When Shabbos Becomes the Shofar: The Rebbe’s Uplifting Message

When the Shofar Is Silent, Shabbos Speaks

There is something striking about entering shul on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and not hearing the shofar.

The shofar is the heartbeat of Rosh Hashanah. It is the cry of the Jewish soul, the call to teshuvah, and the trumpet with which we proclaim Hashem as King. Yet when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, we do not blow the shofar.

At first it seems that something precious is missing.

Chassidus, and particularly the teachings emphasized by the Rebbe, tell us exactly the opposite. Nothing is missing. Shabbos itself accomplishes what the shofar ordinarily accomplishes.

The Talmud explains that our Sages suspended the blowing of the shofar on Shabbos out of concern that someone might carry it in a public domain. But Chassidus asks a deeper question. How could the Sages allow the Jewish people to lose the extraordinary spiritual power of shofar?

The answer is that we do not lose it.

The shofar awakens a deep Divine pleasure and desire for creation. Through it we crown Hashem as King and awaken a renewed relationship between Hashem and His world. But Shabbos itself is called oneg, delight. When Rosh Hashanah is Shabbos, the spiritual elevation normally achieved through our blowing of the shofar is accomplished through the holiness of Shabbos itself.

In a regular year, we awaken Heaven through the shofar. On a Rosh Hashanah that is Shabbos, Heaven awakens us. That is an extraordinary way to begin a year.

The Silent Shofar

Perhaps the silence itself contains an important message.

We live surrounded by noise. Phones ring. Messages arrive. News flashes. Everyone is talking, posting, reacting and responding.

Then Shabbos arrives and says: Enough. Put down the phone. Come home. Light the candles. Make Kiddush. Sit with your family. Sing. Learn Torah. Pray. Listen. Perhaps this is precisely the shofar our generation needs to hear. Not another sound, but a sacred silence in which the neshamah can finally speak.

A Shabbos Year

The Rebbe taught that Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year. Just as the head directs the entire body, Rosh Hashanah influences everything that follows. Therefore, when Rosh Hashanah itself is permeated with Shabbos, there is a special opportunity for the entire year to become infused with the qualities of Shabbos. Imagine beginning the year with that blessing.

May this become a Shabbos year.

A year with more menuchas hanefesh, peace of mind and soul. A year with more trust and less worry. More gratitude and less complaining. More family and less distraction. More Torah and less noise. More Hashem and less ego. Not a year without responsibility, but a year in which we remember Who is ultimately running the world.

Make Shabbos Stronger

If Shabbos carries the spiritual power of the shofar this Rosh Hashanah, then our preparation should be simple. Make Shabbos stronger. Do not merely keep Shabbos. Celebrate Shabbos.

Light Shabbos candles on time. Come to shul and really daven. Make Kiddush with your family. Sing at the Shabbos table. Even if you cannot carry a tune, Hashem has heard worse.

Share a Torah thought. Invite someone who might otherwise be alone.

Put away the phone and give Hashem, your family and your neshamah twenty-five uninterrupted hours. Learn a little more Torah. Take a Shabbos walk. Say some Tehillim. Make Havdalah together. And perhaps most importantly, bring more joy into Shabbos.

Shabbos is not a burden. Shabbos is Hashem’s gift to the Jewish people.

One Shabbos Resolution We do not need twenty resolutions. Choose one.

Ask yourself: What can I do this year to make my Shabbos more alive? Maybe it is candles. Maybe Kiddush. Maybe shul. Maybe Torah study. Maybe putting away the phone. Maybe inviting a guest. Maybe spending more time talking with your children and grandchildren.

Choose one thing and say: This year my Shabbos will be different. Because when we strengthen Shabbos, Shabbos strengthens us.

Nothing Is Missing

We should not approach this Rosh Hashanah wondering what we are losing because there is no shofar on the first day. We should approach it with confidence and joy.

Nothing is missing. Hashem has simply chosen another instrument. Usually, the instrument is a ram’s horn.

This year the instrument is Shabbos itself.
The candles become part of the shofar.
The Kiddush becomes part of the shofar.
Our prayers become part of the shofar.
The Shabbos table becomes part of the shofar.
The silence becomes part of the shofar.

And the Jew who closes the door on the noise of the world and opens the door to Hashem may discover that the quietest shofar can sometimes penetrate the deepest.
Then, on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, when we physically hear the shofar, perhaps we will hear it differently. We will have spent an entire day learning how to listen.

May Hashem bless us with a year filled with gezunt, nachas, parnassah b’harchavah, shalom bayis, simchah and menuchas hanefesh.

May our families be blessed. May those who need healing receive a complete refuah shleimah. May our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael be protected. May Jews everywhere live proudly and securely. May our homes become warmer, our Shabbos tables brighter, our prayers deeper and our Jewish pride stronger.

And may we soon experience the ultimate Shabbos, Yom shekulo Shabbos u’menuchah l’chayei ha’olamim, with the coming of Moshiach and the sounding of the Great Shofar. So when we enter shul this Rosh Hashanah and notice the silence, let us not ask:

Where is the shofar?
Listen carefully.
The shofar is not missing.
This year, Shabbos itself is blowing it.

Kesivah vachasimah tovah. May we all be written and sealed for a good, sweet, healthy, peaceful and truly Shabbosdik year.