The Meaning of the 2 Shofars on Rosh Hashanah - Jeremy Gimpel: The Land of Israel Fellowship

prayer is a way of reaching Beyond yourself to align yourself with who you were created to be that's beautiful but when we hear the shofar we're doing something different we're doing something I don't know if it's deeper but it's that's a different movement of the soul and there are two aspects of the shofar and we see that in the davening in the Jewish service there are two sets of chauffeur blasts one before the amida the silent prayer after of musaf and one after the silent prayer there are two sets and really from the sages of Israel it seems like there are two aspects to the so the chauffeur blast itself can be divided into two Spirits one is the spirit of Coronation God is the king we are declaring that God is one that God created everything that all of us are his subjects celebration of the king it's like we are announcing the king's arrival but then there's another idea another Spirit to the shofar and that's not our announcing the coming of the king but it's actually our cry our cry before our father in Heaven literally like it's like a cry that sound of the shafar is our cry now those are two different Spirits one is almost a celebration and Rosh Hashanah is one of the happiest holidays I mean when I was in Yeshiva it was literally hours of dancing letting the king come in to the palace and we are going to just welcome the king like it's just party like it's 1999. the king is coming and we are there to celebrate but that other side of the shofar that's a crying to Our Father in Heaven that's a totally other Spirit that's why one of the soundings of the shafar is called the standing shofar and the sitting shofar one is a little bit more personal one isn't us all coming together to declare God as king one is I'm declaring God as King in my life but my life is broken and so from this broken place I'm calling out to God and so I want to talk about that you know when you look at thousands of years of Biblical history we're guided to two characters that take us to the shofar and take us actually to Rosh Hashanah the first one is Abraham Abraham is the first person to stumble upon a shofar it's not a shofar that he blasts but it's the first shofar that he sees when the Rams horns get tangled into the bush as he's about to sacrifice Isaac that's the first time we see a shofar in the Torah and we're told on Rosh Hashanah at the very beginning of the prayers for the shofar remember Abraham remember the Covenant The Binding of Isaac that's what this sound of the shafar represents so I wanna I wanna keep that in mind and I want to put it in the back of our heads and I want to go to the second character because the second character will actually really open up Abraham's story for us in a totally new way I believe and so the second character is job and this is an idea that I gleaned from Rabbi Jonathan sex so first I want to learn the story together the story of job it's one of the most mysterious books in the Bible and the stages of Israel tell us that the story of Job first is not meant to be read as a literal story of history but more similar to a midrash it's giving over an idea it's forcing us to think it's forcing us through the story to pray that story to God and so the right way to read the book of job is not like a biography or an autobiography or a history book but to read it like a prayer that we offer up to God and so what I want to do now is I just want to give people a little bit of background and I'm just going to read the first few verses of the Book of Job and then what I'm going to do is I'm going to try to tie it all together because the sages of Israel tell us that this story happens on Rosh Hashanah that's key it's the only one of the stories of the prophets that happens on this holiday so somehow this story is key for us to understand and so chapter 1 verse one here's how the story goes there was once a man in the land of ooze whose name was job and that man was blameless to mean in upright one who feared God and shunned evil we're told job is it Sadiq he's a wonderful person a member of this Fellowship a great man seven sons and three daughters were born to him also his possessions were seven thousand sheep three thousand camels 500 ox 500 female donkeys and a very large household so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East so I want you guys to know in the arugut farm now we have about 110 sheep it's a lot of sheep it's a lot it's a lot of work maintaining those sheep for job to have 7 000 sheep 3 000 camels 500 it's like those numbers are not really normal numbers that in Us in ancient times I don't think that's even sustainable that is like a the most powerful king of all of the Eastern world would have such a thing so already it's like alluding guys don't take this story so literally it's giving you astronomical numbers that how would they be able to feed then graze seven it's just impossible so that's the first hint that this story is something that's beyond the natural we're learning something through this story so we have a rich man a blessed man beautiful family money possessions he's got it all he's made it he's living the American dream job the righteous man okay we continue and his sons would go and feast in their houses each on his appointed day and he would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them so their family is beautiful they're having meals together they're living the dream and so it was the days of feasting had run their course the job would send and sanctify them and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them for job said it may be that my sons have sinned and maybe cursed God in their