Last Wednesday Elsa High School students participated in a Shofar-making activity with the help of Rabbi Mendy. It was a creative activity that encouraged the students to get together,  socialize, and work toward a common goal.  

After Rabbi Mendy demonstrated what to do, we each got to choose our own horns. We put a lot of effort into giving them the perfect shape. We participated in a friendly competition while laughing and supporting one another. Seeing our custom-made shofars come to life was wonderful. The moment finally arrived when we could display our completed Shofars. It was so much fun blowing them, and we all took turns. We enjoyed learning from Rabbi Mendy and creating lasting memories while feeling proud of what we had accomplished.

Hillel 

We learned how to sand, cut and hollow out the end of a Shofar and in the end received a fully functional Shofar. We made these Shofars in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Mendy taught us that a Shofar is like the cry of a baby. As babies we are lost and cannot talk, so all we can do is cry out. A Shofar is a cry to G-d when we are lost. Overall it was a great experience, where we learned how to make a Shofar and the importance of the Shofar to the Jewish faith.

Peter 

This Tuesday we had the great pleasure of having Rabbi Mendi and his wife Mushka from Chabad join us at school to guide us in making shofars from scratch. The process included sawing the tip of the shofar, drilling a hole, sanding the shofar, and coating the shofar in varnish for a glossy and smooth finish. During the activity, we learned about the different animals you could take horns from to turn into shofars. This experience was a fun class project, working together and seeing how the shofars turned out, in the end, was super cool, especially when we got to try and blow the shofars. The whole process from beginning to end was a very inspiring and educational idea that helped us further develop our Jewish identity and help us get ready for the new year, Rosh Hashanah. 

Liora 

This week we had the opportunity to make and learn all different things about the making of a Shofar. Leading up to Rosh Hashana we have been learning about how and why we hear the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah. We got to sand, wash and prepare our very own Shofar! It was an amazing experience to dig deeper into the understanding of where a Shofar comes from. Thank you to Rabbi Mendy, Mushka and Mr. Kreizel for making this happen.

Ayala 

This week we had an interesting activity for Rosh Hashanah with Rabbi Mendy, Mrs. Mushka Rabinowitz and Mr. Kreizel. We learned interesting facts about the Shofar. Every year in the Hebrew month of Elul the Jewish Studies team teaches us about the Shofar and its meaning, but still every year we learn something new about it that inspires us. Blowing the Shofar is one of the big mitzvot of Rosh Hashanah. During this special lesson it was exciting to watch how to drill through the horn and to have the opportunity to sand and polish it. Eventually each student ended up with their own Shofar. 

Itay