It is the custom to blow the shofar during the month of Elul which began at the end of August. We do this, we are taught, to awaken our soul before we begin a new year. The Call of the Shofar Once upon a time, many years ago, in the faraway country of Russia, there lived a poor orphan named Moshele. He went to cheder (Jewish school) with all the other children in his little town. He loved learning about the Torah. When he became a bit older, he had to go to work. He was a poor orphan. He had to get a job and take care of himself. Moshele decided to become a peddler. In those days there weren’t many stores. Peddlers traveled all over the country with suitcases full of things to sell. Moshele got a suitcase and filled it with all kinds of odds and ends.…