Two Prayer Groups to Sound Shofar on Shabbat in Jerusalem's Old City

Despite the general prohibition against sounding the shofar on Shabbat when Rosh Hashanah falls on the Sabbath, at least two prayer groups in Jerusalem's Old City plan to do so this year. One group, led by a Haredi rabbi named Roigin, will gather at 13 Hebron Street. The second group will be led by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, head of the Temple Institute and a prominent figure in the Religious Zionist community.

Rabbi Ariel, who has publicly discussed the issue, is known for his advocacy for Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. However, not all who ascend the Temple Mount agree with this practice. Rabbi Eliyahu Weber, head of the Yeshiva of the Temple Mount, stated that he believes the mitzvah of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah falling on Shabbat is fulfilled through the blessings in the Musaf prayer, specifically those of Malkhuyot, Zikhronot, and Shofrot, and therefore, no shofar should be sounded.

The practice of sounding the shofar on Shabbat during Rosh Hashanah is not new and has a history in Jerusalem dating back over a century. It began with Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlezinger in 1870, who argued that the Talmudic allowance for sounding the shofar in any place with a rabbinical court, as established by Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai after the Temple's destruction, applied to Jerusalem. He cited sources like the Sefer HaChinuch and Ramban to support his view.

This initiative faced significant opposition from rabbinic authorities of the time, including Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank and Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld. Despite rabbinic debate and disagreement, Rabbi Schlezinger persisted, and there are accounts of him sounding the shofar near the Western Wall in later years. The debate resurfaced in the early 20th century with figures like Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim and Rabbi Shmuel Salant, though opposition, particularly from Rabbi Zonnenfeld, continued, leading to compromises for the sake of peace.

Oral traditions suggest that even in more recent generations, some Hasidic rebbes followed this practice. The article concludes with a wish for the full re-establishment of the shofar sounding with the rebuilding of the Sanhedrin, and mentions a unique piyyut found in the Cairo Genizah that describes a method of sounding the shofar without touching it, to be performed only before "heads of the authority."