Embedded inside Lebanon, IDF soldiers forced to leave their families and communities to defend the Jewish state against barbaric terrorism proudly sounded the shofar signaling the end to the holiest day of the year.

Shofar blowing in Lebanon tonight pic.twitter.com/v0lIR33sFb

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 12, 2024

The post WATCH: IDF soldiers based in Lebanon sound the shofar to conclude Yom Kippur appeared first on World Israel News.

The IDF has begun conducting small raids within Lebanese territory to dismantle any terror bases that can be used to infiltrate Israeli communities.

WATCH

IDF soldiers in the north gather for a prayer as the sound of the shofar echoes around them. pic.twitter.com/aRTfeJrOeQ

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 1, 2024

IDF has entered Lebanon

The IDF's elite 98th Division, consisting of paratrooper and commando units, led last night’s ground operation in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. They were joined by the 7th Armored Brigade, following weeks of preparation. The division had… pic.twitter.com/SJlceu6w4A

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 1, 2024

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The Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemenite terror group, are interfering with deliveries. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

As Rosh Hashana approaches, the nearly year-long war is causing a shortage of shofars, the traditional ram’s horn instrument that makes a plaintive cry during the Jewish New Year prayer service.

Many of these instruments arrive in Israel through the port of Eilat, and the Houthis, a Yemenite Iran-backed terror group, are interfering with deliveries.

Shippers have re-routed shofar deliveries, causing delays and fewer shofars delivered to Israel.

Jan-Elazar Refoua, who sells Judaica and gifts in downtown Jerusalem and specializes in shofars, reported that he usually sells six shofars a day in the period leading up to Rosh Hashana, but this year, he often sells just one daily.

Refoua spoke with Jerusalem Post about the difficulties leading up to Rosh Hashana, “I went to order merchandise, and they would say, ‘OK, it will be another week, or another two weeks,'” he explained.

The prices were 15% to 20% higher when the shofars were finally available.

The shortage has not created the problem of scarcity since tourism has also declined dramatically during the war, and therefore, fewer people are buying them.

However, despite the hardship created by the war, Refoua still hopes his business will survive and even thrive after the war.

“I have been here in this store for 42 years. We got through all the terror attacks and coronavirus,” he added that his wife was injured in a terror attack.

Refoua, who has three sons in reserves in Gaza, said, “The main thing is that there should be more quiet and peace and that the soldiers will return in peace; that is what really matters.”
“We are like a sword – it gets stronger from being in the flame – heated and cooled,” he added.

“Shofar is godly music,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t hear it with your ears; you hear it with your heart. It’s a different feeling.”

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IDF forces listened to the blowing of the shofar and recited shema in unison, asking God to aid them in battle against Hamas.

The post WATCH: IDF soldiers listen to shofar blowing before entering Rafah appeared first on World Israel News.

Thousands of people packed Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square for the final Yom Kippur service, called Ne’ilah, which includes blowing the shofar to mark the end of the holiday.

The post WATCH: Thousands attend Yom Kippur service in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square appeared first on World Israel News.

Robert Weinger, who is originally from Los Angeles, found his calling blowing shofars. “One day I had a burning bush type of experience where I felt the presence of something must bigger and greater than myself,” he tells i24NEWS.

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Rio Governor Wilson Witzel made the unusual request, as he considers the ram’s horn a “call for freedom.”

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Wilson Witzel, the new governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, wanted a shofar (ram’s horn used for Jewish ritual) blown at his Wednesday inauguration, and a rabbi happily agreed to the unusual request, JTA reported Thursday.

The shofar “represent(s) the call for freedom, to bring good vibes and positive energies to the new government,” according to organizers of the swearing-in ceremony.

The trumpet-like sounds helped him during a campaign stop, he said, according to the report.

“One of the most touching moments during my campaign was when I heard the shofar at the Beit Lubavitch synagogue. It gave me the strength I needed to carry on,” Witzel told reporters.

Rio, which has a 30,000-strong Jewish community, mostly in Copacabana, is where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed with his wife Sarah when he first arrived in the country a few days before the parallel inauguration of Witzel’s mentor, President Jair Bolsonaro.

Netanyahu went to Brazil to honor Bolsonaro, who, as an evangelical Christian, is warmly disposed towards Israel and the Jewish people. It was the first-ever visit of an Israeli prime minister to the South American country.

Witzel, also considered a friend of the Jewish state, traveled to Israel in November to learn about a locally made drone that could be equipped with weapons to target drug gangs as well as cameras with facial-recognition technology to aid the police force in their fight against crime.

During his inaugural speech, the new governor repeated campaign promises he had made about cracking down on crime, which plagues his state. He called drug traffickers “narco-terrorists,” vowing that they will “be treated like terrorists.”

The former professor of criminal law and federal judge rode the same anti-corruption wave in the elections that helped Bolsonaro sweep into the presidency.

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Thousands of Jewish worshipers came to Jerusalem’s Western Wall for early morning prayers and to hear the blowing of the “shofar” (ram’s horn) in the days leading up to the Jewish New Year, also known as the Day of Judgment.

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