Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The shofar blasts on Constitution Day

The shofar blasts on Constitution Day

A Rosh Hashanah celebration gets underway in NYC

Getty Images

Rabbi Charles E. Savenor serves as the Executive Director of Civic Spirit, a nonpartisan organization that provides training and resources to faith based schools across the United States.

The shofar has a singular magnetism that attracts the rapt attention of the young and old. As this ancient instrument takes center stage on Rosh Hashanah, we may wonder what is the meaning behind these piercing notes?


Some explain that the shofar reminds us of the call to battle during the biblical age, but during the Days of Awe the battlefield is internal. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch of 19th century Germany does not connect the shofar with warfare, but rather God’s presence in our lives. He asserts: “With the sound of the shofar, God once called us together on Sinai, with it, God will once again gather us together.” Just as the shofar once ushered in the Revelation at Sinai, so too will it introduce new and necessary revelations in our hearts and minds about the direction of our lives.

A battle cry, a revelation, or a spiritual alarm clock shaking us from an ethical slumber? Each interpretation in its own way makes a compelling case about how the shofar voices a dramatic plea for introspection.

So deeply associated with Rosh Hashanah, the shofar sets the tone on this holiday of spiritual reflection. Yom Teruah, one of the names of the Jewish new year meaning “the day of blasts”, serves as a vehicle for us to look within and ask who we are today and who do we want to be tomorrow?

These questions apply to not just our personal lives, but also our larger society. Currently in both America and Israel, democracy as a form of government has faced challenges that we might have found unimaginable just a generation ago.

This year, the calendar provides another lens through which we can see these Days of Awe, as Rosh Hashanah falls on Constitution Day, commemorating the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia. While Independence Day has been etched onto the American calendar for some time, this national milestone was not officially recognized by Congress until 2004.

The signing of the Constitution represented a watershed moment in the founding of our country. The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation enacted in 1781 and was a second attempt to organize the federal government, clarify its powers, and establish the parameters between the federal government and the states as well as its citizens. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” asserts James Madison in Federalist 51, reflecting the founding generation’s intention to distribute power between the government’s three branches.

The Constitution, as we well know, did not foresee or solve every problem. In particular, slavery’s status was a dark cloud over the new republic. Despite its imperfections, this document has remained in place as the national standard of law and governance for over 235 years.

The way the calendar unfolds this year provides the Jewish community with a unique opportunity to reflect upon the state of our nation as much as our own spiritual state. That Jewish prayer is couched in the plural signifies that this path of growth, healing, and renewal is one we walk together.

While our individual experience is important as Jews and citizens, both Rosh Hashanah and Constitution Day remind us that we are part of something larger than ourselves. And Constitution Day underscores the importance of justice, creating safeguards against the temptations of power, and the blessings of second chances for communities as well as for individuals.

Exploring the meaning of America in our own lives can enhance and elevate the conversation around our holiday tables. Hearing opinions different from our own may open our hearts to new ways of approaching common challenges in our society.

More than a calendrical coincidence, Constitution Day and Rosh Hashanah complement and inform one another. When we hear the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah, may we embrace not just the invitation to begin our lives anew, but also the spirit of American democracy inscribed on the Liberty Bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10).

A commitment to liberty, democracy, and freedom is a legacy we can be proud to pass onto our children. During these divisive times, these values serve as a north star to a stronger future.

Read More

Is Bombing Iran Deja Vu All Over Again?

The B-2 "Spirit" Stealth Bomber flys over the 136th Rose Parade Presented By Honda on Jan. 1, 2025, in Pasadena, California. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images/TNS)

Jerod Harris/Getty Images/TNS)

Is Bombing Iran Deja Vu All Over Again?

After a short and successful war with Iraq, President George H.W. Bush claimed in 1991 that “the ghosts of Vietnam have been laid to rest beneath the sands of the Arabian desert.” Bush was referring to what was commonly called the “Vietnam syndrome.” The idea was that the Vietnam War had so scarred the American psyche that we forever lost confidence in American power.

The elder President Bush was partially right. The first Iraq war was certainly popular. And his successor, President Clinton, used American power — in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere — with the general approval of the media and the public.

Keep ReadingShow less
Conspiratorial Thinking Isn’t Growing–Its Consequences Are
a close up of a typewriter with the word conspiracy on it

Conspiratorial Thinking Isn’t Growing–Its Consequences Are

The Comet Ping Pong Pizzagate shooting, the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and a man’s livestreamed beheading of his father last year were all fueled by conspiracy theories. But while the headlines suggest that conspiratorial thinking is on the rise, this is not the case. Research points to no increase in conspiratorial thinking. Still, to a more dangerous reality: the conspiracies taking hold and being amplified by political ideologues are increasingly correlated with violence against particular groups. Fortunately, promising new research points to actions we can take to reduce conspiratorial thinking in communities across the US.

Some journalists claim that this is “a golden age of conspiracy theories,” and the public agrees. As of 2022, 59% of Americans think that people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories today than 25 years ago, and 73% of Americans think conspiracy theories are “out of control.” Most blame this perceived increase on the role of social media and the internet.

Keep ReadingShow less
Why a College Degree No Longer Guarantees a Good Job
woman wearing academic cap and dress selective focus photography
Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash

Why a College Degree No Longer Guarantees a Good Job

A college education used to be considered, along with homeownership, one of the key pillars of the American Dream. Is that still the case? Recent experiences of college graduates seeking employment raise questions about whether a university diploma remains the best pathway to pursuing happiness, as it once was.

Consider the case of recent grad Lohanny Santo, whose TikTok video went viral with over 3.6 million “likes” as she broke down in tears and vented her frustration over her inability to find even a minimum wage job. That was despite her dual degrees from Pace University and her ability to speak three languages. John York, a 24-year-old with a master’s degree in math from New York University, writes that “it feels like I am screaming into the void with each application I am filling out.”

Keep ReadingShow less