SHOFAR, SO GOOD FOR TEACHER ANCIENT INSTRUMENT HAS NEW DEVOTEES AT TEMPLE.

Byline: Holly Andres Staff Writer

VALLEY VILLAGE - As he has for the past eight years, George Friedman will break down barriers next week by showing men - and women - the challenging art of shofar blowing for the upcoming High Holy Days.

``I'm a tradition-breaker,'' joked Friedman, who teaches the free, weekly class at Temple Beth Hillel. ``More than half of the students have been female.''

Traditionally, only men have been shofar blowers - the rabbi or the cantor or the males in one temple family.

But Friedman has been slowly changing that practice, graduating more than 40 people from his class. Although the ostensible minimum age is 7, Friedman said two determined 6-year-olds were members of previous classes.

``My goal is to entice other congregations to do the same thing. It's a terrific thing for involving a congregation. Everyone's a winner,'' Friedman said.

Teaching others to blow the shofar, an ancient instrument made from a ram's horn, seemed only natural to Friedman. He was the first chair cornet player in junior high and an Army bugler during World War II.

``I wanted to give something back to my community. I want to make sure we have people sounding the shofar properly. That's my sole purpose with offering the class,'' he said.

In class, Friedman prefers that students use a shofar available at the temple before they buy their own. No two shofars have the same tone and some are trickier to blow than others.

The longer the horn, Friedman said, the better the sound of the calls.

``The little ones are for showing - not blowing,'' he said.

Howard Blumenfeld, a shofar class graduate, signed up for Friedman's class after hearing an announcement several years ago.

Intrigued by the eerie, spine-tingling sounds he heard as a boy, Blumenfeld soon learned how difficult it was to produce the same melodic notes.

``There's an exercise to toughen your lips because the actual opening is probably half the size of a small fingernail on your smallest finger,'' Blumenfeld said. ``It's a matter of air pressure, how wet or dry your lips are and the breathing in relationship to blowing.''

Friedman estimated that it takes about four hours to learn to make all the specific calls used during the High Holy Days.

``When I stand to blow the shofar, I feel a sense of responsibility to the community,'' said Blumenfeld. ``The shofar sounds are a wake-up call to pay attention, to open your ears and your heart to what is going on now. I feel as though I'm standing on the shoulders of all those who came before me who made the sounds as an awakening call.''

It's important to Friedman that his students learn to sound the horn in unison. After practicing for about two months, the novice blowers test their ability at Friday night Shabbat services before the High Holy Days.

``I can't stand chaos. It detracts from the solemnity and the quiet prayer atmosphere of the service,'' Friedman said. ``I want it to sound like one huge, unbelievable, concise voice. It's my own prayer to God. I'm connected to God when I'm blowing it.''

The free shofar class will begin at 7 p.m. June 23 at Temple Beth Hillel, 12326 Riverside Drive, Valley Village. Call [phone].

Holly Andres, [phone]

holly.andres(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

George Friedman shows one of the large shofars he teaches novices how to blow at Temple Beth Hillel.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer