Defiance at the Western Wall

"Echoes of a Shofar" recounts the amazing story of Jewish pride at the Western Wall during the years 1930-1947 when British law made it illegal to blow the shofar at the Kotel, pray loudly there, or even bring Torah scrolls, so as not to offend the hostile Arab population.

Despite this restriction, for the final seventeen years of the British Mandate, the shofar was sounded at the Wall at the conclusion of every Yom Kippur, in defiance of the ban.

Shofars were smuggled to the Western Wall where brave young Jews defiantly blew them at the conclusion of the fast. Some managed to get away -- others were captured and sent to jail for up to six months.

Six of these men are still alive and Toldot Yisrael, the producers of this remarkable video, accompanied them as they returned to the scene of their "crime" to recount their individual stories. In a rare glimpse into living history, each of them shares with us his spirit of amazing bravery and commitment to live proudly as Jews.

The first of these "rebel shofar blowers," no longer living, was the Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, R' Moshe Tzvi Segal. Every year thereafter, young Jewish men from all walks of life were inspired to follow in Rabbi Segal's footsteps and take the risk of being the one to sound the shofar. (Read his story written in his own words: The Shofar and the Wall .)

"Echoes of a Shofar," produced by the Toldot Yisrael oral history project, captures the essence of the resilient Jewish spirit which refuses to be suppressed under any conditions.