You Shall Be To Me a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation

You shall be to me a Kingdom of Priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6)

Bizarrely, the commandment to sound a Shofar on Rosh HaShana appears only vaguely in the Torah. For further information, our sages drew1 upon a different yet nevertheless comparable biblical commandment, which requires us to sound silver trumpets during festivals and times of war (Numbers 10: 9 – 10). Thus, this more explicit biblical commandment inspires much of our understanding regarding the Shofar’s role on Rosh HaShana.

Whether to promote military grandeur or royal splendor, fanfare customs were and continue to be widely used across cultures. Immediately drawing attention, their sounds loudly and proudly declare unavoidable presence. Carefully chosen venues and personnel contribute to the majesty and glory of ceremonial fanfare. The selected location is central, symbolic, or sacred, and the appointed personnel is dignified, talented, and presentable.

Similarly, the sounding of silver trumpets during festivals and times of national distress, royally welcomed and announced the appearance of our King, the King of Kings. The silver trumpets were sounded in the majestic Jerusalem temple by members of the priestly community. In this fashion, G-d’s presence was gloriously welcomed during anticipated festivals, as well as frightful events when his visible protection is desperately yearned for.

During Jewish festivals, our nation intimately experiences G-d’s presence. Our insular experience with G-d was marked in the temple by the sounding of the silver trumpets. On Rosh HaShana, however, G-d’s appearance is universal and public. To announce G-d’s global presence, the Shofar, functioning as an extension of the silver trumpets, is used instead2 .

Like the trumpets which symbolically welcomed G-d’s presence into the nation of Israel, the Shofar welcomes G-d’s presence into the broad world. The task of sounding the silver trumpets was placed on the Jewish priesthood, the consecrated tribe of Israel. By extension, the responsibility of sounding the Shofar is undertaken by our entire nation, the consecrated people of humanity3 . Finally, whereas the silver trumpets were blared in the temple only, the Shofar is sounded anywhere in the world.

The Shofar on Rosh HaShana coronates G-d over the world and calls upon us to commit our year ahead to genuinely materialize this investiture. Starting by transforming the mundane moments of our days to sacred minutes of meaning and divinity, and proceeding to promote the Torah’s great idea of social redemption, each one of us can indeed serve as agents of change.

On behalf of our community, I would like to thank the editorial team for all their hard work, time, and effort. Their dedication and professionalism is evident by the quality of this issue.

Finally, on behalf of Esther, myself and our children, I would like to wish you and your families a happy, healthy and sweet new year.

Sincerely, Boruch M. Boudilovsky

1 Tractate Rosh HaShana 34a 2 The Shofar is therefore halachikly studied under the category of the commandment to sound the temple trumpets. 3 Here, we serve as a ‘kingdom of priests’ (Exodus 19:6)