Central Park’s Shofar Service

Synagogue is good for synagogue goers. And so is preaching to the choir, if that’s your thing. But this year, one rabbi and his wife, in collaboration with the Chabad centers of Midtown and upper Manhattan, aim to take an ancient message to the people by trading in the synagogue walls for the trees of Central Park.

The event, dubbed “Shofar in the Park”, will take place on September 29th, 2011 at the bandshell in Central Park and will involve one of the main traditions of the Jewish New Year: the blowing of a hollowed out ram’s horn, known as a shofar. The evening start time, 5 pm, ensures that it does not interfere with the regular synagogue schedule.

The event, positioned as a non-event, asks New Yorkers to come together for a “moment of noise” by hearing the blasts from the ancient Biblical instrument. The blasts, 100 in total, are natural and will not be amplified, broadcasted or rebroadcasted. As the website shofarinthepark.com states, “It’s a ‘you-had-to-be-there’ sort of a moment.”

The event is the brainchild of Rabbi and Mrs. Yisrael and Chana Kugel, 27 and 24, respectively. The husband-wife duo are co-directors of the Chabad of the West Side’s Center for Jewish Life and seek to stretch the boundaries of traditional Jewish experience so that it’s accessible to all – not just the initiated.

“Why relegate one of the most powerful spiritual tools of our tradition to the confines of the synagogue?” Chana asks. “Synagogue is a wonderful place for those that go. But what of the millions of Jews who don’t? Why should they lose out?”

The event is as green as they come – with participants joining on foot from three central locations around the park. Even noise pollution will be at a minimum, as participants reflect silently as they listen to the natural blasts from the shofar.

Though free, the event website (www.shofarinthepark.com) provides a link to donate. A portion of all donations will be given to the American Cancer Society, as part of their “More Birthdays” campaign.

“Rosh Hashana is known to be the birthday of the very first human being,” says Yisrael, “and so incorporating their ‘more birthdays’ campaign into our commemoration of our collective birthday was natural,” says Yisrael. “Shofar in the Park is about pausing for a moment of collective and self-reflection: ‘I was born. I am here. Now how can I make a difference?'”

Located at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, this is the first annual ‘Shofar in the Park’. The event is free and open to the public. There will be no solicitation of any kind – religious, corporate or otherwise.