The Silent Shofar and the Message of Ahavat Yisrael
The Silent Shofar and the Message of Ahavat Yisrael
Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment. We stand before the Ribono Shel Olam and ask Him to judge us with mercy and give us a good and sweet year. At the center of the day is the mitzvah of shofar. The sound of the shofar awakens us to teshuvah and reminds us that we are standing before the King.
Yet there is one situation in which the shofar is silent.
When the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, we do not blow the shofar.
The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 29b) explains that although blowing the shofar is a Torah mitzvah, Chazal decreed that the shofar should not be blown when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. They were concerned that someone who did not know how to blow the shofar properly might take his shofar to someone who was an expert in order to learn from him, and in doing so carry it through the reshus harabim and violate Shabbos.
At first, this is difficult to understand. Why should the entire Jewish people give up the sound of the shofar because one person might come to make such a mistake?
The Bnei Yissaschar, Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov, explains that there is a deeper reason. In Ma’amarei HaShabbasos (Maamar Alef, os 6), he writes:
“והנה שופר בראש השנה הוא להמתיק הב’ דינים, ובשבת נדחה השופר (בתקנת חכמים) כי נמתקים הדינים בקדושת יום שבת, עיצומו של יום השבת ממתיק קשיא רפיא.”
The shofar has the power to lessen the din. But when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, the kedushah of Shabbos itself takes the place of the shofar. The very day of Shabbos has the power to lessen the din.
The Aruch LaNer, Rabbi Yaakov Ettlinger, develops this idea further in his Minchas Ani on Parshas Ha’azinu. He brings examples of years when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos that were among the greatest years in the history of Klal Yisrael. He also brings examples of years when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos that were among the most difficult years in our history. Among the examples he discusses are the years connected with the destruction of the Batei Mikdash, as well as years connected with the forgiveness of the sin of the Eigel, the establishment of the Mishkan and the entry of Klal Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael.
How can the same situation in the calendar be connected both with years of blessing and with years of destruction?
The Aruch LaNer explains that when Rosh Hashanah falls on a weekday, the shofar stands for us before the Ribono Shel Olam. But when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, the shofar is silent. Something else must stand for us:
“אכן לזה בא השבת שהיא בת זוגה לישראל להיות סניגור בעדינו לפני מלך מלכי המלכים.”
Shabbos itself can stand for Klal Yisrael before the Ribono Shel Olam.
The Aruch LaNer adds that this depends on how we keep Shabbos. When Klal Yisrael observes Shabbos properly, Shabbos can stand for us. But if we do not properly keep and honor Shabbos, how can Shabbos stand for us?
The Aruch LaNer brings a powerful mashal.
A minister once sinned against the king. He knew that the king was angry with him and that he had no simple way to escape the judgment. His wife, who was close to the king, came before him to ask for mercy for her husband.
But when the king saw the marks on the woman’s body, he understood that the minister himself had harmed her. Instead of being able to speak in his favor, she had become evidence against him.
So too on Rosh Hashanah.
When Rosh Hashanah falls on a weekday, the sound of the shofar can stand for us. But when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, the shofar is silent, and Shabbos itself comes to stand for Klal Yisrael. If we honor Shabbos and keep it properly, it can stand for us. But if we do not keep it properly, the very Shabbos that we ask to stand for us could, chalilah, stand against us.
There is something especially moving here.
We give up the sound of the shofar in order to protect one Jew from stumbling, and the Shabbos that we protect is the one that can later stand for us before the Ribono Shel Olam.
In 5784, the first day of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos. We should not presume to know the ways of the Ribono Shel Olam, nor can we say that the events of that year prove the teaching of the Aruch LaNer. But after what we experienced in 5784, his words have a special meaning for us and should lead us to think about our own conduct.
There is another message here that deserves our attention.
Why is the shofar silent?
Because of one Jew.
The shofar is silent so that one Jew will not stumble.
Chazal knew how important the mitzvah of shofar is. They knew that Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment. Yet they decreed that the entire Jewish people should give up the sound of the shofar so that one Jew would not come to violate Shabbos.
This is a great lesson in Ahavat Yisrael.
The Jew who might carry the shofar is not necessarily trying to do something wrong. On the contrary, he may be trying to fulfill a mitzvah. He wants to hear the shofar, and he wants to learn how to blow it properly. But even a good intention can bring a person to do something wrong.
Chazal therefore said: the shofar must remain silent.
The entire Jewish people gives up the sound of the shofar so that one Jew will not stumble.
This teaches us that Ahavat Yisrael is not only about helping a Jew after he has fallen. It is also about caring enough to try to prevent another Jew from falling in the first place.
This message is especially meaningful on Rosh Hashanah.
We come before the Ribono Shel Olam and ask Him to forgive us, to give us health, parnassah, nachas, peace and blessing. We ask Him to look at us with mercy and judge us favorably.
The silent shofar teaches us that we must prepare ourselves for the Day of Judgment in another way as well.
Before we ask Hashem to judge us favorably, we should try to judge another Jew favorably.
Before we ask for rachmanus, we should show rachmanus to another Jew.
And before we ask Hashem to care about our needs, we should remember that the needs of another Jew should also be important to us.
Ahavat Yisrael does not mean that we have to agree with everyone or approve of everything another person does. But it does mean that we must never forget that he is part of Klal Yisrael. His honor matters. His situation matters. His difficulties matter.
The connection between this message and Shabbos is also meaningful.
The Torah says about Shabbos:
“ביני ובין בני ישראל אות היא לעולם”
(Shemos 31:17).
Shabbos is an os, a sign of the special connection between Hashem and Klal Yisrael. When Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, that connection is expressed in a special way. The shofar is silent, and the kedushah of Shabbos takes its place.
But this also places a responsibility on us.
If we want Shabbos to stand for us, we must honor Shabbos.
And if we want another Jew to stand for us, we must stand beside him.
We live in a time when Jewish unity is not merely a slogan. It is a real need. We cannot control everything that happens around us, and we cannot know what the coming year will bring. But we can control the way we treat one another.
We can speak with greater respect. We can be less quick to judge. We can avoid hurting another Jew. We can help before we are asked. We can notice when another Jew is having a difficult time. We can remember that the difficulty of another Jew is not only his problem. It is also our problem.
The silent shofar teaches us a great lesson.
The entire Jewish people gives up something as important as the sound of the shofar because of one Jew. This is what real concern for another Jew looks like.
Perhaps this is one of the messages of the silent shofar on Rosh Hashanah. When the shofar is not heard, we are being asked to listen to something else: to the responsibility we have toward one another, to the importance of Shabbos, and to the connection that joins every Jew to Klal Yisrael.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches, we should stop and ask ourselves:
**What kind of year will this be, and what can we do to make ourselves worthy of having Shabbos stand for us?**
May the kedushah of Shabbos and the merit of our care for one another stand for Klal Yisrael. May the Ribono Shel Olam see the efforts we make to strengthen the bonds between us and grant us all a kesivah v’chasimah tovah, a year of peace, protection, health and blessing for all of Klal Yisrael.
**Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz**
