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The Big Tent Judaism Blog
containing up-to-the-minute news about the efforts of the Big Tent Judaism Coalition and other programs and events within the Jewish community that open our tent...
Monthly Archives
Welcoming the High Holidays with a Flash Mob
This Sunday, flash mobs will “spontaneously” descend upon several global Jewish hubs (New York, Jerusalem, Budapest, etc.) to sound the shofar, a daily practice during the Hebrew month of Elul in anticipation of the incipient arrival of the High Holidays. With shofarot (pl. shofar, an animal’s horn, usually that of a ram) in tow, participants of the Shofar Flash Mob will be blasting the horns for two minutes as a call for teshuvah (repentance). This action, a tradition in the month leading up to the High Holidays, serves to remind us of our obligation to engage in a period of self-reflection prior to the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. While we usually hear the shofar in the synagogue, these flash mobs will bring the sound of the shofar to the streets, introducing (or reintroducing) the tradition and its purpose to thousands of passers-by.
The event intertwines a modern-day phenomenon with an ancient ritual, and moreover, will be happening in the public space where anyone can see, enjoy, and spontaneously join in the activity. The organizers (ArtKibbutz New York) have critically recognized that blowing the shofar is a very simple activity to organize (all you need is a shofar!) that can pique anyone’s curiosity and provide an opportunity to initiate conversation, bond (over the difficulty of actually producing sound!), and provide an avenue toward further communal engagement. While the High Holidays can be a high barrier period for newcomers to the Jewish community, Shofar Flash Mob provides an accessible, modern point-of-contact to Judaism.
We at JOI would like to commend the organizers (ArtKibbutz New York) for truly bringing Judaism where people are in an engaging, educational, relevant way, just as we aim to do through our Public Space Judaism programs. In this light, we hope Jewish organizations continue to stretch themselves and find more creative applications of the public space model. This way, we can open the doors of the Jewish community to those who may not walk in on their own.
In the meantime, check to see if there’s a Shofar Flash Mob in your city. Or better yet, create your own!
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