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The Shofar*Devora GleiberI sit in a hard-backed pew of the Sanctuary,jittery, with fingers crossed as I watch my brotherascend the steps to the bimah.Now I must wait.Two pages, one page,then finally the Rabbi raises his armsas he sings out the last word of the prayer,signaling the congregation and the Baʼal tekiah to rise.I watch as my brother stands holding the shofar, prepared, ready.Tekiah!The first note rings out loud and clear,swelling my heart with sibling pride.The call of the shofar continues and I listen,wishing I could produce such a sound.Now sure of my brotherʼs success,I prepare and wait with watchful eyes and fine-tuned earsfor the final pronouncement of Rosh Hashanah.I stand and listen to the now familiar notes waiting, waitinguntil finally...Tekiah Gedolah!The note starts soft then grows with strength,a crescendo as it fills the sanctuary.I close my eyes and listen as the music of that single notespirals upward, swirling around me as I empty my body of all tension,responding to the power of the call as it speaks.The note slowly fades awayas murmurs of approval ripple through the sanctuary.Handing the shofar to his teacher of this tradition,my brother descends from the bimah,back straighter, standing taller,to accept the praise of the congregation.Face beaming, he sits and relaxes, the tension in his body released.He has finally joined the few whocan accomplish this difficult ritual.*A shofar is a ramʼs horn that is ritually blown by theBaʼal Tekiah on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.Danielle MoitThe PoolAbbie FranckI had always been afraid of water; it was until recently myworst fear.I sat staring at a particularly hard math problem. Geometryhad never been my strong point. Suddenly I hear mydoor slam open with a startling jolt I rise up from my chair,and turn to see who slammed it open. It was my mother,her clothes crumpled, her eyes wide with a look I had rarelyseen.“Your brother is missing and I have looked everywhere,I need you to go check outside.” The words just drippedwith panic. I jumped up from where I was sitting and ranoutside, a coldness sweeping through my body, clenchingmy throat so I could hardly call out my brotherʼs name. Myfeet thudded as I ran from the back to the front yard searchingfor what I hoped wasnʼt lost forever. I couldnʼt findhim anywhere and went to report back to my frantic mother.She screamed when I told her, for she realized that we werequickly running out of places where he could be.We both realized at that instant he could be anywhere, hewas so small. Iʼll always think of him as small, even thoughhe wonʼt be forever. He was constantly getting in to troubleever since he was a tiny baby; his umbilical cord had evenbeen tied in a knot, though not tight enough so that he wouldhave died. He is and always will be a survivor, but I canʼthelp but worry about him.“You have to check the pool, Iʼll call everyone in the neighborhoodto see if the have seen them.” The words washedover me, bringing me to a cold sweat. It was as if she toldme to jump off a cliff, but it was twelve times worse. I wasdeathly scared of water and always had been.But it was my brother. I rushed outside and stood there forwhat felt like years. My feet were like stones that weighed30 pounds each. My entire body was like lead, and I couldbarely inch forward to the edge of the pool. I longed for thewater to be clear so I wouldnʼt have to get in; if it were clearall I had to do was look in the water. But much to my dismayit was not.It was dark and cloudy, leaves swirling around like whirlpools,the water looking as if it would eat me alive. I finallygot to my senses and realized that the longer I took the harderit would be to get in. I lifted both of my legs from the groundand leapt for the water. I landed with a menacing splashand started shivering both form the cold and the feeling ofdread that was smothering me. I stood up and started feelingaround with my arms and my legs, reaching into the darkcorners trying to grab for something that did not belong inthe pool. I felt something soft and foreign brush past my legas I stood there. It took all my courage to feel around—forwhat I didnʼt know, but I did know what I didnʼt want it tobe. Suddenly I heard my name being called and lifted myhead, heavy with dread.“I found your brother. He was asleep in his room. I completelyforgot about putting him down for a nap.”I sighed and all the pent-up emotions left my body, makingme feel empty and at the same time filled with the need tojust scream and run.afterglow 11