Members of the Ramat Hasharon Torah garin torani (social nucleus group) fanned out across the city on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, sounding the shofar for residents at parks, public gardens, businesses and other locations.
The campaign was organized to enable residents who had not yet heard the shofar to fulfill the mitzvah.
Rabbi Hanania Reichl, rabbi of the Torah nucleus, described the campaign and some of the encounters with residents.
“On the first day, there was not a single Jew in the world who did not fulfill the obligation through the heavenly shofar blasts. May the new year begin with its blessings! On the second day, we tried to sound the shofar for everyone we could throughout Ramat Hasharon," he said.
Shofar blasts were heard at Alexandroni Garden, Nehardea Garden, Park HaNetzach, the new Shacham Garden, HaMatoss Garden, City Hall Square and HaBanim Garden. At Park HaNetzach, a play was also held.
At the BIG complex, the blasts continued until sunset, with residents waiting to hear the shofar.
“There were shofar blasts without interruption until sunset. We hadn't even finished 30 blasts before the next people were already waiting," Rabbi Reichl said.
The nucleus members also visited several businesses where they had sounded the shofar the previous year, only to find them closed.
“We went to three stores and a restaurant where we had sounded the shofar last year, but they were closed," Rabbi Reichl said with a smile. “Apparently, it was thanks to last year's shofar blasts."
One particularly moving encounter took place with a young man running through the street with headphones on. The members stopped him and asked whether he would like to hear the shofar.
“He hesitated and debated. In the end, he said yes," Rabbi Reichl recalled. “I asked him, ‘Would you like to recite the blessing?’ He said, ‘No, no... no way.’ I sounded the shofar. When I finished, his eyes were filled with tears. All he managed to say was, ‘Thank you! You made my Rosh Hashanah.’"
Another encounter was with an elderly woman in a wheelchair who was passing by accompanied by a foreign caregiver. At first, she declined the offer to hear the shofar, but moments later she changed her mind and called the rabbi back to sound it for her.
“When I finished, she told me, ‘Look at my eyes. I can't stop crying,’" Rabbi Reichl said.
The woman then blessed him: “I bless you that you will succeed in sounding the shofar for all the people of Ramat Hasharon."
Rabbi Reichl concluded the campaign with a message for the new year: “May the new year begin with its blessings!"