Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

Blowing the Shofar in 1879 -- Or Blowing Smoke?

Posted: 11 Sep 2015 07:31 AM PDT

Max Rossvally blowing the shofar
(1879, Library of Congress)

Searching for historic photographs of Rosh Hashanna and blowing the shofar (ram's horn), we discovered a poster showing Jewish pictures of Jewish festivals. Starring in the 1879 photo gallery was a man named Max Rossvally.

He appeared as a pious man even though he didn't seem to know laws oftfillin (phylacteries) or lulav (a grouping of flora, including a palm branch, used in Sukkot prayers.)

Who was Rossvally? A Jewish man originally from Germany named Mordechai Rosenthal, a Civil War veteran who claimed he was a surgeon, a convict, and a evangelical convert to Christianity.

Here are the poster and his pictures with a lulav and tfillin:

Rossvally's gallery of pictures

Rossvally and misplaced tfillin

Rossvally with a few extra branches
and misplaced tfillin, usually not worn
on Sukkot (Tabernacles)

Here's what we know about Rossvally:

A description of Jewish converts to Christianity and Rossvally in "United States Jewry,
1776-1985," by Jacob Rader Marcus

A description of a meeting of an American anti-Semitic group attended by Rossvally who
converted while serving a sentence in prison (American Jewish Archives, 1964)

Today, the shofar-blowers are known for their piety and observance of Jewish commandments.

Shana Tova! Happy Jewish New Year! The Shofar Resonates from the Past. Jews Will Blow the Shofar in Synagogues Next Week

Posted: 11 Sep 2015 06:09 AM PDT

Re-posted from last year

Yemenite Jew blowing the shofar (circa 1935, all photographs are from the Library of Congress archives)

"Blow the Shofar at the New Moon...Because It Is a Decree for Israel,

a Judgment Day for the God of Jacob" - Psalms 81

Jews around the world prepare for Rosh Hashanna next week, the festive New Year holiday when the shofar -- ram's horn -- is blown in synagogues.

The American Colony photographers in Jerusalem recorded a dozen pictures of Jewish elders blowing the shofar in Jerusalem some 80 years ago. The horn was also blown in Jerusalem to announce the commencement of the Sabbath. During the month prior to Rosh Hashanna, the shofar was blown at daily morning prayers to encourage piety before the High Holidays.