The Kitniyot Liberation Front

By Louis Gordon The history of Jewish law is often viewed as a steady progression of safeguards—"fences" constructed to protect the core of the Torah. However, as Rabbi Israel Ariel of the Temple Institute compellingly argues in his work Lulav and Shofar on Shabbat , many of these fences have grown so tall over the centuries that they now obscure the very landmarks they were built to guard. To understand the "lost commandment" of sounding the Shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on the Sabbath, we must move beyond exilic caution and rediscover what sages call Toda'at Mikdash —Temple Consciousness. The Historical Baseline In the era of the Second Temple, the arrival of the Sabbath never silenced the Shofar. As recorded in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 4:1): "When the festival of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, they would blow the Shofar in the Temple, but not in the countryside." This practice was a public declaration of spiritual supremacy. In the Sanctuary, ...

Everyone incorrectly "trumpets" the excuse that the shofar is not sounded on Shabbat since you can't carry a shofar more than 4 amot in the public domain on Shabbat. But how many people carry their talit and prayer books all the way to synagogue?? Nearly everyone... so what's the big deal about a shofar?? Most of us should be stunned to read the the Shofar was sounded in the Temple on Shabbat: When the Festival of Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbath, the Shofar was blown in the Beth HaMiqdash [the Temple] , but not in the rest of the country. (Mishnah Rosh Hashana4:1; Talmudh Bavli 29b) The Jerusalem Talmud, also known as the Talmud Yerushalmi asks the following question: "If blowing the Shofar is Torah-mandated, why should it not override Shabbath everywhere? And if it is not Torah-mandated, why does it override Shabbath in the Temple?" Read the new article by the Kitniyot Rabbi to find out why!