My Favorite Reasons for Blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah

As the late Aretha Franklin said, "Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening." Believe it or not, this quote is very relatable to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. While there are multiple features to Rosh Hashanah, the single most important one is hearing the shofar because it is the only active mitzvah of the 613 mitzvot related to Rosh Hashanah (derived from Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29). The shofar is an ancient musical horn, typically made from a ram's horn. The shofar has been used in multiple areas of Jewish history besides Rosh Hashanah, including announcing the New Moon (Psalm 81:3), announcing the jubilee year (Leviticus 25:9), for starting war (Joshua 6:4; Judges 3:27, 7:16, 7:20; I Samuel 8:3), the coronation of a king (I Kings 1:34, 39, 41), and was part of the orchestra that King David had when instruments were played during Temple services (Psalm 150:3).

But let's bring it back to Rosh Hashanah. I wanted to know why this mitzvah was so instrumental to the holy day celebrations. I looked through reasons provided by Chabad, Aish HaTorah, the Orthodox Union, a list of R. Sa'adiah Ga'on's ten reasons for the shofar (courtesy of Ohr Somaych), as well as books on my bookshelf, and this culminates the list of my favorites:

1. Spiritual Wake-Up Call to Repentance. The shofar makes a piercing sound that jolts us out of our lethargic state, much like an alarm clock. Rosh Hashanah acts as the beginning of the Days of Awe, the ten-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur during which one gets their affairs from the previous year in order and does teshuvah (repentance). Looking at Nevi'im (the Prophets), the shofar was a reminder of our admonitions and reminded us why we need to clean up our act. Teshuvah  was so important that G-d created it before the Universe (Talmud, Nedarim, 39b). By creating teshuvah, not only has G-d shown us mercy, but G-d has provided us with the opportunity to right our wrongs. 
2. Coronating G-d. Rosh Hashanah is to celebrate the creation of the universe. Since the shofar was used to coronate kings, what a better way to recognize G-d's Kingship and our purpose in the universe? Plus, G-d's Sovereignty is such a major theme is Rosh Hashanah liturgy. 
3. Transported Through Time. Aretha Franklin hit this one on the head. Listening to the shofar transports us to another time, such as when the shofar was blown on Mount Sinai when the Jews received the Torah. It was a simpler time, and that is not the only thing that was simpler.  
4. Simplicity. One thing I noticed about the shofar is the simplicity of the instrument itself. In contrast to the trumpet, trombone, or many other brass instruments, the shofar lacks a pitch-altering device (e.g., valves, telescoping slide mechanism). My theory as to why the instrument is so simple is because we are to return to a simpler essence when it comes to Jewish practice, a topic which I have previously covered. There is a place for understanding nuance because the world is a nuanced place. However, people can get so obsessed with the details that they forget the simple essence that permeates throughout Judaism. There are simple truths that dictate those complexities: G-d is One (Deuteronomy 6:4), love your neighbor like yourself (Leviticus 19:18), walk humbly in His ways (Micha 6:8). Perhaps this is a time to re-examine those simple truths and see how we can implement them in the upcoming year.
5. Awe of G-d. The sound of the shofar can be haunting, potentially so haunting that it inspires the fear of G-d. In the Book of Ecclesiastes (Ch. 3), King Solomon reminds us that there is a time for everything. Rosh Hashanah is a time for the fear of G-d. My understanding of fear of G-d is that we should not be so scared where we are paralyzed, which would make it more akin to awe than fear. Ideally, our relationship with G-d should be one of love, but that is not necessarily doable all the time. When love is not possible, we should still be awe-struck by G-d's power and capacity for many things, which is what the shofar reminds us.
6. Celebration. Rosh Hashanah celebrates another year, another period of time in which we can fulfill our potential. The shofar is meant to be blown when the Messiah arrives (Isaiah 27:13). Until the Messiah arrives, we can still recognize the salvation that G-d brings in our daily lives.

Aretha Franklin was spot-on by saying that music is a transformative experience. The shofar blown on Rosh Hashanah takes on that transformative experience, whether it is awe of G-d, a call to repent, to remind us of our true values, or a call to celebration. I hope that your experience with the shofar is one that transforms you.

שנה טובה ומתוקה!