The Battle Cry of the Shofar

Second day Rosh Hashanah
 
As an Army Air Force chaplain stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi in the first year of World War II, Sidney Ballon speaks of the shofar, once a signal to battle, and uses it to summon a spiritual battle

For us today the shofar is still the bugle calling us into spiritual battle. When we hear the sound of the Tekiah it still says to us, as it did to Maimonides, “Awake! Awake! — all you whose spirits sleep.
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THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CEREMONY connected with this holy day of Rosh Hashanah is the strange ancient rite of blowing the ram’s horn, the shofar. The importance of this ceremony in the celebration of the holy day may be seen from the fact that originally this day was not even known as Rosh Hashanah, but rather as Zichron Teruah, a day of the memorial of blowing the horn, a name which has been replaced in popular use by the term Rosh Hashanah, but which is still found in the Bible and the prayer book. Traditionally, the reason for the blowing of the shofar is found in the story of Abraham and Isaac which we have read from the Torah this morning. The God-fearing Abraham, we were told, led his obedient and unquestioning son Isaac to be sacrificed on the mountaintop, but Isaac was saved by divine intervention, and in his place was sacrificed a ram which had opportunely become entangled in the thicket by his horns. Therefore, tradition tells us, we blow the shofar, to remind us of that incident on Moriah.[1] The ram’s horn has become the symbol of God's providence as demonstrated in the saving of Isaac. As such, it's piercing blast has sent a thrill of religious fervor running through the veins of worshipers of many generations, and as the sound died away from their ears, they felt that though their very lives hung in the balance as the records of human conduct were laid open for judgment in the celestial court, yet they might rely upon the providence of God and put their trust in Him.
 
The great sage Maimonides[2] interpreted the blast of the shofar as a call to the Jew to think again of God and to mend his ways. He interpreted the shofar in the following words:
Awake, ye slumberers, from your sleep! Examine your deeds, and humbly return to God, the source of justice and truth. All you who are absorbed in foolishness and forget yourselves, you who pass your days in emptiness, remember your Creator, look into your own souls and amend your ways. Forsake your impure thoughts and your wicked deeds, and follow kindness and righteousness.
 
In spite of these beautiful interpretations of the shofar which have come down to us, it is strange that such an instrument should have found its place in the worship of Israel. For the shofar was, in ancient times, the signal horn used frequently in time of war. It was with the blast of the shofar that the ancient tribes gave the signal for their columns to move forward. The shofar also commanded them to stop. It signaled the attack and it called them to retreat. When the sacred Temple at Jerusalem was built, the use of steel instruments was forbidden, because the sword as an instrument of war was also made of steel. By similar reasoning we should also have expected the shofar to be barred from our ritual, because it had a connection with war, but nevertheless, the shofar assumed a prominent place in the ritual of the Temple and the synagogue, and it was considered of such importance that the psalmist was led to exclaim,
Ashrai ha-am yodai sruah. Adonoy b’or panecho yehalaichum. Happy is the people who knoweth the sound of the Teruah, They walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.
 
The rabbis of old also wondered why the shofar should be so important to Israel and they raise the question,
Do not all the nations know the sound of the Teruah? They all have horns and trumpets and clarions. Why is it said of Israel, “Happy is the people who knoweth the sound of the Teruah, they walk in the light of Thy countenance?”

And in characteristic manner they answer their own question with the statement, "Because Israel knows to use the Teruah to woo the favor of God." Israel with its religious genius had transformed the significance of the shofar from something harsh and materialistic to something deeply spiritual. The shofar still remained a call to battle, but for Israel it became the call to spiritual battle, the call to man to overcome his baser instincts and to draw himself nearer to his God.
 
For us today the shofar is still the bugle calling us into spiritual battle. When we hear the sound of the Tekiah[3] it still says to us, as it did to Maimonides, Awake! Awake! — all you whose spirits sleep. Do not close your hearts to the beauties of the world in your thoughtless and callous search for pleasures and wealth that bring no peace. Do not blind yourselves to the spiritual goods of life, and do not fritter away your time in empty pursuits. Set your mind on thoughts worthwhile, and learn to appreciate the higher yearnings and aspirations of the human spirit.
 
And when we hear the Shevarim, it's broken refrain and its hesitant melody, we seem to hear the sighing and weeping of a disappointed and unhappy mankind. It reminds us of how sad the story of humanity is today; of how many who might have lived and enjoyed life and contributed to the welfare of humanity have been sacrificed on the battlefield, leaving sad and empty hearts among those who mourn for them; of how many who love sunlight and cleanliness have been doomed to dwell in the darkness of slums which have stunted their bodies and dwarfed their spirits; of how many have gone hungry and naked for lack of opportunity to earn their daily bread; of how many have been driven and beaten because of man's inhumanity to man. The sad notes of the Shevarim bid us to be mindful of these suffering cries of humanity and to open our hearts in compassion and brotherly love.
 
And then there is the Teruah, the trumpet blast which was the ancient battle signal, and today also it calls us to this spiritual battlefield. It tells us that these evils need not be, that we must share our bread with the hungry and lend our strengths to those who are weak, that we must give of our energies to the cause of justice and truth, that if we will, these evils which oppress man can be made to pass away, that in our hands and in our hearts we possess the weapons whereby these scourges can be forever banished. If we but will it, the Teruah tells us, we can build on compassion and righteousness, we can create a society which shall be merciful to all men, and forever silence the lament of the Shevarim.
 
And finally the shofar gives voice to the Tekiah Gedolah. This bids us to turn our gaze into the future, to hope and to have faith, for in that future lies the world which we shall help now to create, the kingdom wherein swords have been beaten into plowshares, so that there are no weapons which may be used to the hurt of our fellow man; a kingdom where every body is straight because it lives in dignity, and where every mind is lighted by wisdom and beauty because it has had the opportunity to grow and develop. It will be a kingdom wherein all men are free and God alone will rule. This is the message of faith and hope which the Tekiah Gedolah signifies and which brings inspiration to our heavy spirits.
 
This then is the battle cry of the shofar, the rousing call of the Tekiah, the lament of the Shevarim, the call to action of the Teruah, and the hopeful cry of the Tekiah Gedolah. They call upon us to rally and consecrate ourselves to the task of building the Kingdom of God here on earth. On this most solemn Rosh Hashanah, let us hearken unto their message, dedicate our hearts and spirits to the achievement of their ideals, and be cheered in our task by a staunch faith in humanity's ultimate triumph.


[1] Moriah has been interpreted as the name of the specific mountain at which the sacrifice of Isaac occurred. The majority view in Judaism and Christianity is that Mount Moriah is identical with the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. This view though is considered highly controversial among religious as well as secular Bible scholars.

[2] Moshe ben Maimon, acronymed Rambam for "Rabbeinu Moshe Ben Maimon", "Our Rabbi/Teacher Moses Son of Maimon"), and Latinized Moses Maimonides, a preeminent medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher and astronomer, became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages. He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt.

[3] The shofar calls: Tekiah: meaning the "blast," is one long blast with a clear tone. Shevarim: a "broken," sighing sound of three short calls. Teruah: the "alarm," a rapid series of nine or more very short notes. Tekiah Gedolah: "the great Tekiah," a single unbroken blast, held as long as possible.