When-to-Sound-the Shofar

 

 

 

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Re Tanakh versions:

Throughout this site I may use any of three versions of the Tanakh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2“Mechon-Mamre.org (MEC), and 3. “Sefaria.org (SEF), three brilliant versions, However, the JPS-1917 is my preferred version!

Colour coded details of our beloved TaNaKh:

1. Torah = History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim all other Writings.

*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot, or Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.

Please Note: Some alterations or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God), having been corrected like it once was pre the “Masoretic Text”.

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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!

Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).

However, what have both priests and rabbis of the past done, they purposely made grave and ridiculous changes! Thus, they have both added as well diminished from our beloved Scriptures. If you want proof visit Psalms Chapters 53 and 56 and you will note that they removed the blessed Name יְהוָה (7 times in each of these two Psalms) from the Hebrew and placed אֱלֹהִים in it place that originally had יְהוָה. They then they removed the LORD, and replaced it with God in the translations. The most ancient texts which I have personally read (having also been an archaeologist), it obviously did have His actual blessed Name in the Ivrit, etc! Read Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 2 shown above once more. They, and all rabbis who went along with their lies have been and will be severely punished!

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“When to Sound the Shofar”

With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

In the Torah, we find that the shofar appears for the first time at Mount Horeb in the wilderness, as thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, and “the sound of a shofar exceedingly loud” cause the people to tremble. Made from the horn of an animal, usually from a ram, the shofar was also used in ‘battle’, and also to announce ‘the new moon’ and the ‘jubilee year’; the Torah calls the holiday Rosh Hashanah to be a “day of blowing”, being of course the ‘blowing the shofar’. Hebrew thinkers throughout the ages explore the shofar’s significance as a wake-up call to repentance, also as an expression of ‘weeping’ or ‘brokenness’, and as a tool to invoke the ‘memory of the binding of Isaac’, among some other understandings’.

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Let us now look at בְּמִדְבַּר - Be’midbar – Numbers chapter 29, verse 1. (All verses are from the JPS-1917 version).

וּבַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ, מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ יִהְיֶה לָכֶם-כָּל-מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה, לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ: יוֹם תְּרוּעָה, יִהְיֶה לָכֶם

 

“And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no manner of servile work; it is a day of blowing the horn unto you”.

Let us now look at וַיִּקְרָא - Vayikra - Leviticus Chapter 25, verses 8 to 10.

וְסָפַרְתָּ לְךָ, שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת שָׁנִים-שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים, שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים; וְהָיוּ לְךָ, יְמֵי שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת הַשָּׁנִים, תֵּשַׁע וְאַרְבָּעִים, שָׁנָה

 

וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ שׁוֹפַר תְּרוּעָה, בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִעִי, בֶּעָשׂוֹר, לַחֹדֶשׁ; בְּיוֹם, הַכִּפֻּרִים, תַּעֲבִירוּ שׁוֹפָר, בְּכָל-אַרְצְכֶם

 

וְקִדַּשְׁתֶּם, אֵת שְׁנַת הַחֲמִשִּׁים שָׁנָה, וּקְרָאתֶם דְּרוֹר בָּאָרֶץ, לְכָל-יֹשְׁבֶיהָ; יוֹבֵל הִוא, תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם, וְשַׁבְתֶּם אִישׁ אֶל-אֲחֻזָּתוֹ, וְאִישׁ אֶל-מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ תָּשֻׁבוּ

 

“And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto thee the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years. Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of Atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a Jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family”.

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In fact, the very first mention of the ‘shofar by name’ in the Torah is in the description of the overwhelming sensory experience of the revelation at Mt. Horeb. Notably, it is not clear in these verses from the book of Exodus from where the sound was coming, but the ‘shofar’ is associated with אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s presence!

Let us look at שְׁמוֹת - Shemot - Exodus chapter 19, verses 16 to 20.

וַיְהִי בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בִּהְיֹת הַבֹּקֶר, וַיְהִי קֹלֹת וּבְרָקִים וְעָנָן כָּבֵד עַל-הָהָר, וְקֹל שֹׁפָר, חָזָק מְאֹד; וַיֶּחֱרַד כָּל-הָעָם, אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּחֲנֶה

וַיּוֹצֵא מֹשֶׁה אֶת-הָעָם לִקְרַאת הָאֱלֹהִים, מִן-הַמַּחֲנֶה; וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ, בְּתַחְתִּית הָהָר

וְהַר סִינַי, עָשַׁן כֻּלּוֹ, מִפְּנֵי אֲשֶׁר יָרַד עָלָיו יְהוָה, בָּאֵשׁ; וַיַּעַל עֲשָׁנוֹ כְּעֶשֶׁן הַכִּבְשָׁן, וַיֶּחֱרַד כָּל-הָהָר מְאֹד

וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר, הוֹלֵךְ וְחָזֵק מְאֹד; מֹשֶׁה יְדַבֵּר, וְהָאֱלֹהִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל

וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה עַל-הַר סִינַי, אֶל-רֹאשׁ הָהָר; וַיִּקְרָא יְהוָה לְמֹשֶׁה אֶל-רֹאשׁ הָהָר, וַיַּעַל מֹשֶׁה

 

 “And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a horn exceeding loud; and all the people that were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet אֱלֹהִים - Elohim; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. Now Mount Horeb was altogether on smoke, because יְהוָה - the LORD descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the horn waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and אֱלֹהִים - Elohim answered him by a voice. And יְהוָה - the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the Mount; and יְהוָה - the LORD called Moses to the top of the Mount; and Moses went up”.

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After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, practical questions arose as to how to fulfil the mitzvot in the absence of the Temple, including whether to blow the shofar when ‘Rosh Hashanah’ falls on ‘Shabbat’.

Although the Tanakh has no mention of it, in due course it was decided that it could be sounded.

In Conclusion:

The mitzvah (commandment) of ‘Rosh Hashanah’ is to hear the ‘shofar blasts’, which usually sound very much like ‘cries’ and ‘wailing’.

As you may have noticed, what is most important on this site, that we return who we actually are? Believe it or not, we are not ‘Jews’, for rabbis created that Judaic name for us all. But we are still part of the 12 tribes, and thus we are and will always be ‘Hebrews’ and ‘Israelites’!

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Please Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located down the page!

This site was originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of studies!

Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following through a number of our prophets...

Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה- the LORD of hosts” Mal’a’chi - Malachi 3:7. (JPS).

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“Hebraic Studies” motto is as follows;

“The More Torah, the More Life”,

For Elohim is the One who gave us our ... Life!”

May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom = Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָהthe LORD of hosts, be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat, as well as the מוֹעֲדִים Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and continue saying your daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s - Prayers and regular בְּרָכָה Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before food and drinks, etc!

שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!

Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

 

 

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