Will We Rise? The 400 Year Old Shofar and Rosh Hashanah 5784

A few years ago, I visited the newly excavated and developed site of Shiloh, a town 20 miles north of Jerusalem, where the Mishkan the Tabernacle stood for over 400 years. At that time, it was the holiest place on earth and the home of the Ark and the Ten Commandments. 

Every Rosh Hashanah, we read a story which occurred there. It was a moment in time when heartfelt words were uttered that spawned a prophet and kings. A barren woman transformed her fate into destiny. Her model of prayer inspired millions throughout history. 

I won’t quiz you but you may know whom I am speaking about. I am speaking about Chana, one of the great heroines in Jewish history but a story relatively unknown. Today, I want to unpack her journey for she serves as a timeless inspiration for all of us.  

She lived during one of the most tumultuous times in Jewish history. The Jewish people were caught in a vicious cycle of sinning and repenting. There was no king in Israel, idolatry was rampant and society was lawless. Shilo, the site of the Mishkan, was virtually abandoned. Few people made the pilgrimage to Shilo during the festivals. The nation was bereft, disconnected from each other and God. The nation was in desperate need of a leader to mobilize, unite, and inspire. 

Our Haftorah begins against this backdrop, a time of chaos and uncertainty. We meet Elkanah, a righteous man, and one of the few people who still believes in the centrality of Shiloh and the importance of making the pilgrimage. Each time he goes to Shilo he travels a new road in the hopes of inspiring more people to join his journey. He is a man on a mission to elevate the entire generation. 

Elkana has two wives. One is Peninah who is blessed with many children. The other is Chana who is barren. Year after year, Elkanah and his wives and family make the journey to Shiloh. His wife Peninah and her children enjoy the offerings while Chana, who has no children, is bitter. Peninah taunts her and makes her life miserable, ridiculing her for being infertile. Chana eats little and suffers for 19 years.  Despite her prayers, she remains childless. Year after year, month after month, she cries and is in agony. She is bereft and without hope. 

In a moment of frustration and desperation, Elkanah pleads with his wife, Chana and says - “Hannah, why are you crying and why aren’t you eating? Why are you so sad? Am I not more devoted to you than ten sons?”

Chanah faces a choice. She can lament her fate or forge a new path. Her response while in the valley of tears serves as an inspiration for us year after year. 

What does Chanah do amidst her despair? 

She responds in three ways. 

She rises. We read in the book of Samuel, וַתָּ֣קׇם חַנָּ֔ה, Chanah got up. 

She prays in a radically new way. 

She rejoices in her blessings. 

In my mind, her three responses serve as a lighthouse for all of us in a world fraught with confusion, despair and darkness. 

First, Chana rises. She chooses life and charts a new destiny. She realizes that she could not  change God but she can change herself. From her greatest rejection, comes a new direction. 

What motivates her to shift her perspective? What stirs her to rise? 

The answer is in the verse itself. The book of Shmuel (Samuel) states that she rises after the people had eaten and drank and Eli, the Kohen, sits at the entrance to the sanctuary. Malbim, the great 19th century  Torah commentator, explains that Chanah is left all alone. 

 והיתה יכולה להתבודד בבית ה' לשפוך לפניו שיחה

Her seclusion forces her to confront herself and more importantly God. In solitude, she finds  herself. 

There is a Hebrew term for this powerful catalyst. It is called Hitbodedut, a spiritual practice most well known through the teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Reb Nachman walked in the woods regularly. He believed that God is always communicating with us, we just need to attune our hearts to listen deeply enough. When we are alone, we release a Divine wellspring within all of us.  

In her seclusion, she realizes that she is truly not alone. She pours out her heart to God. Chana discovers a reservoir of strength that she never thought she had and she rises.   Although she has prayed for 19 years, she recognizes that perhaps she has relied too much on her husband and now when turning within and to God, she unlocks newfound resilience and hope.  

Chanah’s challenges are emblematic of ours and so is her response. 

Like Chana, we often get stuck thinking we are the victims of our circumstances. We live in a generation of increased fear and anxiety. 

There is no shortage of global issues to induce uneasiness and worry. We are deeply concerned about rising anti semitism. The hostility on college campuses towards Jewish students and pro Israel supporters is alarming whether a commencement speech at CUNY or UPENN hosting speakers calling for the destruction of Israel. The  ever present threat of a nuclear Iran or the vitriol and divisiveness in Israel is unnerving. 

On a national level, we have a politically toxic environment defined by the extremes. 

On the personal front, we are all worried about the increased rates of depression and anxiety in the wake of the lockdowns and isolation during COVID. There is an epidemic of loneliness in our generation. We know first hand that the loss of a loved one, an illness or economic struggles can truly be daunting. 

