Yomim Noraim / Teshuva

Thank you very much Rabbi Teitz, reshut of Rabbanim Teitz and Mordechai. Let's spend a few minutes together reviewing mitzvas shofar, both ba'halacha u'ba'aggada. So let's begin with a somewhat more technical discussion of the mitzvas shofar on the level of halacha. Bear with me, trying to keep it as lucid as possible, and from there to use that as a lead-in for mitzvas shofar al pi aggada. Rambam writes in hilchos shofar that if one steals a shofar and then uses that shofar to sound the requisite blasts of the shofar, the tekiyah, the shevarim, the teruah, tekiyah on Rosh Hashanah, he has fulfilled his mitzvah. Right, this stands in marked contrast to the first mishna in the third perek of Sukka which says lulav ha-gazul pasul. If a person steals a lulav and then employs that in the service of his mitzvas lulav on Succos, he has not fulfilled his mitzvah. By contrast, if a person steals a shofar and then uses that shofar to facilitate his kiyum ha-mitzvah, so that kiyum ha-mitzvah is valid. The principle of mitzvah ha-ba'ah ba-aveirah, the fact that an aveirah was performed does not undermine the mitzvah in this context. And then the Rambam gives a rather cryptic explanation, which is that אין בקול דין גזל, that the status of stolen property cannot attach itself to something intangible such as a sound. The status of stolen property can attach itself to a lulav, to something tangible; it can't attach itself to something intangible such as a shofar. אין בקול דין גזל. The Rosh, on the bracha, many of you are probably familiar with it, it was a staple in the shiurim before Rosh Hashanah, explains as follows: The Rambam was asked, and we have the teshuvos ha-Rambam, we have his response on what the correct form of the bracha should be preceding the mitzvah. Should the bracha be אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו לתקוע בשופר or as we in fact have it, lishmoa kol shofar? And the Rambam responded that the mitzvah is shmiah, the mitzvah is to hear the sound of the shofar, not so much to sound the shofar, to actively produce the sound, to make the sound, but rather to hear the sound. And accordingly, the Rambam says, and this is the view that has prevailed, this is our custom, that the bracha should be lishmoa kol shofar, reflecting this emphasis and definition of the mitzvah. And this is also indicated in the Rambam in hilchos shofar as he notes at the beginning of each set of halachos, the Rambam enumerates for us which of the Taryag mitzvos will be discussed in this section of Mishneh Torah. So when he starts to discuss mitzvas shofar, he lists it as the mitzvah of lishmoa kol shofar. So the Rosh then went on to explain, once again, the Rosh had many, many subtexts to all of these things that were convergent, that the psul of mitzvah ha-ba'ah ba-aveirah, the fact that a mitzvah is disqualified because of its aveirah background, because of the transgression which was pivotal to the kiyum ha-mitzvah, so the halacha limits that to when the aveirah, when the cheftza shel mitzvah, when that object with which the mitzvah is performed was itself, is itself an object of aveirah. For instance, by the lulav, so the mitzvah is to hold the lulav. But if the lulav is stolen property, so the same object which represents the kiyum ha-mitzvah, that very object is stolen property, is itself a cheftza shel aveirah, is itself again an object tainted by an aveirah. by aveira, not just in terms of its history, but in the present, right now, it's stolen property, it's stolen property. Hence the Rav explains when the Rambam said אין בקול דין גזל, it was reflecting this definition of the mitzvah that since the mitzvah is fulfilled by hearing, so with what do you fulfill? The mitzvah is the waves, right, the soundwaves which come out of the shofar. When you hear those soundwaves, you fulfill the mitzvah. So that the psul, the disqualification of mitzvah haba'ah b'aveira can't affect, it can't taint the soundwaves because something intangible such as that is not susceptible to the psul, to the disqualification of mitzvah haba'ah b'aveira because again, based on the Yerushalmi in the 13th perek of Shabbat and other sources which the Rishonim quote, the psul, the disqualification of mitzvah haba'ah b'aveira is not simply if somehow or other the aveira paved the way for the mitzvah, but specifically if the aveira attaches itself to the same object as the mitzvah attaches itself to. But since the mitzvah is fulfilled through shmiah, through listening, so there is no object, that's an intangible, hence there is no place for this psul of mitzvah haba'ah b'aveira. In a word, what we're going to be focusing on, again, is this definition of mitzvat shofar, that the mitzvat shofar is to hear the blast