These 10 interpretations of the sounds of the shofar were written by Saadiah Gaon, one of the foremost Jewish spiritual leaders of the Middle Ages:
1. Reminiscent of the Coronation of a King
The sound of the shofar is analogous to the trumpet-blasts that announce the coronation of a king. On Rosh Hashanah, God created the world and assumed the role of its Sovereign, and in the sounding of the shofar we acknowledge Him as our King.
2. Stirs Our Conscience
Rosh Hashanah is the first of the 10 Days of Penitence, and the shofar is sounded to stir our conscience, to confront our past errors and return to God, who is ever ready to welcome the penitent.
3. Reminds Us of Sinai Revelation
The shofar is reminiscent of God’s revelation at Sinai, which was accompanied by the sounding of a shofar. It thus reminds us of our destiny — to be a people of Torah, to pursue its study and to practice its commandments.
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4. Like the Exhortations of the Prophets
The sound of the shofar is reminiscent of the exhortations of the prophets whose voices rang out like a shofar in denouncing their people’s wrongdoing, and in calling them to the service of God and man.
5. Reminder of the Temple’s Destruction
The shofar reminds us of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and it calls us to strive for Israel’s renewal in freedom and in fellowship with God.
6. Symbol of the Ram That Abraham Sacrificed
The shofar, which is a ram’s horn, reminds us of the ram that Abraham offered as a sacrifice in place of his son Isaac. It thus reminds us of the heroic faith of the fathers of our people who exemplified to us the highest devotion to God, of which man is capable.
7. Summons Us to Feeling Humility
The shofar summons us to the feeling of humility before God’s majesty and might, which are manifested by all things and by which our own lives are constantly surrounded.
8. Reminder of Judgment Day
The shofar is a reminder of the Day of the Final Judgment, calling upon all people and all nations to prepare for God’s scrutiny of their deeds.
9. Foreshadows Return from Exile
The shofar foreshadows the jubilant proclamation of freedom, when Israel’s exiled and homeless are to return to the Holy Land. It calls us to believe in Israel’s deliverance at all times and under all circumstances.
10. Foreshadows Coming of the Messiah
The shofar foreshadows the end of the present world order and the inauguration of God’s reign of righteousness throughout the world, with a regenerated Israel leading all people in acknowledging that God is One and His name One.
Reprinted with permission from Moments of Transcendence: Inspirational Readings for Rosh Hashanah, edited by Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins (Jason Aronson).
Rosh Hashanah
Pronounced: roshe hah-SHAH-nah, also roshe ha-shah-NAH, Origin: Hebrew, the Jewish new year.
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shofar
Pronounced: sho-FAR or SHO-far, Origin: Hebrew, a ram’s horn that is sounded during the month of Elul, on Rosh Hashanah, and on Yom Kippur. It is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, in reference to its ceremonial use in the Temple and to its function as a signal-horn of war.
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