hearts thus job did regularly so job not only took responsibility for himself but he woke up with the Judean morning early in the morning and immediately gave sacrifices to God on his behalf and on behalf of all of his family guarding them blessing them praying for them a righteous man who could imagine a more beautiful picture isn't that really what we all want just let us live the life of Job all of a sudden there's a Twist in the plot so now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them and the Lord said to Satan from where have you come so Satan answered the Lord and said from going to here and from there all around the earth and walking back and forth on it and so that already is the first um sign that we're talking about Rosh Hashanah because spiritually we're told that Rosh Hashanah the Angels gather around God and there's literally like a court on each one of us we stand before the king and we have angels that will represent our case and they'll say but Jeremy he really meant well and he didn't mean it when he did that then that mistake that he did nobody his intentions were very good and look at this Mitzvah that he did and he did this really good but then there's a Prosecuting angel and that Prosecuting Angel that's really the only time in the Hebrew Bible where Satan really takes a role and his role is the prosecuting Angel he's the one that judges us and there's a courtroom and there's evidence and these angels are going back and forth just like What's Happening Here with job and so the Lord said to Satan this is verse 8. have you considered my servant job there is none like him on the earth a blameless and upright man one who fears God and shuns evil so God says here's job it was as if I created this whole world just that job would exist a blessed man who blesses me who lives in harmony with me we have the greatest thing going on me and job this is why I created the world Satan says nah nope sorry verse 9 Satan answers the Lord and says did job fear God for nothing have you not made a hedge around him around his household and around all that he has on every side you've blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land of course he loves you and blesses you and prays to you God you've given him everything but now let's put this to test stretch your hand out and touch all that he has and he will surely curse you and your face maybe job is only doing what's good because he's getting the blessing maybe he's only blessing Israel because he wants to be blessed so God says no I know his heart it's not true it's not true he's true he's authentic he's serving God because he believes in God and the Lord says okay behold all that job has is in your power only do not lay a hand on his person so Satan went out from the presence of the Lord in the Book of Job begins and in short The Book of Job is one huge tragedy job loses everything loses his wife he loses his wealth he loses his children he loses his health all of the blessings that we saw at the beginning are all taken from him and you see at the end of the book a broken person job broken and at that point that's when we pray because all of us have so much Brokenness in our hearts Brokenness in our lives for Brokenness and all we want was to be good all we wanted was to serve God and then we look at Abraham who's really just a mirror of job at this point in his life God says to Abraham Abraham I'm going to bless you beyond measure I'm gonna guard you you're gonna have it all look at what Abraham says in chapter 15 verses 1 and 2. God says do not be afraid Abraham I am your Shield your reward is exceedingly great but Abraham said Lord God what will you give me I have no child your blessings what are they worth all I want is to have a child and I have nothing I don't want anything all that I want is a child and then God gives him Isaac and where do we meet the shofar once again When God says all you wanted was Isaac I'm asking you now will you sacrifice Isaac and Abraham has to look forward and say with all of the Brokenness and all of his hopes and all of his dreams and the promise that he would be blessed with Isaac say I'll give it up to you God and so when the moon is all but gone at the beginning of the month Rosh Hashanah you can't even see the moon all the other holidays the moon is full here it's like just a tiny sliver almost all gone and it feels like we're lost it's from that place Beyond ourselves in our Brokenness from that place we say God you are my king no matter what in every generation we had to face struggles the Jewish people went through something much worse than The Binding of Isaac just 80 years ago we lost it all to evil it was as if the devil was Unleashed on Earth and he had free hand on the Jews of Europe and we suffered just like job and at that point everything that has happened to us happens for us and we blow the shofar and we recommit and we say God from this broken place no matter what the promise or no matter what the blessing I'm not doing it for that I love you I love the good I side with the truth and you are the king of my life I'm committed to the good because it's the good and then we blow the shofar making god king and those two Spirits they exist in all of us on one hand God is the king and we'll celebrate in Jerusalem but as long as the temple isn't built and as long as our fellowship is scattered around the world and not dancing together in Jerusalem as long as evil still exists in the world we have a place inside us that's broken outside of us and inside of us but from that broken place it offers us an opportunity to really make God our King no strings attached pure authentic service of the good because that's what Rosh Hashanah is really about