Tomorrow night is Rosh Hashana. 
You can feel it in the air. 
I can almost hear it. 
It seems like the background music I’m hearing is shofar blasts. 
I was at a dear friend’s home and her pool generator was humming. 
It sounded an awful lot like a shofar to me. 
My husband is the shofar blower in our synagogue and he practices all month long, the sounds begin to ring in my ears. 
My alarm clock is really starting to sound  like a Shofar. 
Funnily enough - that is the job of the shofar - to awaken us from the status quo, from our spiritual slumber, and be a clarion call to action of some sort. 
All of our holidays have mitzvot, commandments, attached to them. 
Sukkot has the 4 species and the Sukkah. 
Chanukah has the lighting of the Menora. 
Pesach has the Seder. 
All exciting happenings attached to the holiday. 
Rosh Hashana, which is the beginning of the year that contains all these experiences, has only the Shofar. 
The Shofar does not seem to be an exciting artifact. 
As Sivan Rahav Meir explains, it’s a bent ram’s horn in an unexciting color (no psychedelic versions available). 
The Mitzva on Rosh Hashana is to hear the sound of the Shofar. 
We actually do not have to do anything. 
We need to be quiet. 
Not an easy feat. 
We need to listen. 
Even harder. 
The world is a cacophony of sound and the Shofar gives us the gift of listening. 
Hearing one pure, unadulterated clear sound, a Gdly sound, that’s what we are listening for on Rosh Hashana. 
One time a year.

Rabbi Meilech Biderman teaches us that the Talmud derives the source for the Shofar blasts from the blast that is sounded at the Jubilee year, the end of the 50 year cycle in Temple times. 
The blast that was sounded in the Jubilee year signified great change.  Slaves were freed. 
Real estate reverted to original owners. 
The world became drastically different, all as a result of one single Shofar blast. 
The world changes beyond recognition after a Shofar sound. 
One who was enslaved becomes free. 
That is the possibility of Rosh Hashana. 
That is the message of the Shofar. 
Anything is possible. 
We can live up to our potential. 
We can be free to grow. 
Which is why, from time immemorial, the Jewish people have gone to great lengths, and made superhuman efforts, to hear the Shofar and fulfill that commandment. 
There is a legend that during the years of the Spanish Inquisition, Marranos, secret Jews, had in their ranks a musician by the name of Don Aguilar. He arranged a concert in which he would perform a musical piece dedicated to native people and their music. Exotic instruments from around the world were included in the presentation. The concert was sold out as it took place on Rosh Hashana and one of the instruments was none other than a ram’s horn. The exotic instrument was blown and it was the first time in years that the Marranos heard shofar blowing on Rosh Hashana. 
During the Holocaust Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Meisels recounts that he was able to procure a contraband Shofar which he blew on Rosh Hashana under the threat of execution. 
The inmates could not imagine a Rosh Hashana without hearing Shofar and they begged him to blow for the sake of their souls. 
Or a survivor who arrived at Auschwitz and upon embarking the train inexplicably hears the sound of the Shofar. He realizes that if there is a Shofar there is hope. Menachem Brickman shared that when he realized the Shofar was being blown in the face of the Nazis it gave him the strength to forge on. “The sound of eternity burst forth in Auschwitz. It seemed like a tremendous miracle. A small light in the dark of night”. 
Imagine a shofar. 
One end has a small opening and the other end has a much larger opening. 
We breathe through the narrow side and our breath flows out in the expansive opening. 
The shofar reminds us that even if we find ourselves in a very narrow space, the we can move forward. 
Before we blow the Shofar we invoke the verse from Psalms which says 
“I called to Gd from a very narrow place and Gd answered me from a place of expansion”. 
From a global perspective we are very aware of the conflict in play over the straits of Hormuz. A constricted area which is pivotal to world trade . 
So too we humans often find ourselves in a tight spot, a place where we are stuck and constricted, and we pray for the space where we can expand and grow. 
This year the first day of Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat. 
 On Shabbat we do not blow the Shofar, so if we want to take the opportunity to listen, to participate in something that our ancestors were willing to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve, we will listen to the Shofar on Sunday. 
What can we do while we are listening?
It takes a great deal of breath to blow a Shofar. That is emblematic of the breath Gd breathed into us when man was created. That breath is a spark of Gdliness and the mark that reveals Gd’s faith in us. 
Sarah Pachter suggests
When we hear the Shofar we can 
remind ourselves:
We are holy
We have value
Gd breathed life in me. What will I do with that life. 
It’s a new year and a clean canvas:
I can change the channel this year?
What is my role this year
Who do I want to become this year?
The Shofar is a personal alarm clock:
What tiny  change can I make that I can do consistently?
As we head into Rosh Hashana we are given an audio visual aid, the Shofar, which is a call to action. 
Listen. 
Respond. 
Don’t hit snooze. 
Eternity is waiting for you to get up!
Shana Tova to all of you my dear sisters. 
May it be a sweet year full of blessings, good health and peace. 
Shabbat Shalom and so much love!