ever saw smoke or a fire, he immediately sounded the alarm by blowing into his horn.
Just as the young man approached this particular village a horn sound throughout the town – a fire had begun in one of the village homes! The horn sounded from the watchtower and the fire was put out. The young man was fascinated, what a great solution! He was going to bring this back to his own village!
The next day, the young man headed back to his own village with a new horn in hand. He called all the villagers together and told them to no longer fear the fire, for he had a solution. The young man set fire to a small hut near the crowd, and as the fire spread he told the people not to be alarmed. He raised his horn and blew into it with all his might. But the fire did not cease, and the fire began to spread. He yelled, “Wait, wait, the fire will be out soon,” and he blew into his horn once more with every breath. The villagers began to curse him, calling him a fool! They cried to him, “Did you expect that the blowing of a horn would put out the fire?
The horn is only the alarm to wake the people, to tell them to take a break, to call them together and put them to work to put out the fire! The horn is a wake-up call!”
The shofar will sound this Rosh HaShanah, as it does every year as our call to wake up — to enjoy the New Year, to better ourselves, and to better the world.
Join Temple Emanu-El for all our services and events this Rosh HaShanah and High Holy Day season. Hear the sound of the shofar and awaken your soul!
In the words of Psalm 57:9 “Awake, O my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn.” May we all come together in joy and leave with a fullness of heart and soul.
September 14, 2017 A Message from Cantor Adesnik
Many of you know I have been experiencing laryngitis in recent weeks. Thankfully it is just the result of allergies and sinuses, which is being treated aggressively. I am so pleased to welcome my good friend, Cantor Barbara Margulis who will join me and the rest of our clergy team on the over the chagim, so I can continue healing towards an expected full recovery. I cannot thank you enough for your kind words of concern and thoughts of healing. I am very humbled and grateful to be your Cantor.
For those of you who are moving through sickness and healing, I would like to share this poem with you, by Maya Angelou. May you find strength, courage, hope and healing from these words:
Father, Mother, God,
Thank you for your presence
during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.
Thank you for your presence
during the bright and sunny days,
for then we can share that which we have
with those who have less.
And thank you for your presence
during the Holy Days, for then we are able
to celebrate you and our families
and our friends.
For those who have no voice,
we ask you to speak.
For those who feel unworthy,
we ask you to pour your love out
in waterfalls of tenderness.
For those who live in pain,
we ask you to bathe them
in the river of your healing.
For those who are lonely, we ask
you to keep them company.
For those who are depressed,
we ask you to shower upon them
the light of hope.
Dear Creator, You, the borderless
sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the
world that which we need most — Peace.
~ Maya Angelou, “Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer”
