Shofar as the wisdom that sweetens judgment

אשרי העם יודעי תרועה.

"Praiseworthy is the people that knows the teruah" (Tehillim 89:16).

The Sefas Emes opens on the praise of the nation that "knows" the teruah — the broken shofar blast — and asks what this special knowledge is.

דאיתא תקיעת שופר חכמה דכ' החכמה תחי' בעלי'.

For it is brought that the blowing of the shofar is chochmah (wisdom), as it is written, "Wisdom gives life to those who possess it" (Koheles 7:12).

The shofar is identified with chochmah, and Shlomo HaMelech's pasuk teaches that this wisdom is life-giving to the one who masters it.

תחי' הוא אפילו כשהאדם בשעת הסכנה.

"Gives life" — even when a person is in a moment of danger.

This wisdom can revive a person even when he stands in spiritual peril, at a moment of judgment.

דכ' ימותו ולא בחכמה.

As it is written, "They die, but not with wisdom" (Iyov 4:21).

Those who perish do so because they lacked this chochmah; with it, life is preserved.

וע"י החכמה יכולין להחיות א"ע.

And through chochmah one is able to revive oneself.

By accessing this wisdom a person can restore his own life even in a time of danger.

בעלי' הוא השליט על החכמה.

"Those who possess it" refers to the one who is master over the chochmah.

The "possessor" is not one who merely has wisdom but one who rules over it — who has made it truly his own.

כמו דאיתא איזהו חכם הלומד מכל אדם שמכל נפש יכולין ללמוד חכמה כמו כן בעולם שנה בכל זמן ובכל מקום יש ללמוד חכמה.

As is brought, "Who is wise? One who learns from every person" — for from every soul one can learn wisdom; likewise in the realms of "world" and "year," in every time and every place there is wisdom to be learned.

True mastery of chochmah means drawing it from everything: from every person (olam — place), and from every moment (shanah — time). Wisdom is available everywhere to one attuned to it.

כי כולם בחכמה עשית כתיב.

For "You made them all with wisdom" is written (Tehillim 104:24).

Since Hashem created everything with chochmah, every created thing contains a spark of wisdom waiting to be learned.

וכל מה שברא הקב"ה למילף מיני' חכמתא.

And everything the Holy One created is in order to learn wisdom from it.

The very purpose of each creation is to teach the person who encounters it; all of existence is a school of chochmah.

ואפילו מדה"ד היא כדי שילמד האדם מזה ליישר אורחותיו.

And even the midas hadin (attribute of strict justice) exists so that a person should learn from it to straighten his ways.

Even Hashem's stern judgment is itself a teacher: its purpose is to prompt a person to correct his conduct.

וכשלומד מזה הדבר המבוקש ממנו מיד נמתק הדין.

And when he learns from this the thing that is being asked of him, immediately the din is sweetened.

The moment a person grasps the message the judgment was sent to convey — and acts on it — the harsh din is transformed and softened.

דכ' והאלקים עשה שיראו מלפניו וכשמקבלין מזה היראה מתהפך מדה"ד לרחמים.

As it is written, "And God has done it so that they should be in awe before Him" (Koheles 3:14) — and when one accepts the yirah (awe) from it, the midas hadin turns into mercy.

Hashem sends din to awaken yirah; once a person receives that awe and is moved to teshuvah, strict justice is converted into rachamim.

וזהו יודעי תרועה שמבינים המבוקש ממדת הדין.

And this is "those who know the teruah" — that they understand what is being asked by the midas hadin.

To "know the teruah" is to discern the inner request hidden within Hashem's judgment — to read din as a call to return.

ובזה יודעין לפתות את בוראם בתרועה במדה"ד עצמו.

And with this they know how to entreat their Creator with the teruah, within the midas hadin itself.

Through the shofar's teruah they win Hashem over from within the very attribute of judgment — using din itself as the means to arouse mercy.

ומיד עומד מכסא דין ויושב על כסא רחמים.

And immediately He rises from the throne of judgment and sits upon the throne of mercy.

This recognition causes Hashem, as it were, to move from the kisei din to the kisei rachamim — the throne of mercy.

ואיתא בשם הבעש"ט המשל משליח המלך שבא אל האדם שא"צ להשגיח עליו רק לרוץ אל המלך עצמו.

And it is brought in the name of the Baal Shem Tov the parable of the king's messenger who comes to a person — that one should not focus on him, but rather run to the king himself.

The Baal Shem Tov teaches that when a "messenger" (a hardship or judgment) arrives, one should not get caught up in the messenger but should run straight to the King — to Hashem Himself — who sent it.

והיינו דכ' ה' באור פניך יהלכון:

And this is the meaning of what is written, "Hashem, in the light of Your countenance they walk" (Tehillim 89:16).

One who looks past the "messenger" of din to Hashem Himself walks in the light of His Presence — finding His mercy hidden within the judgment.

Summary: The shofar's teruah is a chochmah that can revive a person even in a time of danger. True wisdom is learned from everything Hashem created — even from the midas hadin, whose very purpose is to awaken yiras Shomayim and prompt teshuvah. "Those who know the teruah" discern the inner request hidden within judgment, and through it entreat Hashem from within din itself, turning strict justice into mercy. As the Baal Shem Tov teaches, one must look past the "messenger" of hardship and run straight to the King — walking in the light of Hashem's countenance.