For the First Time Since the Second Temple: Shofar Sounded on Temple Mount; Silver Trumpet Sounded as Call to War
On Thursday, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, a group of Jews smuggled shofarot (ritual rams’ horns) onto the Temple Mount and, despite police efforts to stop them, blew all of the requisite shofar blasts for the holiday. It should be emphasized that this is most probably the first time since the Second Temple stood that the shofar has sounded at Judaism’s holiest site.
Josh Wander, a resident of the Mount of Olives, described the experience.
“On the first day of the holiday, approximately 50 Jews ascended to the Mount at 7:00 AM, the first moment Jews were permitted to enter the holy site, Wander told Israel365 News. “Many of them were wearing their traditional holiday garb. They prayed the entire Rosh Hashanah service, which included thirteen Histachavuyot (full-body prostrations).”
The Torah commands Jews to prostrate themselves before God on the Temple Mount, and it is strictly forbidden for a Jew to prostrate himself in prayer in any other location. This mitzvah (commandment) is an essential element that will reappear in the times of the Messiah.
And on that day, a great shofar shall be sounded; and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt shall come and worship Hashem on the holy mount, in Yerushalayim. Isaiah 27:13
The word וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ (v’hishtachavu) is translated here as ‘worship,’ but the more accurate translation would be ‘they will prostrate themselves.’
“Birkat HaKohanim (the priestly blessing was also performed,” Wander explained. “It was a bit inconvenient as the police did not permit us to bring machzorim (holiday prayer books) onto the Temple Mount and as it was a holy day, we could not use our cell phones. But several people had smuggled printed pages into the site and we managed to complete the prayers.”
“When it came time to blow the shofar, one person pulled out a minimal-sized shofar, about the size of a hand, and blew the requisite notes. The sound was not very loud or beautiful but it was the first time a shofar had been sounded at Judaism’s holiest site since the Second Temple was destroyed.”
“When they realized what was happening, the police rushed over and confiscated the shofar, removing the man from the Temple Mount. We continued praying and when we got to the next section of shofar blasts, another person produced a tiny shofar and blew the notes. Again, the police rushed over, confiscating the Shofar and removing the man. We continued praying and every time we came to the shofar section, a different man blew a tiny shofar. In the end, six men were removed from the site and six tiny shofarot were confiscated. But all of the requisite one hundred shofar blasts were completely sounded.”
“In addition, just outside of the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, a man was positioned with a larger shofar and a chatzostra (silver Temple trumpet),” Wander said. “So we heard the shofar from both sides.”
“Surprisingly, none of the people involved were charged by the police and all of the shofarot were returned.”
Wander explained the prophetic significance of the event, referring to the Book of Joel.
Blow a shofar in Tzion, Sound an alarm on My holy mount! Let all dwellers on earth tremble, For the day of Hashem has come! It is close— Joel 2:1
“The commentaries explain that in this verse, Tzion is referring specifically to the Temple Mount,” Wander explained.
Wander originally commissioned the silver Trumpets to fulfill the commandment of Chatzotzros. Wander’s website explains that according to the Rambam, this is the Biblical commandment- to blow the silver trumpets in times of war and trouble for the Jewish People.
Wander blew these trumpets at the National Religious Broadcasters’ Conference in Tennessee and at CPAC in Washington DC, both attended by Donald Trump. As mandated by the Bible, Josh blew the trumpets for the IDF troops as they went out to war against Hamas in Gaza.
It should be noted that Israeli law mandates equality and freedom of religion in Israel at all holy sites. While this should apply to the Temple Mount, Jews are heavily restricted at the Temple Mount due to police claims that open displays of Jews performing religious rituals will lead to Palestinian violence. Jewish access is limited to only a few hours a day, and they are not permitted to enter at night or on Friday and Saturday. Jews are not permitted to bring religious or ritual objects onto
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