Shofar restores the broken inner voice

מצות שופר.

The mitzvah of shofar.

The Sefas Emes turns to explain the inner meaning of blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah.

כי הקול קול יעקב.

For "the voice is the voice of Yaakov" (Bereishis 27:22).

The "kol" (voice) of the shofar represents the voice of Yaakov — the inner voice of Torah and kedushah belonging to Bnei Yisrael.

התורה שהוא ירושה לנו.

The Torah, which is an inheritance for us.

This "voice of Yaakov" is the Torah, the eternal inheritance of every Jew.

אבל ע"י החטאים נתקלקל ונתעקם הקול.

But through sins, the voice became damaged and crooked.

Sin distorts and bends this inner voice, so that it no longer rings out straight and clear.

וע"י תשובה יכולין לעורר הקול פנימי שנמצא בנפשות בני ישראל.

And through teshuvah one can awaken the inner voice (kol penimi) that is found in the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

Teshuvah reawakens the deep inner voice that always remains within the neshamah of every Jew, even when sin has obscured it.

וז"ש כל הקולות כשרין בשופר שע"י התשובה מתכשרין כל הקולות וחוזרין להיות קול פשוט ישר.

And this is the meaning of "all the sounds (kolos) are valid in a shofar" — that through teshuvah all the voices become fit and return to being a single, straight sound.

The halachah that all shofar tones are valid hints that teshuvah makes "fit" even the distorted voices, restoring them to one simple, straight sound.

וזהו הרמז פשוטה לפני' ולאחרי' ובאמצע שברים תרועה שאינו קול ישר.

And this is the hint: a simple blast (tekiah pshutah) before and after, and in the middle the shevarim-teruah, which is not a straight sound.

The structure of the shofar blasts — a straight tekiah, then the broken shevarim-teruah, then a straight tekiah again — mirrors the spiritual journey of Bnei Yisrael.

כי ראשיתן ואחריתן של בנ"י הוא טוב.

For the beginning and the end of Bnei Yisrael are good.

The two straight tekiyos represent the good "beginning" and good "end" of Bnei Yisrael's history.

ובקבלת התורה זכו בנ"י לקול ישר ושלם.

And at the receiving of the Torah, Bnei Yisrael merited a straight and whole voice.

The "good beginning" was Kabbalas HaTorah, when the inner voice rang out perfectly straight and complete.

ולעתיד ג"כ טוב אחרית דבר מראשיתו.

And in the future as well it will be good — "the end of a matter is better than its beginning" (Koheles 7:8).

The final tekiah represents the future geulah, when the end will be even better than the beginning.

והזמן שבנתים.

And the time in between.

The broken middle sound represents the present era of galus — the time between the perfect beginning and the perfect end.

אעפ"י שחטאנו.

Even though we have sinned.

This middle period is marked by our sins, which have "broken" the voice.

ע"י תשובה מתקנים החטאים ומתבטל קול נשבר שבאמצע לקול פשוט שלפני' ואחרי'.

Through teshuvah we rectify the sins, and the broken sound in the middle becomes nullified into the simple sound before and after it.

Teshuvah causes the broken middle sound (the galus of sin) to be absorbed and nullified into the surrounding straight sounds of the good beginning and good end.

והרמז איסורא ברובא בטל.

And the hint is: a prohibited substance is nullified in a majority (issura b'ruba batel).

Just as a small forbidden amount is nullified within a larger permitted majority, so the "broken" element is nullified within the greater good.

וזהו התרועה שמתבטלת אל קול פשוט כנ"ל.

And this is the teruah, which becomes nullified into the simple sound, as above.

The broken teruah, representing sin and galus, is nullified into the straight tekiah of redemption.

והזכותים שיש לבנ"י מרובין על החטאים וחד בתרי בטל כנ"ל:

And the merits that Bnei Yisrael have are greater than the sins, and "one in two is nullified," as above.

Since the zechuyos of Bnei Yisrael outweigh their sins — a minority within a majority — the sins are nullified, like one part nullified in two, leaving the straight, whole voice intact.

Summary: The shofar's voice is the "voice of Yaakov," the inner voice of Torah within every Jew, which sin bends and breaks. The straight tekiyos before and after a broken shevarim-teruah represent the good beginning (Kabbalas HaTorah) and good end (geulah) of Bnei Yisrael, with the broken middle representing the galus of sin. Through teshuvah, the merits of Bnei Yisrael outweigh the sins, and the broken sound is nullified into the surrounding straight, whole voice.