Wanted in Israel: More Shofar Blowers For Socially Distanced Jewish New Year

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Rabbi Yehonatan Adouar (R) teaches a student during a shofar blowing course in Rambam Synagogue in Ramat Gan, Israel.

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Shofars on a table during a Shofar blowing course in a synagogue in Ramat Gan.

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Rabbi Yehonatan Adouar teaches a shofar blowing course in Rambam Synagogue. He is indicating how to take breaths during the traditional rhythms of the shofar during prayers.

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Chaim Braun (center), a diamond dealer, attends the shofar blowing course.

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Chaim Braun (center), a diamond dealer, attends the shofar blowing course.

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You could also blow droplets of the coronavirus.

«There is a risk to some extent that a person who is asymptomatic, blowing the shofar might spread some aerosols, says veteran shofar blower and Bar Ilan University immunologist Cyrille Cohen, who is advising an Israeli team working on a COVID-19 vaccine.

Cohen recommends keeping the shofar at a distance from worshipers, ideally outdoors, and covering the open end with a face mask. He says he consulted with rabbis about this, and «at first, they say, oh-ho, they kind of dismissed the idea.

There was religious debate whether a mask would distort the sound and violate the biblical commandment to hear the shofar’s call. But in the end, leading Orthodox rabbis in Israel and in the U.S. have endorsed shofar masks this year.

Israel is facing one of the world’s biggest resurgences of the virus and is imposing a nationwide lockdown for the second time, to start just hours before the Rosh Hashanah holiday begins Friday evening. Israelis will be restricted from venturing more than 1,000 yards from their homes.

An exception to that rule: shofar blowers. They will be permitted to wander neighborhoods and play the shofar outside the windows of the faithful who are either quarantined at home or don’t want to take the health risk of attending synagogue during a pandemic.