of the shofar, not necessarily sound the shofar, but simply to hear the shofar. And again, and halakhically, so we've seen two manifestations of that, number one, according to the Rambam, the fact that in contrast to a lulav, if one employs a stolen shofar, one can still fulfill the mitzvah of shofar, and then number two, that the correct nusach habracha, the correct text of the bracha, is lishmoa kol shofar rather than litkoa bashofar. However, it's a little bit more complex than that. And here too the Rav went on to explain and introduce the following subtle distinction. There are a couple of mishnayot in the third and fourth perek of Rosh Hashanah which tell us what happens if a katan, what happens if a minor sounds the shofar. So I hear the tashrat, the tashat, the tarat from a katan, or I hear it from a cherish mute, who's not obligated in mitzvot, or I hear it from someone who's deranged, a shota. So a cherish, shota, vekatan sounds the shofar, since the cherish, shota, vekatan is not obligated in the mitzvah, the mishna says that someone who hears the shofar from this person, since he himself is not obligated in the mitzvah, so he cannot be מוציא את הרבים ידי חובתם. He cannot be the instrument through which others discharge their obligation because again, if I'm going to fulfill my mitzvah by hanging on to someone else's coat tails, I can only do it if he shares the same obligation that I do. If he's exempt from the mitzvah, and I'm obligated in the mitzvah, so then I can't latch on to his coat tails to fulfill my mitzvah. And similarly, the mishna says, that's the mishna in the third perek of Rosh Hashanah, there's another mishna later in the fourth perek of Rosh Hashanah, which says what happens if someone sounds the shofar without as it were, totally without intention, even to the point of not realizing what he's doing. That the shofar blasts are again generated in a way which the halakha calls mitasek, that the person is not even aware of what he's doing. Once again, even though it may be the most wonderful set of tashrat, tashat, tarat that you've ever heard in your life, but in terms of fulfilling the mitzvah, it's unacceptable because again, if he's not doing it for the sake of the mitzvah, so again, I can't latch on to that to fulfill my mitzvah. So the acharonim puzzled, but if the mitzvah is just to hear the kol, the mitzvah is just to hear the shofar, so what difference does it make who's sounding the shofar? What difference does it make whether that person is a minor, whether that person is obligated in the mitzvah or not? I'm independently fulfilling the mitzvah when it comes to the mitzvah of Kiddush Friday night. the husband, that the father makes Kiddush and everyone else listens, so we rely on the halakhic principle of shome'a ke-oneh, that one who listens, so for purposes of fulfilling a mitzvah, it's tantamount to having said or created those same words, those same sounds. So when I listen to Kiddush Friday night, I'm not fulfilling my mitzvah by listening, I'm fulfilling my mitzvah because the halakhah with this principle of shome'a ke-oneh says it's as if I heard, it's as if I heard, excuse me, it's as if I said the Kiddush myself. That's why it's recommended, it's not, it's not absolutely necessary, some of the acharonim says it has to be lenient, but it's certainly recommended that whenever one invokes this principle of shome'a ke-oneh that one should understand what it is that one's hearing. So it's very optimal, again, some of the acharonim says it's not absolutely necessary, but it's certainly optimal that one should familiarize oneself with the text of Kiddush, with the meaning of Kiddush, and the same holds true for any mitzvah which one is going to discharge by means of this halakhic principle of shome'a ke-oneh again, that listening is tantamount to having said or again, produced those sounds. So now, if the mitzvah were to blow shofar, so then I would understand that I'm not fulfilling the mitzvah independently, it's by listening, it's as if I had done the same thing he did. But if he's not obligated in the mitzvah, so that's a lesser performance in terms of my obligation. So I would understand that I can't hear a minor blow shofar. But if in fact the mitzvah is simply listening, so why can't I be totally independent in fulfilling the mitzvah? It shouldn't make a difference who's sounding the blast. So the Rav here introduced again, a subtle distinction, again, we'll try to understand it as best as we can, and after this we'll move into the aggadah part. So the Rav introduced the following idea. He said that even though the mitzvah is fulfilled, or in his words, even though the Kiyum Ha-Mitzvah, the fulfillment of the mitzvah results only by hearing the shofar, nevertheless