The Liberty Bell, rung in July, 1776, to proclaim the Declaration of Independence, is inscribed with a biblical verse: "Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof" (Leviticus 25:10). The occasion for the biblical proclamation was the beginning of the Jubilee Year. But the biblical instrument of proclamation was not a bell but the horn of a ram. "You are to send the ram's horn throughout the land to sound a blast" (Lev. 25:9). Our word "Jubilee" is, in fact, derived from the Hebrew word "Jabel," meaning "ram's horn."

The ram's horn is also called a "shofar." It is still sounded in Jewish worship on the High Holy Days or Days of Awe, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The startling and penetrating sound of the shofar has been described as a joyful sound, as a wild shout or battle cry, and as the wail of a person crying for mercy.

In the Old Testament the shofar was blown to rally troops and terrify the enemy. (This use was revived in modern times during the Israeli Six-Day War when a bearded military chaplain parachuted with his troop, blowing the shofar as he descended.) The shofar was also sounded to warn of danger, to celebrate the anointing of a king, and to call the people to repentance. It was at the sound of seven shofars that the walls of Jericho collapsed. The sound of the shofar was heard when Yahweh descended in fire and smoke on Mount Sinai. It is believed that the shofar was sounded for the first time at the creation of the world and will sound for the last time at the resurrection of the dead.

A Jewish writer has described the power of the shofar to make people "stop thinking about business, personal problems, important meetings, and what lunch will be" and to get them thinking "about improving their family life" or "about giving charity or helping other people who are in need."

You are invited to inspect the shofar hanging on the wall of the Parish Social Ministry Office.