Short Film Examines a Worrying Pattern Ahead of Rosh Hashanah 5787

A new short film examines the implications of Rosh Hashanah 5787 falling on Shabbos, when the shofar cannot be sounded on the first day of the holiday.

"Rosh Hashanah 5787, Ha'azinu," A six-minute film by filmmaker Misha Zubarev, draws on a teaching from Rabbi Yitzchak in the Gemara, Rosh Hashanah 16b, which states: "Any year in which the shofar is not sounded at its beginning, its end will be sounded with evil tidings."

The film surveys recent years when Rosh Hashanah similarly began on Shabbos and examines significant events that followed, including the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, when hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 people. It also references the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which spread globally and claimed millions of lives while disrupting Jewish communities and institutions, and the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, in which Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israeli communities, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages into Gaza.

Rather than presenting the pattern solely as a warning, the film explores what Jews can do as another such Rosh Hashanah approaches. Drawing on commentary by the Aruch LaNer al HaTorah on Parshas Ha'azinu, it examines the special significance of Shabbos when Rosh Hashanah falls on that day, noting that while the shofar cannot be sounded, Shabbos itself can serve as a merit for the Jewish people.

The film underpins a broader initiative framing the situation as "This year, Shabbos is our shofar" And encouraging Jews to strengthen their Shabbos observance. Zubarev, who previously produced the short film "Acheinu," Said "The goal of this film is to raise awareness and use it to inspire a deeper connection to Shabbos, especially in light of the time of war that we live in." The accompanying initiative calls on Jews to make concrete commitments to strengthen Shabbos observance in the period ahead.