the Torah still requires that the act of blowing, the Torah still considers that part of one's Ma'aseh Ha-Mitzvah. So that we have a discrepancy as it were, that the Torah says part of the mandatory performance of mitzvah shofar is to blow shofar. And therefore we do have recourse to shome'a ke-oneh. When we fulfill mitzvah shofar in shul, this year we won't have the mitzvah d'Oraita shofar, we'll only have the d'Rabbanan on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, so we are relying and we should be conscious of it, the ba'al toke'a should be conscious of it, we are relying on the halakhic principle of shome'a ke-oneh because in fact it is required that one does not merely hear, that part of one's performance, part of one's Ma'aseh Ha-Mitzvah has to be sounding the shofar. But even though that's required on the level of the performance, in terms of what constitutes the fulfillment of the mitzvah, in the Rav's words, the Kiyum Ha-Mitzvah, that is only accomplished through shmi'ah. So we have a strange kind of hybrid mitzvah here, a strange combination, that both teki'ah and shmi'ah, both the sounding of the shofar as well as hearing the shofar are crucial and indispensable. Again, how does that express itself halakhically? It expresses itself halakhically that it's not enough to merely hear the shofar but one has to have a part in the sounding of the shofar. How does that happen? Again, through the halakhic principle of shome'a ke-oneh. The same way all of us fulfill Kiddush Friday night even though one recites the Kiddush, but the principle shome'a ke-oneh says it's as if each of us individually recited, so too, it's as if each of us blew the shofar, each of us have then participated in that Ma'aseh Ha-Mitzvah, in that requisite performance of the mitzvah. However, unlike Kiddush which doesn't have this distinction within it, shofar, the Torah says even though we required the sounding. Practically we both have to blow the shofar and hear the shofar again. How does that just to sum up the first part of our discussion mitzvat shofar al pi halakha, how does that play out practically, that the fact that everyone has to sound the shofar is why the person who sounds the shofar in shul must be obligated in the mitzvah, can't be a minor, can't be a deaf-mute, etc. Number two, that person as well as all of us who are listening have to have in mind that we're applying the principle of shome'a k'oneh. That reflects the fact that the teki'ah, that the blowing is an integral part of the performance. On the other hand, the fact that the mitzvah is only fulfilled through the hearing of those blasts is what determines the text of our berakha and in the opinion of the Rambam is what would validate, this is not exactly recommended practice, but what would validate one's mitzvah even if one used a shofar hagazul, even if one used a stolen shofar. Okay, let's now take some time to reflect a little bit together al pi aggada what this, again, strange configuration within the mitzvat shofar represents. The fact that the Torah insists that both the teki'ah and the shemi'ah, both the sounding of the shofar as well as hearing the sounds of the shofar be part, integral, indispensable parts of the mitzvah. So first, we need one preliminary again from the Rav's teachings with regard to mitzvat shofar and again, all of this is being compressed, is worth, and sometime when time allows, should be elaborated. The Rav points to, again, though many, many proofs with which your beis medrash is undoubtedly familiar, the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah on דף ל"ב עמוד ב' has the following dispute amongst the Tannaim as to what the shape of the shofar is supposed to be. Whether or not the shofar is supposed to be a straight horn, or whether or not the shofar is supposed to be a bent, rough, or curved horn. Of course, our practice follows the opinion that it should be a curved horn, which is why the shofrot you see in shul was never straight but is always curved. Now what's the basis for this dispute as to what the shape of the shofar is, whether or not it should be straight, whether it should be curved? So the Gemara asks as follows: B'mai kamiflegi? At what points do the Tannaim argue? Mar savar בראש השנה כמה דכייף איניש דעתיה טפי מעלי. One master holds that on Rosh Hashanah the more a person bows his mind, the better it is. U'mar savar, and the other master, the Tanna who disputes him says, בראש השנה כמה דפשיט איניש דעתיה טפי מעלי. That on Rosh Hashanah the more a person straightens his mind is better, is preferable. What does that mean whether a person's mind should be straightened or whether a person's mind should be bent in submission? So Rashi elaborates and says: Kama d'kayif inish, the more a