From the Desk of Rabbi Marcelo Bater  September 25/26, 2009   8 Tisrei 5770

Dear Friends, Another Rosh Hashonah has passed and now is the time to complete our self-preparations for Yom Kippur. On the 2nd Day of Rosh Hashanah I shared the following story… A Jewish tourist stops an Israeli on Ben Yehudah Street in Tel Aviv and asks: "Can you please tell me the time?" "I’m sorry, I don’t have a watch", replies the Israeli. "You don’t have a watch? Then how do you know what time it is?", asks the tourist. "During the day if I want to know what time it is, I ask someone", says the Israeli. "But what do you do at night? How do you know what time it is?", responds the tourist. "For that, I have a Shofar, a ram’s horn." answers the Israeli. "A Shofar? How do you tell time with a Shofar?", questions the tourist. "That’s simple. If I wake up in the middle of the night and I want to know what time it is, I open my window and blow the Shofar as loud as I can. Invariably, a neighbor always calls out: ‘It’s three o’clock in the morning and you’re blowing the Shofar?!’ So now I know what time it is!" Yes, for some people, the Shofar is just a watch to tell us what time it is. For others, it is an important notice that the Yamim Noraim – the Days of Awe -- are upon us and that we need to wake up from our daily routines. Tekiah, Sh’varim and Truah trained us well during Rosh Hashonah. Now it’s time to apply this training towards our final preparations for Yom Kippur. Let’s do it together! Wishing you all a good inscription in the Book of Life…a G’mar Chatimah Tova!! Shabbat Shalom!