What’s the reason for the mitzvah of the chatzotzeros (trumpets)? The Sefer ha’Chinuch reminds us that sometimes, the simplest answer is the most compelling.
Responding to R. Benamozegh, Shadal said that "the trills of the Shofar were (as I believe) commanded by God to put into public notice (at a time when no calendars were printed) the beginning of the year, just as on the tenth day of the year, with the same Shofar, the arrival of the Jubilee year was brought into universal awareness. If today such sounds have lost their [original] purpose, they still preserve (as do so many ceremonies) the immense value of reminding us of our ancient political existence, and they revive in us the feeling of nationality, which—without so many small but repeated reminders—perhaps might have become extinct among us, as it did among all the other ancient nations." (See my article, "Let Him Bray: The Stormy Correspondence of Samuel David Luzzatto and Elia Benamozegh," originally in Hakirah, reprinted in my Shadal on Numbers.) He goes on to say that he tried reading some of the mystical Kabbalistic "kavvanot" associated with shofar-blowing, but found them impossible to understand, and besides, "have they taken one step forward, do they have some more advanced theory than the one which we all know—that is, that 'God has commanded that which He desired'?" In other words, says Shadal, the bottom line is that we blow the shofar because God told us to. As for the chatzotzros, Shadal has no comment at all about their reason, which implies that he would have agreed with the Sefer ha-Chinuch's approach.
I linked to your article but didn't quote Shadal's response to Benamozegh because I personally think he goes too far in his "refusal" to theorize about taamei ha'mitzvos in that instance!
Fair enough, but the problem with Benamozegh is that he insists there are mystical reasons behind the shofar (and other mitzvot), but never shares even one particular example, at least in this exchange of letters.
Here are some key differences which were sparked by the questions in this article.
1.
Why trumpets and not the shofar? The shofar is not man made and is used to call out to God and Crown Him King. It also reminds us of the Akeida so the Korban
is asked for but not actually accepted. Whereas the trumpets are
Man made. They serve to gather the people and to direct their consciousness to pay ATTENTION, as you mentioned.
It’s not only sacrifice or unconditional faith that we are being directed to. It’s discernment. It’s 2 not 1. It’s bina. It’s figuring it out. It’s time to wake up the mind through contemplation and doing what the situation requires.
2. The sounds do matter as well. The Teruah is like a cry of a child calling to God to save us from our enemies. The Tekiah is a remembrance, like a siren on Yom Hazikaron.
These are initiated by the people, not by God. They allow us to connect and not just obey.
Also, the simple explanation makes sense, still we are meant to contemplate it. I like what Benamozegh has to say about it. The Torah being the prototype for the world in Hashem’s mind is fascinating.
The double נ and the practice of taking out the Torah and additional singing (for me at least) is the “modern day” trumpets. It does everything that the trumpets would do. I am curious why 2 but not more than 120? Is there any explanation for this?
Responding to R. Benamozegh, Shadal said that "the trills of the Shofar were (as I believe) commanded by God to put into public notice (at a time when no calendars were printed) the beginning of the year, just as on the tenth day of the year, with the same Shofar, the arrival of the Jubilee year was brought into universal awareness. If today such sounds have lost their [original] purpose, they still preserve (as do so many ceremonies) the immense value of reminding us of our ancient political existence, and they revive in us the feeling of nationality, which—without so many small but repeated reminders—perhaps might have become extinct among us, as it did among all the other ancient nations." (See my article, "Let Him Bray: The Stormy Correspondence of Samuel David Luzzatto and Elia Benamozegh," originally in Hakirah, reprinted in my Shadal on Numbers.) He goes on to say that he tried reading some of the mystical Kabbalistic "kavvanot" associated with shofar-blowing, but found them impossible to understand, and besides, "have they taken one step forward, do they have some more advanced theory than the one which we all know—that is, that 'God has commanded that which He desired'?" In other words, says Shadal, the bottom line is that we blow the shofar because God told us to. As for the chatzotzros, Shadal has no comment at all about their reason, which implies that he would have agreed with the Sefer ha-Chinuch's approach.
I linked to your article but didn't quote Shadal's response to Benamozegh because I personally think he goes too far in his "refusal" to theorize about taamei ha'mitzvos in that instance!
Fair enough, but the problem with Benamozegh is that he insists there are mystical reasons behind the shofar (and other mitzvot), but never shares even one particular example, at least in this exchange of letters.
Here are some key differences which were sparked by the questions in this article.
1.
Why trumpets and not the shofar? The shofar is not man made and is used to call out to God and Crown Him King. It also reminds us of the Akeida so the Korban
is asked for but not actually accepted. Whereas the trumpets are
Man made. They serve to gather the people and to direct their consciousness to pay ATTENTION, as you mentioned.
It’s not only sacrifice or unconditional faith that we are being directed to. It’s discernment. It’s 2 not 1. It’s bina. It’s figuring it out. It’s time to wake up the mind through contemplation and doing what the situation requires.
2. The sounds do matter as well. The Teruah is like a cry of a child calling to God to save us from our enemies. The Tekiah is a remembrance, like a siren on Yom Hazikaron.
These are initiated by the people, not by God. They allow us to connect and not just obey.
Also, the simple explanation makes sense, still we are meant to contemplate it. I like what Benamozegh has to say about it. The Torah being the prototype for the world in Hashem’s mind is fascinating.
The double נ and the practice of taking out the Torah and additional singing (for me at least) is the “modern day” trumpets. It does everything that the trumpets would do. I am curious why 2 but not more than 120? Is there any explanation for this?