Page 36 - WTP Vol. XIII #3

29
SHOFAR
My brother-in-law, Dan.
a conservative rabbi,
had divorced, retired,
and undergone a radical cystectomy.
He asked about Shakespeare, about fate in Romeo and Juliet. Was this justice? Innocents sacrificed by a greater power to punish their parents?
In turn, I asked about
the meaning of shofars—
and he seemed happy to explain.
Shofars were sounded
to awaken souls, especially
on Rosh Hashanah, the new year,
when believers examine their deeds
and seek atonement; and Yom Kippur,
ten days later, when God’s judgment is sealed. “As the horn takes in breath at one end
and sends out the other,” he suggested,
“so God replaces Judgement with Mercy,
and blessings for the coming year.”
There were four ritual blasts,
he added, always to be blown in order...
He could show me tomorrow. Our return flight was early. And he’d be glad to drive us at six a.m.; no need for Uber.
Our luggage in trunk,
he wanted me in front
and Connie in back, but as
I moved to get in, there was a curled, polished ram’s horn in my seat. It was maybe eight inches from bell
to curve, then straight up
another eight up to the tip. Its grain was cream on tan, smooth, and shiny.
I got in and held it, thinking it was for show: the Rabbi’s personal shofar. But Dan said it was his gift for me. Except I’d have to to learn the blasts and he’d test me later on the phone.
As he drove, he explained. “You purse your lips for
a farting sound, except no tongue.” I tried, just air. He took and held it with his right hand as he drove. Our windows were down and he sped through
a round-about. He blew
his “blaaaat!” out his
window, louder than car horns. “Okay, you try.” Handed it back. I puckered up like a trumpeter and puffed, surprised by
a rich, full-throated, “blaaaat!” “He got it, I think he got it,” Dan sang from My Fair Lady.
*
Two years later, Dan’s phone wouldn’t answer for days. His younger brother, Ray, flew down to check,
and with police and medics broke open his door and rushed him to the hospital, conscious, but too late to save. He died two nights later.
dewiTT henry