When the shofar, or ram’s horn, is blown in the traditional heralding of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur — the highest of Jewish holy days — it emits a sound likened to a child’s cry, says Pearl Krasnjansky, a teacher and spokeswoman for Chabad of Hawaii.

“It’s a powerful sound, a very simple, plaintive sound that goes straight to the heart. It’s the sound of a child crying. We are asking God to have compassion on us, and we’re calling in our heavy-duty reinforcements, reminding him of the merits of our ancestors.

“It also reminds us of what is the purpose of our lives. It redirects us and helps us to be serious about the way we live our lives,” Krasnjansky said.

That’s the essence of the Jewish New Year observations, beginning with Rosh Hashana on Wednesday and Thursday and culminating in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Oct. 7 and 8. (Judaism follows the lunar calendar from sundown to sunset the following day.)

Chabad of Hawaii, in the Ala Moana Hotel, is holding a children’s fair and a shofar-making workshop from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday.

Activities at the fair will be centered around the symbols of Rosh Hashana, such as the decorating of cupcakes to celebrate the creation of mankind — another reason for the holiday, she said. There will also be bobbing for apples, because apples dipped in honey and other sweets are traditionally eaten to represent the desire for blessings and an abundant year, added Krasnjansky, wife of Chabad Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky.

Their son has come in from New York for the holidays, bringing 30 horns for the shofar workshop. Mendy Krasnjansky, a 19-year-old rabbi-in-training, will assist children with sanding, polishing and drilling the horns, which they can take home.

He said he is eager to give kids their first hands-on experience with ram’s horns to bring their lessons to life, and demonstrated how a shofar is blown.

Pearl Krasnjansky said shofar blowing, akin to Hawaiian conch shell-blowing, is an art she has never mastered. Kids will be taught how to blow the horns at the workshop, where a full-size model of a ram and a real ram’s head will be on display.

The sound of the shofar calls attention to the sacrifice Jewish forefather Abraham was willing to make to demonstrate his faith in God: offering the life of his son, Isaac, “who was so dear and precious to him,” Krasnjansky said, recounting the story in the Hebrew Book of Genesis. At the last second, when God spared Isaac’s life, Abraham looked up and saw a ram, whose horns were caught in a thicket, and offered the animal as a burnt offering, she said.

“We blow the ram’s horn to remind God that although we are definitely imperfect people, we call on the good standing of our forefathers, their merit, so God will forgive us for our sins and grant us a year of life and prosperity for another year.”

“Every single year we renew our request to be in God’s Book of Life. And God does it for the whole world, not just for the Jewish people. Yom Kippur, the day of judgment, is the sixth day of creation. On that day Adam was created, and he represents all mankind,” she said.

On Yom Kippur the Jewish people say a prayer describing how God decides “who shall live and who shall die … who shall perish by water and who by fire, or by sword or by a wild beast … who shall be poor and who shall be rich,” Krasnjansky said, quoting parts of it. “When you say the prayer, you really feel like you’re standing before God.”

The shofar is such a central symbol during the season, it is blown hundreds of times total, during the entire Jewish month of Elul preceding the new year, on Rosh Hashana and on Yom Kippur, she said.

The 40-day period from the beginning of Elul to Yom Kippur is a time when Jewish people go through the process of “teshuva,” translated as “repentance.” But it’s deeper meaning relates to “returning to our source, our essence, (which is) God and godliness,” she said.

“The energy of forgiveness and prayer is in the air during these 40 days, more so than throughout the year, and God makes himself more accessible to us at this time — our prayers are more readily received,” Krasnjansky said.