Page 52 - Chayei Adam LAYOUT sivan 5782

Chayei Adam - K’lal 140 - The Laws of the Shofar

]1[ It is a positive commandment of the Torah to hear the blasts of the shofar
1
on Rosh Hashana as it says “it shall be a day of teruah for you”, and Chazal have
2
a tradition to connect it to the posuk “and you shall pass a teruah with a shofar”
to teach that just like those blasts of Yom Kippur are sounded with a shofar, so are
the ones on Rosh Hashana. 3

]2[ Chazal understand the word ‘shofar’ to be a form of ת ֶרֶפֹופ ְּ ׁש (shefoferes)
4
meaning something hollow, but not everything hollow is called a shofar. Rather
only a hollow horn of an animal, which has a bone growing out of its head with a
5
hollow bone stuck over it, is called a shofar. L’chatchila, it is preferable to use a
ram’s horn which is reminiscent of the Akeidas Yitzchak, and [since] it is also bent,
for it is a mitzva to [use a] bent shofar which alludes to that which we should
6
bend our hearts in teshuva. However, if one cannot find a ram’s horn, he should

םדו רשב
1. Bamidbar 29:1 as a shofar. Although the posuk from which
this is derived compares it to the horns of a
2. Vayikra 25:9 re’eim, the mishna only specifies those of a
cow because they are hollow and would
3. In three different places, the Torah otherwise qualify as a valid shofar, while solid
commands us to blow a ‘teruah’. Two of them, horns would not be valid anyway. (Ran)
(Vayikra 23:24 and Bamidbar 29:1) refer to
Rosh Hashana. The third (Vayikra 25:9) 5. The horn used for a shofar is
commands beis din to blow a teruah on Yom essentially hollow but grows attached to a
Kippur of the Yovel year, yet it is the only one bone which grows out of the head of the
of these pesukim which mention using a shofar animal, and so when the inner bone is
to make these sounds. However, since the removed, one is left with a usable shofar.
posuk specifies the seventh month, although
this is obvious since we are speaking of Yom 6. The Tur writes that the shofar should
Kippur, it is understood to mean that every be made of a ram’s horn as this is reminiscent
א
teruah in the seventh month (i.e. including of the akeidas Yitzchak, and should also be
Rosh Hashana) must also be with a shofar. bent, in accordance with the opinion of R’ Levi
(Rosh Hashana 33b) (Rosh Hashana 26b) that the shofar used on
Rosh Hashana should be bent and not
4. The mishna (Rosh Hashana 26a) straight, which the Talmud Yerushalmi (Rosh
disqualifies the horn of a cow from being used Hashana 3:4) explains is symbolic of us

52