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The Meaning of the Shofar - Parashat Netzavim 5776 - September 30, 2016

In allusion to George Orwell: all of the passages in the Rambam’s magnum opus – the Mishne Torah – are meaningful; but some are more meaningful than others.

One such passage in The Laws of Repentance (3:4) fits this description. Maimonides writes:

Even though the sounding of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah is a decree, it contains an allusion. It is as if [the call of the shofar] is saying: Wake up you sleepy ones from your sleep and you who slumber, arise. Inspect your deeds, repent, remember your Creator. Those who forget the truth in the vanities of time and throughout the entire year, devote their energies to vanity and emptiness which will not benefit or save: Look to your souls. Improve your ways and your deeds and let every one of you abandon his evil path and thoughts. Accordingly, throughout the entire year, a person should always look at himself as equally balanced between merit and sin and the world as equally balanced between merit and sin. If he performs one sin, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to the side of guilt and brings destruction upon himself. [On the other hand,] if he performs one mitzvah, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to the side of merit and brings deliverance and salvation to himself and others. This is implied by, "A righteous man is the foundation of the world," (Proverbs 10:25) i.e., he who acted righteously, tipped the balance of the entire world to merit and saved it.

For these reasons, it is customary for all of Israel to give profusely to charity, perform many good deeds, and be occupied with mitzvot from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur to a greater extent than during the remainder of the year.

During these ten days, the custom is for everyone to rise [while it is still] night and pray in the synagogues with heart-rending words of supplication until daybreak.

What a truly amazing passage! It contains so many important ideas that speak to our hearts – particularly during this time of the year.

In this passage, the Rambam teaches that the shofar is an “alarm clock” – a signal to do teshuva – repentance. How does the sound of the shofar convey this message? The Rambam addresses the meaning of the sound of the shofar in a passage in The Laws of Shofar (3:2).

Over the passage of the years and throughout the many exiles, doubt has been raised concerning the teru'ah which the Torah mentions, to the extent that we do not know what it is: Does it resemble the wailing with which the women cry when they moan, or the sighs which a person who is distressed about a major matter will release repeatedly? Perhaps a combination of the two - sighing and the crying which will follow it - is called teru'ah, because a distressed person will sigh and then cry? Therefore, we fulfill all [these possibilities].

In this passage, the Rambam explains the meaning of the two sounds that we call shevarim and teru’ah – the broken and staccato sounds that are blown between the long sounds that we call teki’ah. Each of these sounds represents a human response to his or her own suffering. The shevarim sound is akin to a sighing in response to distress. The teru’ah sound is akin to crying. The shevarim-teru’ah sound is akin to sighing followed by crying.

It is interesting that the Rambam describes the sounds of the shofar in terms of human experience. Other chachamim do not describe the shofar sounds in these terms (see Tur and Mishnah Berurah). According to the Rambam, the shofar is a reflection of the state of the individual on Rosh HaShana. Three human states of mind are described – trepidation, broken-heartedness and the continuum of trepidation to broken-heartedness.

Returning to our question: how does the sound of the shofar signal a person to wake up and repent? Synthesizing these two passages, the Rambam apparently maintains that by hearing the pronouncement of these human states of mind, a person crystallizes his or her own outlook on the powerful day of Rosh HaShana. This person realizes the consequence of sin and the enormity of the Day of Judgement. He wakes up from his slumber and attends to repentance.

May we all respond self-reflectively to the powerful message of the shofar and be inscribed in the Book of Life for a happy and healthy year.

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