The Shofar is blown every morning form the first day of Elul through the twenty-eighth. Elul is the season of preparation fir the New Year by means of introspective soul searching. The sound of the Shofar aroouses us to awaken from a state of insensitivity to our faults and failings. We then reach a state of repentance froom our sins of commission and our sins of oommission, regretting the past and resolving to better the future.
We must overcome the reluctance of human nature to admit fault and the natural inertia that resists change. To accomplish repentance we must reach into the depths of our souls and bring forth the powerful forces that exists within us.
To speak words of prayer we draw surfacce energy. Blowing the Shofar requires effort that will reach deep into our very selves. (see Tanya 1:2 - 2:4). The Shofar must be blown with the narrow end placed at the lips and the wide end held upwards (Shulchan Orach Chaim 591:9).
Repentance must follow the pattern of Shofar blowing. We need to deeply concentrate with full deliberation while feeling stress over our sins. We will be shaken out of the comfortable complacency we felt while ignoring our faults. We feel cramped and distressed at the initial stages of the painful recognition of how bad we were.
After the first steps of repentance we come to the final stage. It is one in which we come out of confinement into broadness. We realize that our L-rd is: Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and ready to renounce the thought of bringing retibution (Jonah: 4:2).
We plead: Purge me and I shall be pure; cleanse me and I shall be whiter than snow. Restore to me the joy of your deliverance and uphold me with a spirit of magnanimity (Psalm 51:9 & 14).
The shofar starts with a straight blast. This is the initial comfort of apathy. Then comes a fracture into three medium sounds, followed by nine tiny fractures. Regret over misdeeds is felt progressively more intensely. Finally there comes a long, loud blast. Upon realizing forgiveness we feel immense joy.
Ohev Shalom Voice
