Drive-In Shofar Service
Welcome to Our Shofar Service!
Shana Tova!! We are so glad you are able to join us this afternoon for our shofar service here at Massasoit College. Please use this page as a guide through our prayers and readings this afternoon. Before we dive into our prayers, we offer a few rules of the road:
- Please turn off your car engine while parked. We all want to be able to open our windows and breathe easy!
- If you are going to get close to others, please wear a mask.
- Please be patient as we all park and as we all line up to leave.
An Opening Kavannah (Intention)
A Wake Up Call – A Kavanah for Shofar
by Rabbi Claudia Kreiman
Second day of Rosh Hashanah 5774
Ashrei Ha’am yod’ei T’ruah, says the Psalmist- Happy is the people that knows the sound of T’ruah- the sound of the shofar. Adonai b’or panekha y’halekhun – they walk in the light of your divine presence. What does it mean to know the sound of the shofar? The Hassidic Master known as Degel Machaneh Ephraim teaches that knowing the t’ruah means allowing our hearts to be shattered, in order to open ourselves to the light of the divine presence.
In the words of our teacher Rabbi Art Green: “The shofar sound represents prayer beyond words, an intensity of longing that can be articulated only in a wordless shout. But the order of the sounds, according to one old interpretation, contains the message in quite explicit terms. Each series of shofar blasts begins with teki’ah, a whole sound. It is followed by shevarim, a tripartite broken sound whose very name means “breakings.” “I started off whole,” the shofar speech says, “and I became broken.” Then follows a teru’ah, a staccato series of blast fragments, saying: “I was entirely smashed to pieces.” But each series has to end with a new teki’ah, promising wholeness once more”. (Seek My Face, Page 169).
God of Remembrance
God of Remembrance, remember the covenant of our ancestors; we reaffirm it today. Remember, we are a people of noble ideals; help us attain them. Remember all Your people, all the nations on the road to peace; bless their efforts. Remember, with mercy, the binding of Isaac; the sorrow of Sarah; Abraham’s words: “Here I am.”
Our memory fades, but You remember all that we have forgotten. Your Presence is a throne where all things matter and nothing is lost.
Blessed are You, Adonai — You remember the covenant. You remember us.
Shofar Blessings
Baruch atah, Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu lishmoa kol shofar.
בָּרוּך אַתָּה‚ יְיָ‚ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלך הָעוֹלָם‚ אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמצותָיו‚ וְצוָּנוּ ֽ לִשְׁמוֹעַ קוֹל שׁוֹפָר
Source of blessing, Eternal our God, You fill the universe with majestic might — summoning us to hear the sound of the shofar.
Shofar Calls
Join us in the calls of the shofar!
T’kiah Sh’varim-T’ruah T’kiah
T’kiah Sh’varim T’kiah
T’kiah T’ruah T’kiah
תְּקִיעָה שְׁבָרִים־תְּרוּעָה תְּקִיעָה
תְּקִיעָה שְׁבָרִים תְּקִיעָה
תְּקִיעָה תְּרוּעָה תְּקִיעָה
Today the world is born anew. This day, the whole of creation stands before You to be judged. As we are Your children, love us in the way of mothers and fathers. As we are Yours in service, guide us by the light of Your justice, grace, and holiness.
The Wishes of Your Lips, Your Heart's Desire
Areshet s’fateinu ye·erav l’fanecha, El ram v’nisa — meivin umaazin, mabit umakshiv l’kol t’kiateinu. Utkabeil b’rachamim uvratzon seder malchuyoteinu.
אֲרֶשֶׁת שְׂפָתֵינוּ יֶעֱרַב לְפָנֶיך‚ אֵל רָם וְנִשָּׂא‚ מבִין וּמאֲזִין‚ מבִּיט וּמקְשִׁיב לְקוֹל תְּקִיעָתֵנוּ. וּתְקַבֵּל בְּרַחֲמים וּבְרָצוֹן סֵדֶר מלְכֻיּוֹתֵינוּ
Let the wishes of our lips — our heart’s desire — be pleasing before You, God Most High. You are knowing and attentive, watchful and aware when we call out: T’kiah! Lovingly, favorably receive our prayers of Malchuyot!
Prayer for Our Congregation
Eternal Presence, who blessed our mothers and fathers, bless this holy congregation — a house of study, prayer, and righteous deeds. Together we give thanks… For our leaders: those who learn, teach, and uphold the Torah, inspiring others to learn, teach, and uphold the Torah; those who do the sacred work of building our community. May their service bring them joy, fulfillment, and purpose; and may they go from strength to strength. For our members: diverse in age, interest, and background; Jews by birth, Jews by choice, and those of other faiths who join with us; all who offer their time and talent, their love and commitment. For all who come here, on this holy day of Rosh HaShanah, to share the search for meaning and renewal: Your presence is a blessing, your friendship a gift. May the spirit of peace, dignity, and respect live within these walls, inspiring us to care for one another with compassion; and may we be a source of goodness, light, and healing for the world. May the One who blessed the generations before us bless us as we stand together this day: one congregation joined with all Jewish communities of the world through our prayers on this festival of the New Year. Let us renew ourselves for the year ahead. Let us honor the precious legacy that is ours.
Prayer for Our Country
God of holiness, we hear Your message: Justice, justice you shall pursue. God of freedom, we hear Your charge: Proclaim liberty throughout the land. Inspire us through Your teachings and commandments to love and uphold our precious democracy. Let every citizen take responsibility for the rights and freedoms we cherish. Let each of us be an advocate for justice, an activist for liberty, a defender of dignity. And let us champion the values that make our nation a haven for the persecuted, a beacon of hope among the nations. May our actions reflect compassion for all people, within our borders and abroad. May our leaders and officials embody the vision of our founders: to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. We pray for courage and conscience as we aim to support our country’s highest values and aspirations: the hard-won rights that define us as a people, the responsibilities that they entail. We pray for all who serve our country with selfless devotion — in peace and in war, from fields of battle to clinics and classrooms, from government to the grassroots: all those whose noble deeds and sacrifice benefit our nation and our world. We are grateful for the rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness that our founders ascribed to You, our Creator. We pray for their wisdom and moral strength, that we may be guardians of these rights for ourselves and for the sake of all people, now and forever.
Shana Tova!
Special thanks to Massasoit College and Chief Berkowitz. Thank you to CCAR Press and their publication, Mishkan HaNefesh, which served as the source for many of these texts.
Mishkan HaNefesh: Rosh HaShanah: Machzor for the Days of Awe. CCAR Press.
