This year the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. For the most part, the majority of Jews won’t notice a difference. But one detail might sound the alarm… or not. The shofar won’t be blown.

The sole mitzvah that is unique to Rosh Hashanah is to hear the shofar blasts. Rabbinical writings stress the importance of hearing the shofar by saying it “confuses the Satan” (whatever that means). It is also said that the sound of the shofar is the same sound God made when He blew the neshama (higher level soul) into Adam, effectively giving us the chance to return to our pure essence when we hear it. It has even been said that the whole universe is able to continue to exist because of the sounding of the shofar.

The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah says, “Any year we don’t blow the shofar at the beginning, we’ll end up crying at the end.” Both times the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, it was a year Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos and the shofar wasn’t blown. Even 9/11 happened right at the end of a year where Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos. Clearly, hearing the shofar is crucial.

So why don’t we blow the shofar on a Shabbos Rosh Hashanah if it is that important? The answer given by the Gemara may sound unsatisfying. On Shabbos there is a rabbinic prohibition from carrying an object from a private space into a public space (unless there is an Eruv). So to make sure no one accidentally carries a shofar on Shabbos, the rabbis forbade blowing of the shofar. What?! Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater! I mean, a mohel can carry his tool kit on Shabbos to perform a bris. Observant Judaism has so many leniencies, workarounds, and brilliant solutions for halachic problems, couldn’t something have been figured out? Maybe. But maybe we don’t really understand what Rosh Hashanah or Shabbos is truly about.

Shofar as Coronation

It is abundantly clear that the prayers of Rosh Hashanah stress God’s kingship. But isn’t Hashem always king? Of course. But do we really behave in a way that demonstrates we believe that to be true? In our modern democratic world, we are “ruled” by elected officials. But those officials must please their constituents. So they say what they need to say to get elected. However a true leader (which is what a king should be) does what is right regardless of whether it is popular. When we see causes that we know are just, meaningful, and we believe they can succeed, we are pulled to follow those leading the charge. Only because of our doubts, desire to do what is easy, or addictions, do we resist.

It all boils down to, is my existence about what makes me happy? Or is my existence about bringing goodness into this world? In other words, “Am I God or is Hashem God?”

The shofar’s sounds act to break those doubts, desires, and addictions (teruah – one of the shofar sounds, means to break). It is also an act of coronation. We are making ourselves present for an event to crown the cause of goodness as our mission to follow. That is what it means to make God King on Rosh Hashanah.

On Shabbos God doesn’t need to be Crowned

Shabbos is so much more than a day of rest. The Tzemach Tzedek says “On Shabbos, Godliness is revealed and palpable and can be sensed in this world. During the week, Hashem is hidden. On Shabbos He’s revealed.” When we’re in the presence of the King, do we need to be told we’re in the presence of the King? During the week, we need the shofar to break us out of ourselves. Also, we don’t break things on Shabbos! Because during Shabbos, (assuming we honor Shabbos properly) we’re already out of ourselves. What is accomplished with the shofar on Rosh Hashanah happens automatically on Shabbos.

So if Shabbos Rosh Hashanah is so special, why the difficult years? Well, some really wonderful things also happened during these special years. It was during the years of a Shabbos Rosh Hashanah when Hashem forgave the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf and when the Temple was rebuilt. So what decides whether it is good or bad?

There is a story about a man who had been indicted by the king. The man was particularly worried because he really had done some things wrong and he knew that unless he had someone very special advocating for him, he was going down. He pleaded with the kings servants, they wouldn’t help him. He tried to bribe the kings advisors, they turned him down. He even reached out to the king’s cousins and family. No response. Then on the night before he was supposed to appear before the king, the man’s wife saw her husband trembling. She asked him what was wrong and he opened up about everything. To his surprise, his wife revealed that she actually knew the king personally and had a great relationship with him. She agreed to talk to the monarch first and smooth things over.

Sure enough, the wife did as she promised and for all the indictments the man was pardoned. The man didn’t stop his wicked ways and sure enough he soon found himself in the same situation. But one of the man’s sins was that he couldn’t control his anger and he, from time to time, physically assaulted his wife. So this time, when the wife went to plead to the king, he was appalled to see her abused in such a terrible way. When she tried to defend her husband the king said, I don’t want to hear any defenses, I want you to tell me the truth. You are no longer the defender, you are the prosecutor. Needless to say, the man did not do well when he came before the king.

This story is an allegory for the Jewish people as the man and Shabbos as the wife. If we honor and treat Shabbos right, when the day of judgment comes, Shabbos will go to bat for us. But when we desecrate Shabbos, we cannot rely on the shofar or the elevated nature of Shabbos to come to our defense. According to Rav Elya Lopian in his Sever Lev Eliyahu, he writes that the final Shabbos of the year (this coming Shabbos), offers us the opportunity to rectify any of the mistakes we’ve done on Shabbos throughout the year. So take this Shabbos to heart as we prepare for a very special Rosh Hashanah.

Notes:
•We still blow the shofar on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. So if you go both days, you’ll hear it.
•Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holiday celebrated for two days even in the land of Israel (for the sake of doubt.)
•For many years, the shofar was still blown in the Temple despite the decree that it was prohibited on Shabbos.