Blessings
Over the Sounding of the Shofar
For every Mitzvah between man
and G‑d, which is prescribed either by the Torah or our Sages, we are
obliged to recite a blessing of thanksgiving and praise to G‑d for having
sanctified us and commanded us to fulfill it. The Sages found Scriptural
support for this obligation, but it would seem that human reason dictates
reciting a blessing before receiving benefit in this world.
When a person eats fruit, drinks water,
or smells a pleasant fragrance, he recites a blessing for the pleasures of
transitory existence. How much more so is he obligated then, to recite a blessing
over commandments that assure him life both in this world and in the World
to Come!
The phrasing that the Sages set for
these blessings is as follows:
Blessed are You, G‑d our Lord, King of the world, Who has sanctified us with His commandments.
Blessed are You, G‑d our Lord, King of the world, Who has sanctified us with His commandments.
Note that the blessing begins in the
second person [You] and then continues in the third person [His] -
for when a person begins to recite a berachah he experiences G‑d's
benevolence directly.
Wherever he looks, he feels G‑d near
him and he therefore praises Him. But when he begins to offer his praise, he
becomes afraid and wonders how he has the audacity to even stand before the
King of all kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, let alone refer to Him in
second person.
Thus, the end of his blessing is a sort
of apology - Who has commanded us with His mitzvot and
ordered us, as if he were saying, though I am too small to speak, I
cannot refrain from blessing Him for what He has done for me.
As regards the mitzvah of sounding
the shofar, two blessings are recited - the first referring to the mitzvah
itself and the second, Shehecheyanu - the berachah recited
upon mitzvot that are incumbent at intervals rather than constantly.
The mitzvah of hearing the shofar
sounded is incumbent upon every individual and is not dependent upon there
being a congregation present - i.e., one must recite the blessings and hear the
shofar whether or not one prays with a congregation.
However, it is commendable to enhance
the mitzvah by hearing it sounded among a multitude, for in sounding the
shofar, we proclaim G‑d's sovereignty, accept His dominion, and recognize that
He judges the entire world, as the verse (Proverbs 14:28) states: The
King's glory is manifested in the presence of multitudes.
Therefore people gather in the
synagogues and one person fulfills the mitzvah on behalf of all those
assembled. The one who sounds the shofar also recites the blessings and all
those who hear should have conscious intent to fulfill their obligation.
Both the person sounding the shofar and
those who hear it sounded are considered to have fulfilled the mitzvah provided
that the former had intent to fulfill the obligation for the latter and that
the latter had intent that his obligation be fulfilled.
Note that the latter should
answer Amen to the blessing of the one sounding the shofar;
however, even if he did not answer Amen, he has still
fulfilled the obligation.
The principle is that one who
recites Amen to the blessing recited by another and has
conscious intent to be included by the other, is considered to have recited the
blessing himself, and this applies to all blessings. In most cases, however, it
is preferable that one recite the blessing himself and fulfill the mitzvah
himself.
In the case of sounding the shofar, on
the other hand, the Sages ruled that optimally one person should recite the
blessings and perform the mitzvah on behalf of the entire congregation, for as
we have seen, The King's glory is manifested in the presence of
multitudes.
Moreover, when the shofar is sounded in
the presence of a congregation, the entire order of malchuyot,
zichronot, and shofarot is sounded, whereas when an
individual sounds the shofar it is not.
One may not speak from the time that
the blessings are recited until the end of the sounding of the shofar so as not
to interrupt the performance of the mitzvah. However, one who did so need not
recite the blessings again.
Women are exempted from the obligation
of shofar, since it is in the category of these positive mitzvot which are
dependent on a certain time; however, women have traditionally taken upon
themselves the obligation to hear the shofar sounded.
In the case of a woman who did not come
to the synagogue but heard the shofar sounded in her home by a man who already
fulfilled the mitzvah, according to Ashkenazic custom she recites the
blessing over the shofar, and according to Sephardic custom, she does
not.
In the case of one who is ill and
therefore has the shofar sounded for him in his home, if the person who is
sounding the shofar has already heard it sounded earlier, it is preferable that
the ill person recite the blessings instead.
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Shofar of Flesh
Shofar… So Good.
Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov, OBM, was one of
Israel's most acclaimed religious authors, whose books on the Jewish way of
life and the Chassidic movement have become renowned. Text translated from the
Hebrew by Nachman Bulman and Dovid Landseman.
Excerpted from: The Book of Our
Heritage. Published and copyright by Feldheim
Publications.
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/4388/jewish/Shofar-Blessings.htm
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