I had the honor of offering the invocation at UNC Asheville's amazing Farm-to-Table Dinner on Thursday, August 14, 2017. Since we're in the month of Elul, I decided to blow the shofar as part of the invocation. I asked everyone to hear in the sound of the shofar a call to pay attention. Also, I asked us to hear in its sound the cry of suffering and pain all around us as well as within us, and to allow the sound of the shofar to call us to rise to our best selves so that we can work toward creating a word of loving kindness and compassion. When it came time to actually blow the shofar, to sound the tekiah . . . well, I did my best! I managed to get a little sound out of the lovely ram's horn. Thank you, Sonia Marcus, UNC Asheville's Director of Sustainability, and all the students and staff who contributed to creating an amazing event focused on the timely theme of migration.
Tekiah: blowing shofar at UNC Asheville's Farm to Table Dinner