Rosh Hashanah

By Julia Loeb, WLCJ International President

This Shabbat ushers in the Yamim Noraim—the Days of Awe. Rosh Hashanah is observed from Friday night to Sunday night. The Torah refers to this holiday as Yom Teruah, the day of sounding the shofar.  The Talmud understands the shofar blasts to represent the cries of women, and the High Holiday liturgy is filled with the stories of these women—Sarah, Hagar, Hannah and Rachel. Their stories remind us of the power of women, their determination, unyielding spirit and the impact of their voices and prayers.

The shofar calls to mind other women too. After we blow the shofar at each musaf section of Rosh Hashanah, we say the phrase “Hayom Harat Olam,” which translates as “today, the world was born.”  We call Rosh Hashanah the birthday of the world, but according to tradition, the world was created on the 25th of Elul, and the first day of Tishrei. Rosh Hashanah coincides with the sixth day of creation, when humanity was created. According to this view, Rosh Hashanah becomes the birthday of all people. The focus on birth reminds me of two heroes from the book of Exodus, Shifrah and Puah. These brave women saved the Jewish people by defying Pharoah and saving Jewish babies from his edict of death. It is hard to overstate their importance. Indeed, the Talmud (Sotah 11b) says it was because of the merit of the righteous women of that generation, such as Shifrah and Puah, that the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt.

Notably, the word “shofar” shares the same Hebrew root as Shifrah.  Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, also known as the Baal HaTurim, explained that Shifrah’s name is related to a hollow reed, the shifoferet, a blowing instrument like a shofar, used by midwives to help the newborn Jewish babies breathe.

As we studied in Kiddushin on Makom B’Yachad, women were originally not required to hear the shofar on the High Holidays because it is a positive time-bound mitzvah. But because women voluntarily participated in this mitzvah, and were committed to doing so, traditional halakhic (Jewish Law) authorities changed the status of hearing the shofar to an obligation for women.

So, when you fulfill the obligation of hearing the shofar blown this Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, think of Shifrah and the prayers and cries of the women of Rosh Hashanah. As we celebrate the birth of the world and reflect on our own paths this Rosh Hashanah, let us draw strength from the stories of these brave women and the women whose voices made a difference.

In this High Holiday season, may we all pray with the passion and sincerity of these women and may we all be answered with a year full of growth, love and compassion.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tovah!
Julia Loeb
WLCJ International President
jloeb@wlcj.org