Should a Reform community blow the Shofar if Rosh Hashannah falls on Shabbat? 

Vocabulary used in this Answer:

• Halakhah – Jewish law
• Marit ayin – how it appears to the eye
• Mitzvot  – commandments  (singular:  mitzvah)
• Tshuvah  – change

Answer:

     This question raises a variety of very important issues. According to halakhah, traditional Jewish Law, a community does not blow the shofar if Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat. The issue here is the prohibition against carrying on Shabbat. Since we are not allowed to carry anything on Shabbat, then we cannot carry the shofar to the shul and thus we cannot sound the shofar. You might ask, why not leave it at the synagogue before Shabbat begins, and therefore we will not have to carry it? Good question. This raises a separate issue, a principle called marit ayin (how it appears to the eye) which teaches that even if something is allowed, but it might appear to the eye to be prohibited, we do not do this thing. This is so that nobody who sees us thinks we violated halakhah, or so that they do not become confused and suddenly think that traditional halakhah permits what we did.

    But that is all traditional halakhah. We progressive Jews observe halakhah differently. We know that every individual has a choice in what they observe, no matter how orthodox or liberal. Instead of believing that we are “supposed” to follow all the halakhah, and then feeling guilty when we do not, we turn things around. We discuss, struggle, and learn the halakhah, and then we decide what mitzvot (commandments) will be meaningful to us. We find the shofar meaningful on Rosh Hashanah. Its voice calls us to repentance, to introspection, to tshuvah (change). It elevates our soul and challenges our spirit.

    But, you might ask, how can we observe a mitzvah like sounding the shofar and not follow the prohibition against blowing it on Shabbat? I respond with a question: Does following one mitzvah obligate us to follow all mitzvot? Judaism is not a light switch we turn on or off. So if we chose to observe the mitzvah of sounding the Shofar, that does not obligate us to all the laws against carrying on Shabbat or the laws of marit ayin. Most of us already “violate” those halakhot anyway because we carry our purses, our keys, our wallets. If we enjoy praying at services, does that mean the only way we can come is to walk? Of course not. We choose which mitzvot to observe, and we choose how to observe them. These choices are based in our study, our learning, and our struggle together.

    As for marit ayin. Should we worry that someone might hear us sound the Shofar on Shabbat and they might become confused. Yes, we should be concerned. So we have a responsibility to explain progressive, liberal Reform Judaism, and tell other Jews that we sound the Shofar because our community finds meaning in this particular ritual. That we observe Judaism in a way that fits honestly with their modern life. We need to tell them that we practice what we believe, not what we think halakhah tells us to believe. Our children will look at us and ask us why we practice what we do. If we chose it, then we can answer honestly, and they will know how to make their own Jewish choices in the future. This is how we build a healthy, growing, and living Judaism for the future.

- Rabbi Michael Holzman

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