To start your new year, watch the important short documentary, just released, called Echoes of a Shofar. The moving clip tells the story of the brave Israeli teenagers who defiantly blew shofar at the Western Wall (the Kotel) at Yom Kippur’s end – during the British Mandate years, when it was illegal to do so.
Six of these men are still alive. Two weeks ago, these six men returned to the scene of their “crime.” Armed with shofars, they recounted their individual stories and blew shofar again at the Kotel.
The clip reminds us that in the aftermath of the Arab riots of 1929, the British forbid Jews from bringing Torah scrolls to the Kotel, from praying loudly, or from blowing the Shofar — so as not to offend the Arab population!
I think this reminds us – and should serve as a pointed warning – about the dangers of even thinking about relinquishing control of the Old City and Temple Mount to an Arab or “international” regime in the future…
[The film was produced by Aryeh Halivni (Eric Weisberg) of Toldot Yisrael, a Jerusalem based nonprofit dedicated to recording and sharing the firsthand testimonies of the men and women who helped found the State of Israel. Over 300 video interviews have been conducted with those who were involved during the pre-State struggle and the momentous events of 1948. ]
