Sometimes, in a small Southern town, you might not hear the call of the shofar outside of High Holy Day services.
Other times, it becomes part of a musical moment of comedy.
Recently, in partnership with the Schusterman Visiting Artists Program, the ISJL brought dynamic Israeli musician Amir Gwirtzman, “a cultural ambassador of the Jewish State,” on several whirlwind tours in the Deep South. Amir delighted audiences of all ages and backgrounds wherever he went.
And in LaGrange, GA, his shofar-and-modern-horn-comedy-duet brought the house down. For those in the audience who might not have ever heard the sound of the shofar before, they now know it to be a versatile and hilarious instrument, as well as one with deep meaning, much like the community that hearkens to its sound.
Just another day in the Jewish South…
shofar
Pronounced: sho-FAR or SHO-far, Origin: Hebrew, a ram’s horn that is sounded during the month of Elul, on Rosh Hashanah, and on Yom Kippur. It is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, in reference to its ceremonial use in the Temple and to its function as a signal-horn of war.
