Shofar Makers Heed the Call of Tradition

Not to toot his own horn, but 6-year-old Sam Hounan figures he could grind out shofars for the Jewish New Year all day long if he had to.

“I bet I can get this as smooth as glass. It’s pretty hard, but I’m good at it,” Sam said as he furiously rubbed sandpaper over the rough-edged sheep’s horn he was clutching.

Sam was one of 200 children swarming around worktables at a Westwood temple, where animal horns were being fashioned into ceremonial trumpets for use this week at Rosh Hashana services.

After being properly cut, cleaned and drilled, the horns emit a distinctive sound when blown. For thousands of years, Jews have heard the plaintive wail of the shofar help signal the start of the Jewish New Year during Rosh Hashana services .

This year, 3,500 Jewish children in western Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley are learning the horn’s history as they create their own shofars in workshops conducted by a group of Brooklyn rabbinical students.

Rams’ horns are traditionally used for shofars. But a variety of animals from kosher slaughterhouses provide the horns being distributed by the visiting New Yorkers--who call themselves the “Shofar Factory.”

The shofar program is sponsored by the Chabad religious organization. This year, the student rabbis will teach nearly 30,000 Jewish youngsters across the county how to craft them, said Rabbi Yosef Cunin of Chabad of Beverly Hills.

Before being handed out to the Westwood children to work on, the horns were boiled in water and cleaned. Hand saws, power grinders and electric drills were spread out on a table as student rabbi Yaakov Nadler talked of the horn’s place in the Jewish religion.

Rams’ horns have been important in Jewish tradition since biblical days. Jewish belief says Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son to God, but God stayed Abraham’s hand and directed him to sacrifice a ram caught by its horns in a nearby thicket.

Nadler asked 9-year-old Michelle Melamed to start the shofar-making process by removing the bony material from the middle of the horn. Wearing heavy work gloves, she tugged at it unsuccessfully with pliers.

“Just use your hands,” suggested Nadler. She did, and it popped right out.

Kian Lavi, 8, quickly drilled and cut his horn and gave it a quick polish before trying it out. “I don’t think I have enough air,” Kian said after huffing and puffing and failing to get a sound out of it.

“Maybe you need to grind it more,” counseled Nadler. Kian did, and a few moments later he was rewarded with a loud toot.

Nearby, instructor Yossie Mizrachi further explained the sanding process to a group of younger children. “It’s important for the mouthpiece to be smooth so it has a good sound,” he said.

Leora Sheily, 8, took him at his word and began grinding with a vengeance.

“Lots of pieces are flying off,” she yelled over the din of electric tools and tooting horns as a pungent dusting of horn particles settled over the floor.

“It smells like goats are in here. I know what goats smell like. I smelled them at a farm-and-pizza birthday party I went to.”

Some of the mothers watching from the sidelines covered their noses as the musty odor began filling the room along with the mournful noise from dozens of shofars being blown at the same time.

“I’m actually surprised they make a sound,” said Jasmine Khalil-Manesh of Beverly Hills, as her 13-year-old daughter, Natlie, tested hers.

“I’m proud of my daughter. She’ll come away from this with a good memory,” she said.

Parent John Berookhim of Westwood beamed at his son, Bryan, and at the shofar the 8-year-old had made. He said the workshop was helping bring tradition to life for the youngsters.

“My son will leave here knowing a lot more about Jewish culture. He’s learning craftsmanship, too,” Berookhim said.

Rabbi Daniel Bouskila of Wilshire Boulevard’s Sephardic Temple, where Thursday’s workshop took place, said youngsters will be invited to blow their shofars Sunday on the second day of the holiday to help usher in the Jewish year of 5761.

“To hear the sound of the shofar is the central experience of the Jewish New Year. It stirs and awakens the soul,” Bouskila said.

“It should be a very powerful experience--the sound of 200 shofars blowing. Children will cherish these the rest of their lives.”

Nine-year-old Susanna Davidov agreed as she cradled her newly made shofar in her hands. “I’m going to keep this forever. I’m going to give it to my children.”