Shofar Reveals Hashem's Inner Will of Mercy

אשרי העם יודעי תרועה בזוה"ק פי' מתברין האי תרועה.

"Fortunate is the people that knows the teruah" (Tehillim 89:16). In the Zohar it is explained: they "break" this teruah.

The Zohar reads "yodei teruah" as those who, through the shofar's teruah, break and shatter the forces of strict judgment.

ואיתא כשבנ"י תוקעין בשופר הקב"ה עומד מכסא דין ויושב על כסא רחמים.

And it is taught that when Bnei Yisrael blow the shofar, Hashem rises from the throne of din (judgment) and sits upon the throne of rachamim (mercy).

The shofar-blast itself moves Hashem, as it were, from judgment to mercy.

הענין הוא דכ' ותרועת מלך בו תרועה הוא רצון כדפי' רש"י שם.

The matter is this: it is written, "and the teruah of the King is within him" (Bamidbar 23:21), and teruah denotes ratzon (favor/will), as Rashi explains there.

Rashi understands teruah as an expression of love and favor — the King's good will toward His people.

והנה באמת רצונו ית' הוא רק לרחמים וטובה.

Now in truth, Hashem's will (ratzon) is only for mercy and goodness.

At the deepest level, Hashem's inner will is wholly directed toward kindness, never toward harm.

והמשפט הוא לטובה.

And the judgment itself is for the good.

Even the mishpat of Rosh Hashanah is ultimately aimed at the person's benefit.

ובנ"י מבינים ויודעים כי הם דבוקים בפנימיות רצונו ית' לכן מעוררים רחמים.

And Bnei Yisrael understand and know this, for they are bound to the penimiyus (inner depth) of His will; therefore they arouse mercy.

Because Bnei Yisrael cleave to the inner core of Hashem's will — which is pure mercy — they are able to draw forth that mercy.

וזה יודעי תרועה שיש להם דעת להבין פנימיות הרצון ובזמן הדין צריכין לעורר שיתגלה הרצון.

This is the meaning of "those who know the teruah" — that they have the daas (understanding) to grasp the inner ratzon, and in the time of din they must arouse it so that the ratzon becomes revealed.

To "know the teruah" is to perceive Hashem's hidden will of mercy and, in the hour of judgment, to call it forth into the open.

ואז מתהפך הדין לרחמים.

And then the din is transformed into rachamim.

Once the inner will of mercy is revealed, judgment itself turns into mercy.

לכן בשבת א"צ לתקוע כדאיתא בזוה"ק כי בשבת מתגלה עת רצון מעתיקא קדישא ומתהפך הדין לרחמים.

Therefore on Shabbos there is no need to blow [the shofar], as the Zohar teaches, for on Shabbos an "eis ratzon" (a time of favor) is revealed from Atika Kadisha (the supernal "Ancient Holy One"), and the din is transformed into rachamim.

When Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, the shofar is unnecessary, because Shabbos itself already reveals the supernal time of favor that turns judgment into mercy.

וכמו כן ע"י קול שופר מתגלה עת רצון מעתיקא קדישא.

And likewise, through the sound of the shofar, an eis ratzon is revealed from Atika Kadisha.

On a weekday Rosh Hashanah, the shofar accomplishes what Shabbos does — it draws down that supernal time of favor.

וזהו באור פניך יהלכון שמתברר פנימיות המשפט שהוא הרצון כנ"ל.

This is the meaning of "in the light of Your countenance they walk" (Tehillim 89:16) — that the inner essence of the mishpat, which is the ratzon, becomes clarified, as above.

"Walking in the light of Your face" describes how Bnei Yisrael bring to light the inner purpose of judgment, which is really Hashem's loving will.

כמ"ש חז"ל אימתי עת רצון בשעה שהצבור מתפללין.

As Chazal said: When is an eis ratzon? At the time when the community prays.

The "time of favor" is bound up with communal tefillah — the public service of Hashem.

כמ"ש ואני תפלתי כו' עת רצון.

As it is written, "And as for me, may my prayer [to You, Hashem, be] at an eis ratzon" (Tehillim 69:14).

The verse explicitly links tefillah to the time of favor.

וכ' בכל קראנו אליו.

And it is written, "whenever we call out to Him" (Devarim 4:7).

Hashem is near to His people in every call of prayer.

והנה הקב"ה נתן לנו הדרך להתפלל ע"י קול שופר והוא קול מקנה שמיוחד לבנ"י.

Now Hashem gave us the way to pray by means of the sound of the shofar, which is a "voice of livestock" (kol mikneh) — a sound unique to Bnei Yisrael.

The shofar, made from an animal's horn, is a wordless "voice" that serves as a special form of prayer given to Bnei Yisrael.

כי הדיבור בא גם מתוך כלי הושט בחי' הגוף.

For speech also comes from within the vessel of the throat — an aspect of the body.

Ordinary spoken prayer is shaped by the bodily organs of speech, so it carries something of the physical.

וקול מקנה הוא רק פנימיות הרוח ונפש.

But the "voice of the horn" is purely the inner aspect of the ru'ach and nefesh (spirit and soul).

The shofar's blast is a pure cry of the inner spirit, untouched by the apparatus of speech.

ואין בו תערובות.

And there is no admixture within it.

It is an unmixed, purely spiritual sound — the soul crying out directly.

ולכן בש"ק א"צ לתקוע כענין שאמרו חז"ל שא"צ תפילין לאות בשבת שהוא עצמו אות.

Therefore on Shabbos Kodesh there is no need to blow, similar to what Chazal said — that one needs no tefillin as a "sign" (os) on Shabbos, for Shabbos itself is a sign.

Just as Shabbos itself is the "sign" that makes tefillin unnecessary, Shabbos itself already accomplishes what the shofar would, so the shofar is not blown.

כי נפשות בנ"י מתעלין בש"ק שהוא יומא דנשמתין ולאו דגופא.

For the souls of Bnei Yisrael are elevated on Shabbos Kodesh, which is "the day of souls and not of bodies."

On Shabbos the neshamah is already uplifted — it is a day belonging to the soul rather than the body — so the soul's pure cry of the shofar is not needed to lift it.

לכן עונג הגוף בשבת מצוה.

Therefore the physical delight (oneg) of the body on Shabbos is a mitzvah.

Precisely because Shabbos already elevates the soul, even bodily enjoyment becomes part of the mitzvah, for the body too is uplifted.

ולכן אמירת מלכיות זכרונות שופרות בפה מהני וא"צ קול שופר:

Therefore on Shabbos the recitation of Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofaros by mouth suffices, and the sound of the shofar is not required.

On a Shabbos Rosh Hashanah, since Shabbos itself reveals the eis ratzon, merely reciting these blessings verbally accomplishes the goal, without an actual shofar-blast.

Summary: "Fortunate is the people that knows the teruah" — Bnei Yisrael, cleaving to the inner core of Hashem's will, which is wholly mercy, use the teruah to reveal that hidden ratzon and thereby transform din into rachamim. The shofar is a pure "voice of the soul," unmixed with the body, that draws down the supernal eis ratzon. On Shabbos this is unnecessary, for Shabbos itself is that revealed time of favor and a "day of souls," so the verbal recitation of Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofaros alone suffices.