“God hears the sound of His People Israel’s shofar blowing with mercy.”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

Rosh Hashanah is like its name – the head (Rosh) of the entire year (shanah.) Just as a man’s head influences his entire person both physically and spiritually, so does Rosh Hashanah influence the entire year. This explains the customs we have on this day, like greeting one another with blessings that we should be “signed and sealed for a good year;” eating apples with honey; and the special wishes we make on Rosh Hashanah night as we eat certain special foods as “signs” or simanim. All these customs serve to leave their stamp on the entire year. All of these blessings and wishes are of earthshaking significance, and we mustn’t make light of them. Quite the contrary, we must treat a layman’s blessing with the full weight due it (Megila 15a).

Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi explained, just as a person has a head and a brain that influence and sustain the entire body, so is Rosh Hashanah a sort of brain for the year, influencing the entire year. And just as one’s head, brain, and heart have to be pure and righteous, so must we purify ourselves on Rosh Hashanah by way of repentance and good deeds, good thoughts, and good speech. Israel Redeemed 24 Through this, we influence the entire year, making it good and sweet.

Especially important is the mitzvah of hearing the Shofar (whose very name recalls “improvement” – shipur). The Shofar hints and teaches us how we must relate properly and constructively to the Day of Judgment and to strict judgment.

The shofar blasts are blown in sets of three, teki’ah, terua, and then another teki’ah – and these stages allude to divine kindness, strict judgment, and mercy. The first blast, the teki’ah, alludes to kindness. It is a simple sound, for where kindness exists, all is simple. In the middle comes the teruah, consisting of broken blasts, the sound of loud sobbing, and sighing, weeping, and wailing. These allude to strict judgment and to life’s hardships. In the end, comes another teki’ah, a simple blast alluding to mercy and love. Through this pattern, we appreciate how the blasts are joined together until one can hear the kindness within strict judgment, the light within the darkness, the sweet within the bitter. We get a sense of how God really is “good to all, with His mercy governing all His works” (Psalm 145:9). Pondering and listening to the sweet, remarkable shofar blasts arouses and strengthens within us the belief that despite everything, when all is said and done, “One higher than the high is watching over us” (Ecclesiastes 5:7), and there is no one else but Him. “The Lord God of Israel is King, and His monarchy rules over all” (Rosh Hashana prayers). In this way, a Jew purifies his mind and heart on Rosh Hashanah, and this day shines upon the entire year.

“This past year and a half has been a hard and painful one for the Jewish People. The sound of the teruah, the sound of weeping and sighing, was the lot of so many Jews that were lost to us. The pain and suffering, doubts, and worries were the lots of many other Jews as well, who felt the enormity of the pain. On Rosh Hashanah, we sing the piyut “let the old year and its curses end, and let the new year and its blessings begin.” We Rosh Hashanah 25 have to arouse ourselves and grow stronger through the shofar blasts. We have to try hard to hear the teki’ot preceding and following the teruah. We have to recognize that God, who hears our prayers, mercifully hears the sound of our cries, the teruah, as we note in the Rosh Hashanah Amidah: “Blessed be God . . . who hears the sound of the teruah of His people Israel, with mercy."

Looking forward to salvation,
With Love of Israel,
Shabbat Shalom.