(Haaretz) — If any business qualifies as seasonal, it would have to be shofar sales. Just ask Eli Ribak, whose family has been in the business of producing and selling these traditional instruments made from animal horns for three generations. “It’s a madhouse these days,” he says, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. Eleven…
There are those sounds, that when heard, instantaneously rouse within us trenchant thoughts and emotions frequently relegated to the deepest recesses of our psyche. While sound affects us in many ways, its psychological effects are undeniably the most profound. According to Jean-Luc Nancy, the French philosopher, “Sonority is both time and meaning.” Like no other…
There are those sounds, that when heard, instantaneously rouse within us trenchant thoughts and emotions frequently relegated to the deepest recesses of our psyche. While sound affects us in many ways, its psychological effects are undeniably the most profound. According to Jean-Luc Nancy, the French philosopher, “Sonority is both time and meaning.” Like no other…
Why does it begin with a shofar call? Once you compare the famous, startling first three notes of Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” score with a real shofar sounding “Tekiah g’dolah,” as I did in 1996 to demonstrate this point on WNYC, the resemblance is undeniable. Once you notice it, this shofar theme is woven…
The students at Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto are tooting their own horns now that it looks like they have broken the world record for the largest shofar ensemble. Last week, the school’s community gathered together to blow 1,406 shofars simultaneously, shattering the prior record of 796 set in Boston in 2006. The new record…
Israel’s shofar merchants consider it a low blow, but the country’s defense ministry isn’t backing down. Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported Friday that local shofar sellers are red in the face over a decision by the defense ministry to purchase 150 of the rams’ horns from suppliers in China and Morocco. Going abroad for the…
Dust off those rams’ horns and keep checking your Facebook updates and Twitter feeds. There’s going to be a worldwide shofar flash mob on September 18 and you are not going to want to miss it. Art Kibbutz NYC is hosting “the greatest Shofar-blowing event since Sinai” as a massive call for teshuvah during the…
Israel’s Channel 2 News reported yesterday that it’s not just the price of cottage cheese that is high in Israel. Many Israelis are boycotting and going without their favorite dairy food, but going without a spouse is another matter. Desperate single men and women are shelling out the big bucks — or, rather, Shekels. These…
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