person bows his mind is preferable. Rashi says: bitfilato, that in engaging in tefillah, in prayer, so the more bent the person is, symbolizing submission, the better it is. And the pasuk which serves as the source for this opinion is והיו עיני ולבי שם, that one's eyes and one's heart, again representing submission, are focused downward when engaging in tefillah. The other opinion says כמה דפשיט איניש דעתיה, that on Rosh Hashanah, the more a person straightens his mind, the better it is, t'fey ma'lei. So Rashi again, this time citing a verse from Megillat Eicha, נשא לבבנו אל כפים אל אל בשמים, that we lift up our heart directly to God in the heavens. reflect the ideal posture for tefillah. The opinion that maintains the shofar should be bent says that's the ideal posture for tefillah and the opinion that maintains that the shofar should be straight says that, that reflects the ideal posture for tefillah. But we're talking about mitzvas shofar. We're not discussing about again the posture that we adopt during shemoneh esrei. We're talking about mitzvas shofar. So that's what the Rav said that you see from this Gemara and from many others that mitzvas shofar is a form of mitzvas tefillah. That the shofar is a form of tefillah. That the kol shofar is an inarticulate cry of tefillah, hence, it's entirely natural that the shape of the shofar should reflect the ideal posture of tefillah. And that's one again perspective about the mitzvah of shofar. Or in other words, according to this perspective, whose kol, whose voice is it that cries out the shofar? It's our voice. Right? It's our kol shofar. Just as in Parshas Behaloscha, the Torah tells us that when we blow tekios and teruos, in that case it's talking about using the chatzoztros. It's not talking about using the trumpet, it's not talking about using the shofar. True, but the Torah talks about when we blow a tekiah, when we blow a teruah, when it was to signify that the camps should travel in the desert, when it was that they should gather together around the Mishkan. So the kol of tekiah, of teruah, the kol of shofar is our kol. It's our cry, it's our voice that's being sounded. It's a cry this is explained, developed very much in sifrei chasidus which expresses something so basic and so primal that it's something which we can't even articulate. A cry of despair, of helplessness, of desperation to Hakadosh Baruch Hu which perhaps can be poorly paraphrased, but certainly not eloquently articulated. And that's what the kol shofar is. Similarly, the teruah, again, the Gemara talks about whether it's the shevarim which replicates a sigh, a crest, or whether it's our teruah which is modeled on or replicates a crying sound, or whether it's the combination thereof of shevarim-teruah, it's also our cry to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Calling out to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. On the other hand, we find that kol shofar is also used by Hakadosh Baruch Hu to communicate with us. And again, these are pesukim that we cite in the Shofros portion of the Mussaf Shemoneh Esrei on Rosh Hashanah. Malchuyos, Zichronos, and Shofros, in the Shofros portion, in the ten pesukim. So if you look at the pesukim, you'll see that the pesukim again cite instances of the kol shofar where the kol shofar is not our cry to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but is rather Hakadosh Baruch Hu's calling out to us. Whether it was the kol shofar which accompanied Matan Torah, ויהי קול השופר הולך וחזק מאד, that the voice, the sound of the shofar grew stronger and more intense, or whether it's the pasuk describing the kol shofar which will herald the coming of Mashiach, והיה ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול. On that day a great shofar will be sounded. And then comes the pasuk ובאו האובדים בארץ אשור והנדחים בארץ מצרים, and then those who were lost, those who were pushed into exile in Egypt will return to Yerushalayim, והשתחוו לה' בהר הקודש בירושלים. So who's sounding the kol shofar here? It's no longer our sound, it's no longer our cry, it's rather the sound of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's the kol gadol of Hakadosh Baruch Hu which is addressing each and every one of us. So we find in the Torah that kol shofar is used two ways. It's used as our voice. He also, kavyachol, communicates to us through the Kol Shofar. Now you know that the basic definition of Mitzvah Shofar the Gemara explains is פשוטה לפניה פשוטה לאחריה. That the Teruah or permutations of the Teruah, right, the Shevarim-Teruah, the Shevarim, or the Teruah, so let's just refer to that now generically as Teruah. The Teruah is the centerpiece of each line of Tekiat Shofar and the Gemara then derives from some pesukim that it's