Rabbi's Section
Rabbi Rose
Rabbi David Rose was born in New Zealand where he obtained a BA in Political Science and History. He was the National Head of Bnei Akiva in New Zealand. He obtained Rabbinical Ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, where he lived for 10 years, before moving to Sweden where he helped set up an educational project. He served as the Rabbi of Richmond Synagogue, Surrey for 4 years, and obtained an MA in Jewish studies from UCL. He was appointed to his current post in Edinburgh in May 2003. Rabbi Rose represents the Jewish community in several civic forums, is a member of the Conference of Scottish Religious Leaders and is Honorary President of the Edinburgh Interfaith Association.
As well as teaching at the Cheder, he also conducts Adult Education classes, mostly online.
Each week he produces his own Parsha sheet for the weekly sedra, titled ‘Forth Light’. This usually includes a challenging “Parsha Puzzle”.
If you have any questions for Rabbi Rose, then please contact the Rabbi.
Forth Light – this week’s Torah commentary
Rosh Hashanah
The sound of silence
Several reasons are given in the Talmud for not blowing the shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat. One is based on the two different expressions used in the Torah to describe the day. In Leviticus it is described as ‘a remembrance of the blowing of the Shofar while in Numbers it is called ‘the day of the blowing of the shofar’. According to this explanation one refers to Shabbat when we have a remembrance, while the other talks of a weekday when one blows the Shofar.
The meaning of blowing the Shofar is clear; what it means to remember the Shofar is less so. If we take our cue from the traditional explanation for the command to ‘remember the Shabbat’, which means saying words about Shabbat, i.e. kiddush, we can understand that we are here being commanded to say words referencing the Shofar but not actually blow it. If we contemplate the meaning of this, it would appear that in order to fulfil the mitzvah of Shofar on Shabbat it is not necessary to actually blow it but merely to mention it. Or to look at it from another angle, the fact that it is Shabbat obviates the need to actually blow the Shofar.
If we examine the blessing over the Shofar we can understand why this might be so. We are commanded not to blow the shofar but to listen to the sound of the Shofar. In other words the purpose of the blowing of the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah is to get us to listen. On the anniversary of the creation of the world we are called upon to shut out the many noises that distract us and listen to the voice of creation and its Creator. This is, of course, the purpose of Shabbat. By refraining from work and technological activity we create a space for us to listen to the world around us and appreciate the mastery of its Author. Both the sound of the Shofar and Shabbat enable us to hear the still small voice of G-d amongst the cacophony of society. This is especially needed in our world we are constantly saturated with information, opinion and noise and have forgotten how to listen.
The Shofar calls on us to stop and listen, and Shabbat gives us the space to do so. We can now understand why the Torah felt the actual blowing of the Shofar on Shabbat was not necessary and maybe even unhelpful. We blow the Shofar once a year but its message can be experienced every Shabbat.