Blow Away! (Rosh Hashanah 27a - 28a)

The preeminent mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah is to hear the shofar sounded. But what does that mean? If the ba’al tekiyah (shofar blower) employs a home-brew amplifier, by blasting into a barrel or other resonant chamber to enhance the sound, and I hear the echo, does that count? When I first had a PDA years ago, a friend and colleague loaded a recording of the shofar blasts onto it. Does listening to this recording count? If I’m not keeping Rosh Hashanah but I happen to walk past a synagogue at the time the shofar is sounded, does that count?

In the mishnayot recorded on daf 27b we read:

One who sounds the shofar into a pit, a cistern, or a barrel: if he heard the sound of the shofar, he has fulfilled his obligation. But if he heard the sound of the echo, he has not fulfilled his obligation.

And similarly, one who was passing behind a synagogue or whose house was adjacent to the synagogue, and he heard the sound of the shofar (or on Purim he heard the sound of the Megillah) if he directed his mind, he has fulfilled [the obligation to hear the shofar], but if not, he has not fulfilled [the obligation]. Even though this one heard and that one heard, this one directed his mind and that one did not direct his mind.

Yet even before introducing this mishnah, back on daf 27a, Gemara commented:

Why? [To the contrary] let him [be deemed] to have fulfilled his obligation [by having heard] the beginning of the blast, before it became mixed up with the sound [of the echo]! Rather two voices coming from a single person cannot be distinguished. [But two voices] coming from two people can be distinguished. Indeed, coming from two people can [separate sounds] be distinguished? But [suggesting the contrary] thus it is taught [in Megillah 3:20]: In [the public reading of] the Torah [in synagogue] one person reads and one translates [into Aramaic]. But [one should not read while two translate, nor should two read while one translates], nor should two read while two translate…

The Rabbis are concerned that we hear the sound of the shofar directly and intentionally, that in order to fulfill the mitzvah of hearing the shofar we must be actually listening for it, and desirous of hearing it. Given the religious agenda of Rosh Hashanah – to engage in cheshbon nefesh (an accounting of our souls) and teshuvah (repentance) – this makes perfect sense. Direct engagement and intention are essential to cheshbon nefesh and teshuvah.

Yet only a few dapim later (on 28a), we find Rabbah loosening the requirements:

If one heard part of a shofar blast inside a pit, and part of the blast at the edge of the pit, he has fulfilled [the obligation].

A comment a few lines later reveals that Rabbah is speaking about the shofar blower: if s/he begins the blast while standing in a pit, and walks to the edge of the pit and climbs out while still blowing the shofar, then a person standing on the edge of the pit, who initially heard the echo of the blast, and only comes to hear the blast directly when the shofar blower reaches the edge of the pit, nonetheless fulfills his/her obligation to hear the shofar. Surprising! This contradicts what we learned in 27a above, that one must hear the beginning of the blast directly. Could this possibly be more evidence of what Rabbi Rieser identified in his last post about the Rabbis reflection of the destruction of the Temple? Once we heard the word of Sinai directly, once we participated in the sacrifices directly, once we had access to the words of the prophets directly. Today we hear but an echo. Yet those who intend to fulfill the mitzvah and seek to experience the sound of shofar are credited with doing so, and we encourage people to participate to their fullest in the hopes they will find religious meaning and comfort in Jewish practices.

And perhaps Rabbah is also painting a picture for us of how Judaism is adopted and absorbed by so many of us: initially we stand at the edge of the pit, far from the center, listening and considering what meaning this has for our lives. Then the tradition moves closer to us and envelopes us and we feel its power far more directly.

May the power and potential of Elul -- which we welcomed this morning with the first blast of the shofar this season -- draw us all closer to God and closer to one another. May Elul bring repentance, reconciliation, and renewal.

