Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On September 6, 1999, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published an article about a teenage girl, Sarah Reiter of Olivette, Missouri, who blows the shofar to begin Rosh Hashanah at Temple Israel in Creve Coeur, MO. The shofar is a Jewish ceremonial instrument fashioned from the horn of an animal, usually a ram, but sometimes a sheep, goat, mountain goat, antelope, or gazelle. At Orthodox and Conservative synagogues, the job of blowing the shofar is given to an honored male, but the Reform synagogue of Temple Israel has a tradition of involving young people to blow the shofar. Rabbi Mark Shook, senior rabbi of Temple Israel, stated that letting young people blow the shofar is "...a way of connecting; it creates good vibes in the congregation."