The natural inclination is to be so overwhelmed by each one, we wonder if there is anything we can do to chart a path forward. It is hard. We cannot allow the noise of the outside world, the news to paralyze us.  

We delude ourselves into thinking that we do not matter and wonder what difference we can make to change the world. In reality, the choices we make in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles reverberate.

Chana is a model of fortitude for all of us. Year after year and month after month, she suffers. She is in danger of getting stuck. To her everlasting credit, she rises. She quiets the negative voices and listens to her inner voice, the voice of God. 

The stillness of the early hours of the morning offers a path for all us to rise as Chanah did. Our morning liturgy is a wake up call in more ways than one. When we open our eyes, we recite the words of Modeh Ani. The mantra is not only an affirmation of our belief in God and an offering of thanks but an affirmation of God’s belief in us.  The future is not written. There is no fate we cannot change, no prediction we cannot defy. 

During this season, we invoke the timeless words of Maimonides who teaches that the entire world is always in balance between good and evil, life and death. Our mitzvah, our response, our advocacy, our acts of kindness fueled by Torah study is the way we rise and choose life. 

Chana’s model response typifies Jewish history as well. I was inspired in an unexpected way to this truth by a shofar blown at Agudath Sholom and on the shores of the Long Island Sound. 

I received an email a couple of weeks ago from David Bahar, asking if his brother in law Sas Ezekiel, visiting from England, could blow the shofar a few of the mornings in shul. I obliged, of course. On Sas’s last day  in shul, he told me that the shofar he was blowing was 400 years old. It was blown in Spain, Iraq, Rangoon, Burma, Singapore, Australia, India, London and Israel and now in Stamford. Each place reflects the valleys and the peaks, the resilience and faith of the Jewish people.

The same shofar was blown in Auschwitz and at sunrise at the top of Masada. Think about it for a moment, to blow the shofar, the same one for over 400 years in so many places. The shofar is a symbol of Chana rising, our nation rising throughout generations and our obligation to rise and meet the challenges of our times. We are not alone. 

What is Chanah’s second response? She radically changes the way she prays.

. The words in the prophets record that she prays not to God but on God. Rather than ask for a child for the joy of having a baby and being a mother, she awakens to the fact that she and we are only vessels to channel God’s blessings to the world. Chanah's response emerges from her realization that all of her blessings and her life were gifts from God. 

She makes a promise, one which she has not done before, to dedicate her child to God. When she does, God showers her with a child. Chana names her child Samuel, Shmuel, which means that he is on loan from God. 

To be clear, God is not a slot machine, our prayers are not transactional. Sometimes, no matter how we pray, the answer is no to our requests and we must muster faith. However, the words of King David are true. He writes in Psalms, “Cast upon God your burdens and he will support you.” When we devote our lives, talents, and blessings to God, we have invited God to be our partner and the possibilities are endless. God will fill us with renewable energy to face any challenge. 

Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis taught me this lesson. She was a  Holocaust survivor, known as the Jewish Billy Graham, who launched her historic outreach organization Heneni, 50 years ago in 1973 at a Jewish Revival in Madison Square Garden. She was indefatigable in her mission and I asked her for the source of her strength. 

She told me that every day, she speaks the words of Isiah Chapter 40 - Those who have faith in God, their strength will be renewed. They will grow wings like eagles, they will run and not walk and neither become tired or weary. It gave her renewed faith. Like all of us, the day and mission can become daunting but these words continue to serve as a daily spiritual booster. They remind us that we are here for a higher purpose to harness all of our blessings in the service of God, the Jewish people and humanity. 

God renews us every day in His mission. He renews all of us with life every day not for our own glory but to amplify His. 

Why do we pray for health and healing, material and spiritual success?  We do not pray for health to be able to go to the gym 5 days a week but to be healthy to make the world a better place. We ask for material blessings and wealth not for our own sake but to have the ability to give more Tzedakah and be God’s partners in the world. 

The most important question to ask ourselves each day is not what do I want but what does God want of me? 

Finally, Chanah sings to God. She says “Thank You” for all of the blessings bestowed upon her.  

Despite the challenges we may face, we cannot forget to express our gratitude for the multitude of blessings in our lives and to rejoice in them. She proclaims loudly and clearly God’s glory. In a world where there may be so much we believe we desire and need, Chana challenges us to give praise and appreciate the miracles that surround us every day. Cultivating a practice of gratitude yields so many benefits. It  increases our joy and mindfulness and inner peace, deepens our faith and opens up our eyes to seeing God’s presence everywhere and every day. 

Chana lived over 2500 years ago but her legacy lives on in all of us. This Rosh Hashanah and beyond may we find time to be alone with God and discover new strength to rise in the face of any challenge. May we channel our blessings not for our own glory but God’s. May we revel in the abundance of blessings and thank God today and always.