supposed to be cushioned in between a Tekiah before and a Tekiah afterwards. פשוטה לפניה פשוטה לאחריה. Pishuta, a simple straight blast, the Tekiah, lifaneha preceding the Teruah, pishuta leachareiha. That's the basic component of the mitzvah which is repeated, right? It's repeated three times with Shevarim-Teruah, three times with Shevarim, three times with Teruah, but in each case you follow that same pattern of פשוטה לפניה פשוטה לאחריה. Here too, interestingly, again that same double Tekiah, that same double Tekiah. Well, why, what does that represent? So we had here again that Kol Shofar is the Kol of Hakadosh Baruch Hu but it's also our Kol. It's our Kol Tefillah. The shape of the Shofar is dictated by Tefillah, but it's also the Kol of Hakadosh Baruch Hu answering us, responding to us. The mitzvah of Shofar is to have a Teruah, פשוטה לפניה פשוטה לאחריה. The two Tekiot. Why the two Tekiot? Isn't that redundant? So the answer apparently is as follows: That the cycle of Teshuva has to begin with a person crying out, calling out to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. A person has to sound the Tekiah, not just hear the Tekiah passively. A person has to reach out for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. A person has to look inside of himself, make a Cheshbon HaNefesh, make an introspection, realize what is his past and reach out to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, cry out to Hakadosh Baruch Hu to sound the pishuta lifaneha. Then a person talking to Hakadosh Baruch Hu is just overwhelmed by the sense of embarrassment, humiliation, and despair at how many, how many errors of omission and commission he has committed, he has been guilty of during the past year. And that's manifest in the Shevarim, in the Teruah, in the sigh, in the cry. But then the cycle is not complete yet. It's not enough that a person cries out to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It's not even enough that a person is so devastated by the acute awareness of cheit that he breaks down in front of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and sounds the Shevarim, sounds the Teruah. A person has to listen for Hakadosh Baruch Hu's response. A person has to hear not only his own, a person has to not only blow the Shofar, it's not enough to have the Tekiah, a person also has to hear. Hence the Torah says that the mitzvah is comprised of both. It's necessary to blow the Shofar, you also have to hear the Shofar. You have to blow the Shofar because the Kol Shofar represents our call to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. If we're not looking for Hakadosh Baruch Hu, if we're not sensitized to finding, to recognizing, to acknowledging His presence in our life, the hand of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, His providential hand in our life, then we won't, no matter how, no matter how accurate and evident it really truthfully is, unless we sound the Kol Shofar, unless we take the initiative to seek Hakadosh Baruch Hu, unless we sound the Kol Shofar of ובקשתם משם את ה' אלקיך that you'll seek Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so then we'll never hear the Kol Shofar. But having sounded the Shofar, the Torah says v'shama'ta, the mitzvah is lishmo'a Kol Shofar, אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו לשמוע קול שופר. The mitzvah, the cycle is only closed, the circle is only closed, the mitzvah culminates when a person hears the Kol Shofar. What does it mean not just to blow the Kol Shofar? To blow the Shofar means to call out to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. to use the kol shofar as our medium of communicating with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. To hear the kol shofar means to use the kol shofar to allow Hakadosh Boruch Hu to use the kol shofar as His medium of responding to us, as answering to us. So what are we supposed to hear in Hakadosh Boruch Hu's kol shofar? Our kol shofar is a cry for help, a cry of helplessness, a recognition of total, utter dependence and vulnerability on Hakadosh Boruch Hu, a desire to transcend the pettiness which has shackled us all year and to come closer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That's what's being expressed in our kol shofar. What is it that we're supposed to hear in the at de-pashuta le-achareha? Why is it that it's not enough just to blow shofar, but we have to hear the shofar as well? What are we supposed to hear in Hakadosh Boruch Hu's kol shofar, when the kol shofar is His medium to communicating with us? So first of all, we don't even have to read between the musical notes. On the most prosaic level, and sometimes we have a tendency to search for profundity, which is fine and good, and we overlook