Musician turns to a different kind of horn

Southfield man hopes to be among five finalists competing on the Jewish shofar in New York City.

SOUTHFIELD — As a longtime musician, Rick May knows he’s not the best trumpet player around, but he’s hoping to become the nation’s best blower of the shofar — a wind instrument that will be heard by Jews around the world in synagogues during their upcoming high holidays.

May, 61, recently entered a contest in search of the best shofar blower in America. Sponsored by the National Jewish Outreach Program in New York, the contest will bring five finalists to New York in September for the first “Great Shofar Blast Off” and send the winner to Israel.

An ancient tradition in Jewish history, the shofar is a ram’s horn that is blown 100 times in synagogues on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which this year is Oct. 3. The shofar is also blown 10 days later at the end of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

“As I take my place in the temple, shofar in hand, I am acutely aware that I am about to play an instrument that has been played by my ancestors for thousands of years,” May said on the DVD he entered into the contest. “I feel honored to stand in their footsteps, completely connected to my heritage.”

Jews believe the shofar was blown when God handed down the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. They also believe it will be heard when the Messiah comes.

“It’s primarily a call to repentance,” said Rabbi Juddah Isaacs, executive director of the Michigan Board of Rabbis. “It’s a very haunting sound. When you get someone who can blow it well, you feel it.”

May has blown the shofar at his synagogue, Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy, for seven years.

“It is hard to imagine that anyone can blow the shofar with more spirit and more beauty than Rick May,” Sleutelberg said. “When he calls the congregation to repentance, we feel it deep in our souls.”