© 2009 Rabbi Amy Scheinerman

Straight and Twisted Shofarot (Rosh Hashanah 26b)

Are rituals -- and the objects we use to practice them -- symbolic of the prevailing spiritual mood? Or do we choose ritual objects to cultivate in ourselves an attitude or mood appropriate to the occasion? The mishnah on Rosh Hashanah 26b concerning shofar discusses the source, shape, and embellishment of the horns used on Rosh Hashanah, fast days (declared in the case of drought or disaster) and to announce the Yovel (Jubilee) year at the end of Yom Kippur. )

The shofar of Rosh Hashanah is of a wild goat that is a straight [horn] and its mouth is plated with gold, and two trumpets [are blown] at its sides. The shofar [blasts] long and the trumpets [blow] short, because the commandment of the day concerns a shofar. On fast days: [we blow] with [horns of] males, bent, and their mouths are plated with silver, and two trumpets [are blown] in between them. The shofar [blows] short and the trumpets [blow] long, because the commandment of the day is with trumpets. The Yovel (Jubilee) year: is identical to Rosh Hashanah [with respect to] the blowing and the blessings. R. Yehudah says: On Rosh Hashanah we blast with [horns of] males and on the Yovel (Jubilee) years with [horns of] wild goats.

If that’s a lot to take in on first glance, I’ve prepared the text in an outline form with the hope that it makes the structure easier to follow:

A. The shofar of Rosh Hashanah:
a. is of a wild goat that is a straight [horn]
b. and its mouth is plated with gold,
c. and two trumpets [are blown] at its sides.
d. The shofar [blasts] long and the trumpets [blow] short, because the commandment of the day concerns a shofar.

B. On fast days:
a. [we blow] with [horns of] males,
b. bent,
c. and their mouths are plated with silver,
d. and two trumpets [are blown] in between them.
e. The shofar [blows] short and the trumpets [blow] long, because the commandment of the day is with trumpets.

C. The Yovel year: is identical to Rosh Hashanah [with respect to] the blowing and the blessings.

D. R. Yehudah says:
a. On Rosh Hashanah we blast with [horns of] males
b. and on the Yovel years with [horns of] wild goats.

What strikes me first and foremost is the concern with the shape of the horn. For Rosh Hashanah and to announce the Yovel (Jubilee year) we are to use a straight horn, but for fast days, a bent or twisted horn is prescribed.

(Time out for Jewish “trivia”: The Jubilee year occurs every 50th year at the end of seven cycles of shemittah (sabbatical years) and its announcement is made at the close of Yom Kippur by blowing a shofar. Leviticus 25: 8-16 explains the requirement to blow the shofar on the tenth day of the seventh month and to observe the Yovel as a sabbatical year. This is why shofar is blown in synagogues at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. No doubt you’re now thinking: but we blow the shofar every year following Yom Kippur. Yes, this is true, and that is because we have lost track of when the Jubilee year falls. Therefore we blow the shofar each year in case that year is the Yovel.)

(Second time out for background on fast days: Talmud, in masechet Ta’anit, prescribes special fasts and prayers in the case of severe drought and actual or imminent disaster. Blowing a shofar is covered in chapter 2.)

In the case of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we are engaged in the process of teshuvah (repentance), confident that if our repentance is sincere and thorough, God will forgive and our atonement will cleanse. Many people mistakenly think Yom Kippur is a somber day akin to a day of mourning, Not so. While it is certainly a serious occasion, Yom Kippur is a joyous day because we are assured that sincere teshuvah (repentance) brings forgiveness. Hence we – like the shofar -- stand straight: confident and joyful that our relationships with God and people in our lives can be repaired, reconciled, and renewed. Similarly, the Jubilee is a joyous occasion and the straight shofar announces rest for the land and release from debts.

On fast days, however, there was a sense of fear in the air in ancient times because the theology held that drought and disaster resulted from the people’s sins. Fasts – with their accompanying prayers and shofar blasts – were intended to remediate the situation and inspire repentance. People were encouraged by the bent shofar to bend themselves in repentance, but there is no sure confidence that their efforts will be successful.

These days, one is as likely to see a twisted shofar used on Rosh Hashanah as a straight one. The distinction made in the Mishnah is no longer observed in most communities.

Are rituals -- and the objects we use to practice them -- symbolic of the prevailing spiritual mood? Or do we choose ritual objects to cultivate in ourselves an attitude or mood appropriate to the occasion? Perhaps it both operating simultaneously.

© 2009 Rabbi Amy Scheinerman