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The Powerful Prayer of the Shofar

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The Powerful Prayer of the Shofar TORAT MIZRACHI Rabbi Shua Solomon The Powerful Prayer of the Shofar he shofar has been a symbol Rav Yehuda disagrees and holds the Akeida on Rosh Hashanah and Sar- of Jewish pride and salvation reverse. He sees the shape of the ah’s cries when she heard about the throughout the ages. Its cry shofar representing a person’s posture. binding of her son Yitzchak (Vay- Twas heard before the Jewish people During the Day of Judgment, we are ikra Rabbah 20:2). Whilst Sarah and entered into battle and it will be supposed to be bent over in prayer Sisera’s mother represent very dif- blown to herald the coming of the asking forgiveness from the Almighty ferent things, their stories are bound Messiah. And who can forget the and so the shape of the shofar must together on Rosh Hashanah, by the emotional and hugely meaningful represent that. natural fear and concern of a mother blowing of the shofar by Rav Goren for her son. A mother’s cry comes after we liberated Jerusalem and the According to Rabbeinu Tam, the from the very depths of her soul. Western Wall in 1967? mitzvah of the shofar is one of hearing and not blowing. One who listens but This might explain why the shofar is Whilst there are many minhagim does not blow fulfills his obligation a prayer without a sound. We spend most of our year organizing our ש וֹ ֵמ ע customs) surrounding Rosh Hasha- through the halachic principle of) one who hears is considered as thoughts and putting them in writing) ְ ּכ ע וֹ ֶנ ה nah, the primary mitzvah is the sounding of the shofar. Both in Vay- if he heard it himself.) This principle or expressing them during conversa- ikra and Bamidbar, Rosh Hashanah is usually only applies in the realm of tion. Nevertheless, there is something described as a day of shofar blowing. prayers or blessings. destructive, limiting, about having to Much has been written about the organize our thoughts. We lose the shofar and what its different blasts The question then arises, what type ability to express how we really feel represent but there are also many dif- of prayer are we offering before G-d and what we are really going through. ferent sources in Chazal that point to when we blow the shofar? Unlike any The most authentic messages are lost the shofar as a form of prayer before other prayer, the shofar has no words when we need to translate them into the Almighty. to express what we are asking for and words. no structured paragraphs and texts to On Rosh Hashanah, we are instructed The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 26a), help us organize our thoughts. What when discussing which animals’ horns to blow the shofar and express a is the meaning of the shofar’s prayer prayer on a completely different level. are fit for the making of a shofar, dis- and what are we trying to express? qualifies that of a cow. The reason A wordless prayer expressing our deepest feelings and emotions as our (the accuser The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 32b) ֵאין ָק ֵטיגוֹ ר ַנ ֲע ָשׂה ָס ֵניגוֹ ר is lives and the lives of our loved ones cannot become the defender.) Since derives the different sounds of the hang in the balance. the shofar pleads our case before the shofar from the cries of Sisera’s Heavenly Court, it is inappropriate it mother at the death of her son. Sisera This is the beauty of the shofar’s should come from a cow, because that was a wicked army general who tried prayer. In its merit may we be blessed ‘reminds’ G-d of the sin of the Golden to destroy the Jewish people. How can with a wonderful year ahead. Calf and its disastrous consequences. we possibly learn the details of such an important mitzvah from the death The Mishna (Rosh Hashanah 26b) of such a wicked person? discusses the shape of the shofar that should be used on Rosh Hashanah Even within a culture and society and Yom Kippur. The Tanna Kama permeated with evil, there is noth- (first opinion) holds that we use a ing more natural and pure than the straight horn on Rosh Hashanah and cry of a mother longing for her child. Rabbi Shua Solomon is the Senior Rabbi a bent or curved one on Yom Kippur. This is why we also read about the of Mizrachi Bondi. | 13.
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