The sound of an ancient ram’s horn may be heard on the late summer wind in Cherokee County, the heralding of a Jewish new year – the celebration of the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve and the birth of mankind.
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Carolyn Mathews | Ledger-News
Rabbi Zalman Charytan heralds Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, from the front porch of the Ledger-News. Charytan is spreading a wish for a happy, healthy New Year for the community from the Jews who live within it.
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The ram’s horn, also known as a “shofar,” is being blown by Rabbi Zalman Charytan, of the Chabad Jewish Center.
The joyful sound made on the horn, Charytan explains, signifies the joy Abraham felt when God spared Isaac as a sacrifice, and, instead, sent a ram to be offered on the altar. The primary focus of Rosh Hashanah is the Jews’ acceptance of God as their king.
“The blasts of the shofar are wake-up calls,” he said. “Rosh Hashanah is the time to shake out of our spiritual slumber, reconnect to our source, and recommit to our divine mission in this world.”
The shofar is sounded on both days of Rosh Hashanah, “the trumpet blast of a people’s coronation of their King,” Charytan said.
Charytan is spreading awareness of the Jewish spiritual awakening around the community, educating those who are not Jewish, and reconnecting with those who are. He has blown his horn in Woodstock Mayor Donnie Henriques’ office, as well is several private offices throughout the city.
“We want to reach out to the community and wish them a happy, healthy and sweet New Year,” Charytan said.
Chabad is a worldwide Jewish community organization that focuses on outreach events that unite the community. Charytan, who hails from Winnepeg, Manitoba, is carrying on the family tradition, as he is the son of a Chabad rabbi. Charytan estimates there are approximately 3,500 Jews in the Cherokee, North Cobb and North Fulton areas.
He explains that Judaism doesn’t try to convert people; it just encourages them to practice spirituality as they know it and as is their birthright. On Rosh Hashanah, Sept. 8-9 this year, Jews spend two days in the synagogue, praying.
“It is the Day of Judgment,” Charytan said. “God decides what the coming year is going to be like.”
The first day of Rosh Hashanah is the first of 10 days of repentance, which culminate in the other Jewish high holiday, Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. It commemorates the day God forgave the Jewish people for the sin of the golden calf (idolatry) Moses begged God for forgiveness, and it finally was granted.
“We take spiritual stock, and we ask God to forgive our sins,” Charytan explained. While Yom Kippur is the most solemn day of the Jewish year, Jews are also joyful, confident that God will forgive mankind’s sins and provide another year of life, health and happiness.
The Chabad Jewish Center, located in Kennesaw, has held a well-attended menorah lighting for two years now in Woodstock City Park.
