Shofar breaks the heart to teshuvah

והנה עיקר התשובה בכח התורה כמ"ש לעיל קחו עמכם דברים.

Behold, the essence of teshuvah is through the power of the Torah, as was said above: "Take with you words (devarim)" (Hoshea 14:3).

The Sefas Emes establishes that real teshuvah is powered by Torah; the navi's call "take with you devarim" is read as taking the words of Torah as the very tool of return.

ולכן בר"ה תקיעת שופר מעורר אותו הקול ששמענו בסיני אנכי.

Therefore on Rosh Hashanah the blowing of the shofar arouses that same voice (kol) which we heard at Sinai: "Anochi."

The shofar's sound reawakens the original voice of revelation — the "Anochi Hashem Elokecha" heard at Har Sinai — stirring the bond forged through Torah.

וזה קול דודי דופק לעורר הלב לתשובה אף עפ"י שאני ישינה במצות מ"מ עבירה מכבה מצוה ואינו מכבה תורה.

And this is "the voice of my Beloved knocks" (Shir HaShirim 5:2), to awaken the heart to teshuvah — even though "I am asleep" with regard to mitzvos, nevertheless "an aveirah extinguishes a mitzvah but does not extinguish Torah" (Sotah 21a).

The shofar is the "knocking" of Hashem rousing a slumbering heart; even a Jew dulled in his mitzvos still has the light of Torah intact, since sin can darken a mitzvah but cannot put out the enduring light of Torah within him.

כמ"ש ואנכי לא אשכחך שהיא נקודה טמונה בנפשות בני ישראל.

As it is written, "and I will not forget you" (Yeshayahu 49:15) — for it is a point hidden away (nekudah temunah) within the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

That indestructible Torah-light is the hidden inner point Hashem implants in every Jewish soul; "I will not forget you" means this nekudah can never be lost.

וז"ש במדרשות וה' נתן קולו לפני חילו על תקיעת שופר.

And this is what the Midrashim say, "and Hashem gave forth His voice before His army" (Yoel 2:11) — referring to the blowing of the shofar.

The Midrash applies the pasuk about Hashem "giving His voice" to the shofar of Rosh Hashanah, the same Divine kol that summons His "army," Klal Yisrael.

אכן צריך האדם להתעורר ע"י זה הקול כמ"ש אשרי העם יודעי תרועה שפי' בזוה"ק משברין התרועה כמ"ש יודע בהם אנשי סוכות.

Indeed, a person must arouse himself through this voice, as it is written "Fortunate is the people that knows the teruah" (Tehillim 89:16), which the Zohar HaKadosh explains as "they break the teruah," as in "and he made known (vayoda) to the men of Sukkos" (Shoftim 8:16).

The shofar only helps if a person responds to it. The Zohar reads "yodei teruah" from the root meaning "to break" (linking yoda to Gidon "breaking" the men of Sukkos with thorns) — the teruah is meant to break a person's hardness.

והרמז שמשברין לבם ע"י התרועה נק' יודעי תרועה ועי"ז נשבר כל הדינים גם כן.

And the hint is that those who break their hearts through the teruah are called "yodei teruah" (knowers of the teruah), and through this all the dinim (harsh judgments) are likewise broken.

When a person uses the teruah to shatter his own hardened heart, he becomes a true "yodei teruah," and that very brokenness of heart also breaks and sweetens the heavenly judgments against him.

וכמ"ש בזוה"ק וישמע יתרו והלא כ' שמעו עמים ירגזון רק יתרו שמע ואתבר ואתכפיא.

As the Zohar HaKadosh says on "and Yisro heard" (Shemos 18:1): but is it not written "the nations heard and trembled" (Shemos 15:14)? Rather, Yisro heard and was broken and subdued (isbar v'iskafya).

Many nations "heard" the wonders yet remained unchanged; Yisro's hearing was different — it broke him and brought him to submission, which is why the Torah singles out "and Yisro heard."

שזה נקרא שמיעה.

For this is what is called true "hearing."

Genuine shemiah is not mere perception but a hearing that transforms — that breaks a person and brings him to hachna'ah (submission) before Hashem.

כן בנ"י ראוין לתרועה שמשברין לבם ע"י התרועה ומתכפיין אל הבורא לכן נק' יודעי תרועה.

So too Bnei Yisrael are worthy of the teruah, for they break their hearts through the teruah and become subdued before the Creator; therefore they are called "yodei teruah."

Bnei Yisrael respond to the shofar the way Yisro responded to what he heard: the teruah breaks their hearts and brings them to bittul before the Borei, earning them the title "yodei teruah."

ועי"ז באור פניך יהלכון:

And through this, "in the light of Your face they walk" (Tehillim 89:16).

The continuation of the very pasuk: once their hearts are broken and submitted through the teruah, Bnei Yisrael merit to walk in the light of Hashem's presence.

Summary: Real teshuvah is powered by Torah, whose light no sin can extinguish and which lies as a hidden point in every Jewish soul. The shofar of Rosh Hashanah is the "voice of the Beloved knocking," reawakening the kol of Sinai; but it works only when a person lets the teruah break and subdue his heart — like Yisro, whose "hearing" transformed him — making him a true yodei teruah who breaks the dinim and merits to walk in the light of Hashem's countenance.