UK’s Johnson tries, fails to blow shofar
British PM takes a break from ongoing political crises to attempt to sound horn handed to him by a woman on the street
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson took a break from dealing with Brexit-related political crises this week, only to encounter a plight of a different kind when he tried and failed to blow a shofar.
Johnson was on the street in the English city of Doncaster when a woman approached him with the traditional Jewish horn, according to a video posted online by the UK’s Channel 5 News on Friday.
“Would you blow the holy shofar? It’s from Israel. It’s like a trumpet so you have to blow it like a trumpet,” she said.
Johnson took the shofar and asked his adviser if he could blow it. His adviser immediately shot down the suggestion.
A strange moment for Boris Johnson in #Doncaster as he was asked to blow a holy Shofar horn.
His adviser was not keen but the PM gave it a good go anyway, only to be let down by his technique. pic.twitter.com/6jywCGQicQ
— Channel 5 News (@5_News) September 13, 2019
“Am I allowed to?” Johnson asked the woman. “Are you sure? Maybe I’m not authorized.”
“God has authorized you,” the woman said.
Johnson then attempted to sound the horn, unsuccessfully.
“Shofar so good,” he quipped, handing the horn back to the woman.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t Johnson’s first time failing to sound a shofar. Video from 2011 shows the then-mayor of London attempting to blow a shofar alongside the city’s chief rabbi.
After receiving some instruction, Johnson managed to produce some sound from the instrument.
The Times of Israel Community.