Minister of Welfare Yitzchak Herzog was surprised to receive a shofar (ram’s horn) when he met with Modiin Illit’s Mayor Yaakov Gutterman Tuesday. Yair Kirshenbaum, the municipal general director emphasized the symbolism of the shofar and the Herzog family. “The Minister’s father, former President Chaim Herzog, the son of former Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Herzog, immigrated to Israel from Ireland in 1935. The minister’s father, who was then 17, began studying at the Hevron Yeshiva, which was then located in Jerusalem’s Geula neighborhood.” Kirshenbaum then noted that this Friday marks 80 years to the Hevron massacre of 1929, in which dozens of Jews were murdered by Arab mobs.
One of the events which preceded the riots was the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) at the Western Wall. Shofar blowing at the Wall was then banned by the British government in Palestine. “Now that we are about to enter the month of mercy and remorse in which Jewish congregations are aroused to penitence by the shofar’s blast,” Kirshenbaum remarked. Minister Herzog didn’t conceal his emotions and responded, “You have succeeded in surprising me.” After adding that his grandfather was also injured during the 1929 riots, Herzog asked Kirshenbaum to blow his new shofar.