The Chumash lists the Jewish holidays
twice. In the first listing Rosh Hashana is called זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה (Zicron Teruah) (Leviticus 23:24), literally remberance blast,
and in the second listing more simply as the day of teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה) (Numbers 29:1). The simplest translation
of teruah is the blast of a horn, but the more general term is תקיע. Teruah denotes a herald and Israel is described as the herald
of the king. One of the functions of a Jew is to trumpet the coming of the Holy
One Blessed be He. A shofar is a specific type of horn, a ram’s horn as opposed
to a metal trumpet. This is the distinctive practice of Rosh Hashana and it is
reckoned as a mitzvah from the Torah to listen to the shofar on this day
because it is literally called the day of the horn blast.
The shofar is played at various times
during the service and the formal sounding follows the Torah reading of the
holiday. At the conclusion of its sequence a verse from Psalms (89:16) is
recited. “Happy is the people that knows the heralding of Hashem, in the light
of Your face they will walk”. The context of the Psalm is the actions and sites
in the physical world where the presence of the Creator can be sensed and his
future deeds can be perceived. The use of the verse in the liturgy though is
the actual sound of the shofar. Therefore it is appropriate for us to
understand something about this sound.
The shofar is not really a musical
instrument. At best it can be compared to a drum. The tone can be varied
slightly but not enough to produce a melody. It can produce a long blast as
well as a chain of short blasts, but even so it is not greatly rhythmic. It’s
basically a little more than a noise maker. Children love it and will
cheerfully blow this horn especially on Rosh Hashana. It has other functions,
too, for example to sound an alarm, simple military type communications, and to
dramatically focus attention. All of these are relevant to Rosh Hashana but the
cheerful sound expressing joy is the most important one.
A
section of the Musaf for the high holidays is about the shofar. It starts with
how it was used to dramatically focus the nation’s attention during the giving
of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. It then brings various verses from the
book of Psalms in which the shofar is an instrument of celebration before
Hashem. “With trumpets and the sound of the shofar make a blast before the king
Hashem”, (Psalm 98:6). “Blast at the start of the month the shofar, on the new
moon, the day of our celebration”, (Psalm 81:4). The idea is to cheerfully
start the new month. “Praise Him with the blast of a shofar” (Psalm 150:3). These psalms are musical as well but they do
include the idea of a cheerful dramatic entrance.
It
then describes the gathering of the exiles of Israel starting with the blast of
the great shofar. The section “Shofros” ends with the section from the Chumash,
“On the days of your celebrations, holidays, and starts of a new month, you
will make a blast with your trumpets, as well as on your burnt offerings and
peace offerings, and it will be for you a remembrance before the Lord”,
(Numbers 10:10)
The
idea is that we need to know how to properly make noise. At times music is too
sophisticated. Cheering and clapping are also important, but sometimes we need
something a bit more. This is the blast of a horn. It can be used to welcome a
popular politician, favorite teacher, or a dear friend. It gives him a nice welcome
and lets him make a strong entrance. In addition it rouses our memories of the
past and our hopes for the future.
לע"נ הדוד מאיר בן חיים ז"ל
נלב"ע כה בתשרי תשנ"ב
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