Re'eh: 5785 - There are several explanations for why we blow the shofar in the month of Elul. And why don't we blow the shofar the rest of the year? Also, a beautiful story with a moral lesson. Presented by Rabbi Shimon…

00:03 Speaker 1 We are on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul. Halachah brings several acronyms for Elul. What is Elul? It is the month of mercy and forgiveness. Moshe Rabbeinu ascended Mount Sinai then, and those were days of Divine favor. Halachah brings several acronyms for Elul: prayer, Torah, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” There is the matter of prayer and the matter of Torah. There is also “He caused it to come to his hand, and I will designate a place for you”—Torah, after all, is a refuge. And similarly, there is gemilus chassadim, acts of kindness: “each to his fellow and gifts to the poor.” The Rebbe added that an acronym also alludes to Geulah. Chassidim would add another acronym in Yiddish: “Ober l’chaim, vider l’chaim”—another l’chaim and yet another l’chaim. In other words, this is the time to say l’chaim, to farbreng together and say l’chaim. That is what chassidim would add. There are a number of customs observed during Elul. One is sounding the shofar every day. Customs differ: among Sephardim it is during davening, and among Ashkenazim it is after davening. What is the point of sounding the shofar? Why do we sound it? Halachah gives several reasons. One is that when Moshe Rabbeinu ascended Mount Sinai on Rosh Chodesh Elul, they sounded the shofar. Why? To remind the Jewish people, G-d forbid, not to make another calf as they had the first time. That is why they sounded the shofar. Another reason brought in Halachah is that the sound of the shofar naturally stirs the heart. So during Elul, as we prepare for the days of judgment, we sound the shofar. We have seen something like this recently with the sirens. When a siren sounds, it shakes you to the core. It is similar to the idea

02:11 Speaker 1 of the shofar. Yes, when you hear the siren—

02:15 Speaker 2 A shofar is sounded.

02:17 Speaker 1 Yes, Halachah brings that verse: “If a shofar is sounded in a city, will the people not tremble?” The very sound of the shofar naturally stirs the heart and moves a person to teshuvah, because this is the month of mercy and forgiveness. It is a time for teshuvah. But a question arises: If the shofar stirs the heart and inspires teshuvah, why not sound it all year? The whole year is a time for teshuvah. True, during Elul teshuvah is more readily accepted, and the month of mercy and forgiveness is an especially favorable time. But as the Rambam says, a person needs to do teshuvah throughout the year. So why not sound the shofar every day, all year long? We can explain that if the shofar were sounded every day throughout the year, people would get used to it. When you get used to something, it no longer wakes you up. It doesn’t move you as much because it has become familiar. One of my relatives by marriage, Reb Meir Friedman, a”h, was very, very ill toward the end of his life. He was lying in the hospital. People asked him, “Reb Meir, how are you?” He would say, “You have to get used to everything. You even have to get used to dying. You can’t die all at once,” he said. “It could drive you crazy. You have to get used to it.” In other words, even in that condition he still had his wit. So a person would get used to the sound of the shofar. On this subject, chassidim tell of a chossid of the Tzemach Tzedek who once came to visit his Rebbe. He had come from far away, and in those days people traveled on foot. He was very, very tired and hungry. When he arrived in Lubavitch, the Rebbe’s attendant recognized him and saw

04:19 Speaker 1 how tired and hungry he was. He said, “Listen, I’m taking a meal in to the Rebbe now. I’ll bring it into the Rebbe’s room. The Rebbe barely tastes anything, and then I take it out. Almost everything is left over. I’ll give you what remains. You’ll have plenty to eat and you’ll be full. You won’t lack a thing. Sit here and wait.” He agreed. The attendant brought the tray of food in to the Rebbe. The Rebbe barely touched it; he tasted a little. After some time, the attendant brought it out to the chossid sitting there. “Eat in good health,” he said. As the chossid sat eating near the Rebbe’s room, he heard the Rebbe saying Tehillim. The Tzemach Tzedek would recite it with feeling and a melody, and the chossid heard him say the verse from Tehillim, “Even a bird has found a home, and a swallow a nest for herself.” The Rebbe said it with feeling and a melody, and explained it in Yiddish too: “Master of the Universe, Master of the Universe, even a bird has found a home—and You, Master of the Universe, cannot find a place for Yourself here?” He said it with such feeling that the chossid, sitting there eating, let the food fall from his mouth. He couldn’t go on eating. The attendant told him, “Keep eating. It’s like this every day. Don’t get so worked up.” This shows us that even something deeply moving can stop making an impression when a person gets used to it. If the shofar were sounded every day throughout the year, it would no longer move us. That is why we sound the shofar during Elul. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu grant that it truly be a month of mercy and forgiveness. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu give every single Jew

06:13 Speaker 1 a good and sweet year.

06:16 Speaker 3 Amen, may it be so.