An unexpected honor

As I was getting settled in my seat on the second day of Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year), one of our synagogue’s female clergy came up to me and asked if I would like to have an honor during the ritual blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn), namely, to call out one of the series of nine notes for the ba’al tekia (fellow blowing the shofar). This was apparently not the first time that women had been given this honor at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, but, due to health issues, I had not been in synagogue the last couple of years, so I was relatively unaware of it. Moments after I said “yes,” it began to sink in, and I thought “what in the world was I thinking? Can I really get up there and do this?”

By the time we reached that third set of shofar blasts to which I had been assigned, I was in position and, I suppose, as ready as I could be. But what I did not expect was just how emotional a moment it would become. The blowing of the shofar is a key component of the Rosh Hashana ritual and I was about to experience an honor that is only rarely offered to women in traditional synagogues. I am happy to say that I did manage to maintain my composure, and afterwards the two other women and I exchanged appropriate “high fives” and greetings before returning to our seats.

I can only hope that this bodes well for the coming year, that it will be one of many joyful opportunities and milestones for all of us.

Love,

Rebecca