what's most basic and what's most fundamental. So first of all, we're supposed to not just be able to—before we try to read between the musical notes—we're just supposed to hear the musical notes. Hakadosh Boruch Hu's kol shofar is: "Are you simply listening to מה השם אלוקיך דורש ממך?" Do we live by the Shulchan Aruch? Can I look in the mirror Erev Rosh Hashanah and see looking back at me someone who can be described as—a phrase which used to be used in Yiddish—as a Shulchan Aruch yid, as the person who regulates his life according to Hilchos Shabbos? During the week, so does my behavior reflect what it says in the Shulchan Aruch? Do I abstain from talking, am I immersed in tefillah, or rachmana litzlan am I remiss? Am I not listening to that kol shofar of Hakadosh Boruch Hu calling out to me and telling me how I should be conducting myself? Is my Shabbos a Shabbos? The navi says daber davar, that our conversation on Shabbos should differ from our conversation all week. It shouldn't be about business, it shouldn't be about the stock market; everything should be upgraded, everything should be raised one notch on Shabbos. We're not reading between the notes here of Hakadosh Boruch Hu's kol shofar, we're just looking at the notes. The most basic and fundamental message of the קול גדול ולא יסף that Hakadosh Boruch Hu answers, "Yes, here I am, listen to my kol gadol, listen to my kol gadol." When you come to shul, do you daven or do you talk to your neighbor? That's what Hakadosh Boruch Hu asks of me, he asks of each of us. What's our Shabbos like? When we go to business, so how do we conduct ourselves? Do we conduct ourselves according to the norms of the business world around us, even when they don't correspond to the norms of Torah, or do we hold ourselves to a higher standard, to the standard of Torah in business ethics? In our personal, in our private lives, do we periodically review hilchos niddah governing relationships between husband and wife to know the various harchakos that Chazal introduced during those two weeks or so in the month when husband and wife are supposed to be distant? Do we know all the halachos? Can I hand this to my wife, can I not hand to my wife? Do I review these halachos? That's what Hakadosh Boruch Hu says in the kol shofar. Again, it's basic, it's prosaic, he's not saying anything new. He's saying the same thing he told us at Har Sinai thousands of years ago, but sometimes, sometimes we get so caught up in our routines, and sometimes we get ensnared in bad habits that we become temporarily deaf to parts of that kol shofar. So first, yeah, we have to call out to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, otherwise we don't hear Him answering us. But it's not enough that we employ the kol shofar as our medium. The kiyum hamitzvah, as the Rav explained, can only be attained if we're willing to listen to the kol shofar as Hakadosh Boruch Hu's medium as well. But what else is contained in the Ribbono Shel Olam's kol shofar? And this perhaps is a little bit between the notes, maybe in the notes. What else is contained in the kol shofar? What else is contained in the kol shofar is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to each and every one of us: Is your religious quest, your religious pursuit, are you humbly trying to find out מה ה' אלקיך שואל מעמך or are you trying to place your imprint on the Torah and try to mold the Torah according to what you would like the Torah to tell us? Are you only sounding the tekiah lefanecha which represents your quest for the Ribono Shel Olam or are you listening in return? Are you listening in return? That's what Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, are you listening in return? Again, it means from the most trivial to the most major. It means when you're learning a blatt Gemara, so are you trying to mold it according to your way of thinking or are you trying to assimilate the Gemara's way of thinking? And it means in general in all the hot button topics of the day, so how are we approaching it? Are we approaching it again humbly trying to find out what the Torah's position is or are we coming, no, we're only sounding our kol shofar but not necessarily listening to the Torah's response of what the Torah wants, what Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks of us. And hopefully Hashem will give us the strength to be mekayem the mitzvas shofar with all of its dikdukim, with all of its hidurim, we should be able to fulfill the mitzvas shofar, we should sound the shofar and even more importantly that it can only be a techilah stage, we should reach the ultimate stage of hearing the kol shofar as well, of מה ה' אלקיך שואל מעמך and with that of course should all have a gut yor, ksiva v'chasima tova.