With Chabad Shofar factories in session worldwide, thousands of Jewish children are drilling, sawing and shellacking in preparation for the Jewish New Year.
An expanded Shofar Factory in Burlington and Camden Counties, New Jersey, has hundreds of local children and their parents absorbed in the art of shofar-crafting, at regional Hebrew schools, day schools, and synagogues across denominations.
Led by Rabbi Yitzchok Kahan, recently appointed Chabad youth program
director in the area, participants are treated to a brief overview on the
upcoming High Holy Days, and the significance of the ram’s horn, or shofar, and then it’s down to business.
For the younger children that means sanding their shofars to a smooth finish and shellacking them to perfection. For older children, and adults, the job’s somewhat messier, with drills and saws. But whatever their age, whatever their task, one thing is certain: participants at the Shofar factory enjoy every minute of this hands-on, interactive program that is at once fun and enlightening.
Kahan estimates the overall number of participants well above the 300 mark,
a figure that includes many people with a limited Jewish background. “The
purpose of the shofar factory is to involve Jewish people of all ages in a
meaningful activity through which they can gain a deeper appreciation for
Judaism, and an understanding of its relevance to us today,” says Kahan.
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