About 150 members of the Washington, D.C. Jewish community tried to break the world
record for most shofar horns blown at once Thursday in the amphitheatre, but fell short of the 387 people necessary.
The event turned out to be a "dress rehearsal to go for the record next year," said Debbie Rubin, editor of Washington Jewish Week, which cosponsored the gathering with AU's Hillel and local synagogues.
Some AU students said the group didn't get enough participants because they didn't publicize the event on campus. Jeremy Rovinsky, co-president of Students for Isreal, said more publicity on campus "would have brought the AU and D.C. communities together.
It might not have affected the group's ability to set a record, however, since most students don't take their shofars to college, Rovinsky said.
Washington Jewish Week contacted AU Hillel with the idea of holding the event in the amphitheater, a sizable outdoor location with adequate acoustics.
Participants arrived with their own shofars, many kept safe in special carrying cases of all different shapes and sizes, and capable of producing widely different sounds. There were also plastic horns available for the children, but they could not be counted in the total number of shofars blown during the record attempt.
Shofar, literally translated as "ram's horn" in Yiddish, can be made from the horn of any kosher animal with the exception of a bull, according to Rabbi Ken Cohen, executive director of AU Hillel
The shofar has historically been used to proclaim the Jewish New Year, celebrated during the high holy days of Rosh Hashanah, and to call the people of the Jewish faith to action during a time of need or war. It is also said that the shofar will announce the coming of the final redemption.
Before the record attempt, a collection was taken to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Participants wore Mardi Gras beads to show solidarity and empathy for the New Orleans area.
A number of other booths dotted the amphitheater, including those representing Jewish Students for Israel and Otzma and Pares, two organizations that send students abroad to Israel. Two round-trip tickets to Israel on El-Al Air were raffled off to those who signed up to blow their shofars.
Among the evening's events was a "children's blowing," where all ages took to the stage to showcase their talents on a notoriously difficult instrument to play. Onlooker Danielle Jaffee, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said "Look at those kids, their shofars are massive!"
Until Washington can gather more than 386 people, the previous record, achieved in Swampscott, Mass., will stand.
