A message from Beyond/ But perhaps, useful only if you are trying to learn to sound a shofar

 This week, I had some folks over to help celebrate the Jewish New Year. One friend brought his collection of Shofars. A shofar is typically made of a ram’s horn and making the sound is a ritual during the high holidays. Some describe it as a spiritual ‘wake-up’ call. The pure sound from someone who is skilled can be tremendously moving. Unsuccessful attempts fall into the nails on on a chalkboard, or someone just learning to play the violin, category.

As I was holding a shofar, an old anecdote came to mind.

As some of you are aware, I have collection of odd but true stories that I am going to compile into a book one of these days. This is one of those.

Back in 2014, Lauren was home for a short but glorious visit. While she was here she took the opportunity to poke through long buried piles of papers that had been tucked away in the bottom of her closet.

Not surprisingly, she unearthed some treasures.

There were several shoe boxes stuffed full of letters. At one point she called me in to take a look at an one old letter that she had randomly selected out of the hundreds. It was a correspondence from my parents dated September 1993. 

My father's segment of the letter was “vintage Grandpa”

He loved to problem solve and loved to teach. He had just figured out the best way to teach someone to sound a shofar and he was eager to share it.

Dear Lauren,

The best way to learn how to do something better and better is to teach other people how to do it. By teaching your cousins how to blow the shofar, I discovered that if I can pfubpfupfub my lips, I get a good sound. I cant wait to teach you…….

The very next day after Lauren had found that note from her grandparents, I called my nephew Asher to wish him a happy birthday. I told him about the letter. What I didn’t know was that when Asher had been in Pittsburgh a month earlier, he had found my dad’s shofar and had been encouraged to take it with him back to Utah; he had been working on learning how to blow it in time for the Jewish holidays.

My dad passed away in 2007. I imagine my father’s spirit watching Asher trying to perfect the sounds, and trying his hardest to get this pfubpfpf message across.

I am glad he found a way.

So, last night, I took hold of a shofar, I channeled my dad….did the pfubpffub and was able to make a sound. The coyotes who live in the woods across the street responded in kind.

This is a ‘truah’ story. For all of you who understand that little play on words, Shana Tova!

The weeks model is 7 month old Coby; the shofar temporarily distracted him from his mission, which is to pull himself up to a standing position on anything in his path.