The Portion of Ki Savo was my Bar Mitzvah Parsha. I was taught the Laining/reading and cantillations from a very patient and kind teacher, Rabbi Yaacov Pressman. Besides being an excellent elementary grade Rebbe, he had a talent to teach and prepare many boys for their Bar Mitzvah. The other week, I heard the sad news that he had passed away. Boruch Dayan Emes.
As Rosh Hashana approaches we are encouraged to take advantage of the fact that G-d is in a compassionate state and wishes for us to connect and bond with Him.
How is this accomplished?
We know that we sound a Shofar on Rosh Hashana, as it is a Torah obligation to hear the call of the Shofar.
Besides the various Shofar sounds and formulas of Tekia, Shevorim and Teruah, there is significance to the source of the Shofar and to the shape of the Shofar.
A Shofar must come from a Kosher animal. The primary Shofar to be used is one that comes from a ram. The reason for this is that the ram reminds G-d of when our forefather Avraham was ready and willing to offer his only son Yitzchok on an altar. Although at the last moment G-d told him to stop, the Torah tells us that Avraham noticed a ram and he sacrificed it in place of his son. The ram’s horns were preserved. The left Shofar of the ram was used at G-d’s Revelation at mount Sinai – as the Torah tells us, there was a sound of the Shofar. The right larger Shofar of that ram is reserved to be used at the time of Moshiach, as the verse from Isaiah which we recite during the Rosh Hashana Musaf prayers foretells, “And it will be on the day that a great Shofar will be blown, and then will come those lost in Assyria and those cast away in the land of Egypt; and they will prostrate themselves to Hashem on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”
In the tenth blessing of the daily Amida we refer to this Shofar and ask G-d, “Sound the great Shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles and gather us together from the four corners of the earth.”
While a Shofar from a ram is preferred, the Halacha is, if there is a choice between a straight ram’s horn and a bent Shofar from a different type of animal, the bent Shofar is to be used.
The reason that the shape of a bent Shofar is preferable is because it reflects upon the ultimate purpose of the Shofar blasts – to stir us all to bend ourselves, our hearts, minds and actions toward the will of the Almighty.
This is what G-d wants from us, to make even the slightest move closer to Him, to hear what He has to say through His instructions to us in our Torah.
Taking moments to ‘bend’ from our comfortable posture through humbling and surrendering our will to the Almighty’s, is a great triumph in one’s spiritual growth and brings closeness to Hashem.
Listening to the calling and wailing sounds of the bent Shofar has the capacity to instill feelings of awe and humility within us. The Shofar also acts as the instrument to turn G-d’s intense judgement into merciful judgment and silences the prosecuting Satan.
There are various times during our prayers when we physically bend our bodies by bowing: When we recite the Boruchu in our prayers and when we receive an Aliya to the Torah. We bow within our daily Amidah four times. We bow during the Alainu prayer that is recited during the Rosh Hashana Mussaf Amidah and of course when we recite Alainu at the conclusion of each of our prayers.
Our Sages tell us that our leader Joshua composed the Alainu prayer during the first week that he led the Jewish Nation into the Land of Israel when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down with the sounds of the Shofars.
In this week’s Parsha, Moshe instructs the nation in detail what they are to do to confirm their commitment to the Torah on their first day after they cross the Jordan River into the Land of Israel. One of the instructions was that they travel to the City of Shechem and six specified tribes are to stand on Har Gerizim and the six others are to stand on Har Aival, two mountains that face each other.
A portion of the Levite tribe are to stand between the two mountains together with the Ark of testimony.
The Torah spells out 11 laws, and one all-encompassing law, that they follow the entire Torah.
The Levites are to turn towards Mt. Grizim and mention all 12 laws in the positive, Blessed is one who follows… and the entire nation is to respond, Amain. Then the Levites are to turn to Mt. Aival and mention all the 12 laws – cursed is the one who does not follow….and for each law the entire nation responds Amain.
The question raised is how do you think the six tribes standing on Mt. Aival felt when they were turned to when the Levites expressed, “Cursed is the one.?”
Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin o.b.m. explains. We have to notice that Moshe instructs that large stones that contained the entire Torah and an Altar upon which sacrifices were to be offered were directed to be set up specifically on Har Aival. The placement of these sacred artifacts on Har Aival served to placate the six tribes to whom the terms of cursed is directed.
Hosting the stones with the writ of the Torah and the Altar on their mountain was a great honor for them and they felt blessed, and it prevailed over any possible negative feelings.
The Halacha indicates that the Shofar is sounded at the Bima of the synagogue where the Torah is placed and read.
The reason for this is that our sacred and holy Torah should stand as a merit when we sound the Shofar to ensure that G-d grants us a blessed, healthy and successful new year!
