## Ceremony and Celebration; Introduction to the Holidays, Rosh HaShana; The Anniversary of Creation, The Kingship of God

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הרמז הבא ניתן לנו בשמות שהתורה נותנת לחג, "יוֹם תְּרוּעָה" ו"זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה". מהי תרועה? בהקשרים האחרים במקרא תרועה היא צליל המופק מכלי נשיפה, או, בכמה מקרים, צעקה או בכי של המון אדם.

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
The next hint is given in the biblical names for the festival, *Yom Terua* and *Zikhron Terua*, “the day of *terua*” and “a commemoration or remembrance of *terua*.” What is *terua*? In all other biblical contexts, it refers to a sound, usually produced by a wind instrument, though sometimes it may mean a shout or cry on the part of a crowd.


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מהם אותם כלי נשיפה? חצוצרות הכסף שבני ישראל עשו במדבר שימשו לתקיעה ולתרועה: תקיעה למקרא העדה, ותרועה להודיע שהגיע הזמן להתחיל במסע נוסף (במדבר י, א-ז). אם כן, אולי גם התרועה של ראש השנה מופקת בחצוצרה. חז"ל פסלו אפשרות זו מסיבה פשוטה.

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
What instrument is the Torah referring to? The silver trumpets used by the Israelites in the wilderness were used to sound both a *tekia* and a *terua*, a *tekia* to summon the people and a *terua* to signal that it was time to begin a further journey (Num. 10:1–7). So the *terua* of Rosh HaShana might refer to a trumpet. The sages ruled out this possibility for a simple reason.


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ראש השנה איננו המועד היחיד בחודש השביעי שמושמעת בו תרועה. אחת לחמישים שנה, בשנת היובל, נשמעת תרועה ביום העשירי בחודש זה, יום הכיפורים. היא מציינת את שחרור העבדים בשנה זו ואת החזרת נחלות־האבות לבעליהן הראשונים. על היובל כתובות בתורה המילים המפורסמות שנחרתו לימים על פעמון החירות של ארצות הברית, "וּקְרָאתֶם דְּרוֹר בָּאָרֶץ לְכָל יֹשְׁבֶיהָ" (ויקרא כה, י). הפסוק הקודם לפסוק זה מציין במפורש שיש להפיק את התרועה הזו משופר:

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
Rosh HaShana turns out not to be the only time that a *terua* was sounded in the seventh month. It was also sounded on the tenth of the month, Yom Kippur, in the Jubilee year, when slaves went free and ancestral land returned to its original owners. The Jubilee was the occasion of the famous words, taken directly from the biblical text, written on the Liberty Bell of America, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Lev. 25:10). The previous verse (25:9) states specifically that one should sound the *terua* with a shofar:


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וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ שׁוֹפַר תְּרוּעָה; בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִעִי בֶּעָשׂוֹר לַחֹדֶשׁ בְּיוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים תַּעֲבִירוּ שׁוֹפָר בְּכָל אַרְצְכֶם (ויקרא כה, ט).

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
Then you shall sound the horn loud [*shofar terua*]; in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement, you shall have the horn sounded throughout the land.


###### Ceremony and Celebration; Introduction to the Holidays, Rosh HaShana; The Anniversary of Creation, The Kingship of God 5
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המילה "יובֵל" עצמה פירושה גם קרן אַיִל ("בִּמְשֹׁךְ הַיֹּבֵל הֵמָּה יַעֲלוּ בָהָר", שמות יט, יג). מתרועת השופר של היובל הקישו חז"ל לתרועה שבחודש השביעי באחד לחודש.

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
Indeed the Hebrew word for Jubilee, *yovel*, also means a ram’s horn (Ex. 19:13). It became a simple inference to conclude that this applied to the *terua* of the first day of the seventh month as well.


###### Ceremony and Celebration; Introduction to the Holidays, Rosh HaShana; The Anniversary of Creation, The Kingship of God 6
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במה התייחד השופר? בכמה מקומות במקרא קול השופר הוא קול המלחמה (ראו למשל יהושע ו; שמואל א' ד; ירמיהו ד, יט; מט, ב). קול השופר מאפיין במקרא גם חגיגה. כשהמלך דוד הביא את ארון הברית לירושלים, הוא רקד והעם צהל "בִּתְרוּעָה וּבְקוֹל שׁוֹפָר" (שמואל ב' ו, טו). אך בכמה וכמה מקומות, בייחוד בספרי המקרא ההיסטוריים, קול השופר נשמע בהכתרת מלך. כך נאמר על המלכת שלמה:

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
What was special about the shofar? In several places in Tanakh it is the sound of battle (see, for example, Josh. 6; I Sam. 4; Jer. 4:19, 49:2). It could also be the sound of celebration. When King David brought the Ark into Jerusalem, he danced and the people rejoiced with “*terua* and the sound of the shofar” (II Sam. 6:15). But in a number of places, especially the historical books, the shofar was sounded at the coronation of a king. So we find at the proclamation of Solomon as king:


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וַיִּקַּח צָדוֹק הַכֹּהֵן אֶת קֶרֶן הַשֶּׁמֶן מִן הָאֹהֶל וַיִּמְשַׁח אֶת שְׁלֹמֹה. וַיִּתְקְעוּ בַּשּׁוֹפָר וַיֹּאמְרוּ כָּל הָעָם, "יְחִי הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה" (מלכים א' א, לט).

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
Tzaddok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the shofar and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” (I Kings 1:39)


###### Ceremony and Celebration; Introduction to the Holidays, Rosh HaShana; The Anniversary of Creation, The Kingship of God 8
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וכך בהימשח יהוא למלך על ישראל:

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
Likewise when Jehu was appointed king:


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וַיְמַהֲרוּ וַיִּקְחוּ אִישׁ בִּגְדוֹ וַיָּשִׂימוּ תַחְתָּיו אֶל גֶּרֶם הַמַּעֲלוֹת וַיִּתְקְעוּ בַּשּׁוֹפָר וַיֹּאמְרוּ, "מָלַךְ יֵהוּא" (מלכים ב' ט, יג).

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the shofar and shouted, “Jehu is king!” (II Kings 9:13)


###### Ceremony and Celebration; Introduction to the Holidays, Rosh HaShana; The Anniversary of Creation, The Kingship of God 10
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כזו הייתה גם מזימתו של אבשלום בן דוד:

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
When Absalom sought to have himself proclaimed king in the lifetime of his father, David, we read:


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וַיִּשְׁלַח אַבְשָׁלוֹם מְרַגְּלִים בְּכָל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר: כְּשָׁמְעֲכֶם אֶת קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר וַאֲמַרְתֶּם, "מָלַךְ אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּחֶבְרוֹן" (שמואל ב' טו, י).

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the shofar, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’” (II Sam. 15:10)


###### Ceremony and Celebration; Introduction to the Holidays, Rosh HaShana; The Anniversary of Creation, The Kingship of God 12
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גם ספר תהלים קושר שופר להכתרה – אך לא להכתרת מלך בשר ודם, אלא להכרזה על ה' כמלך. במזמור מז, הנאמר בקהילות רבות לפני תקיעת השופר, נמצאים פסוקי מפתח אלה:

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
The book of Psalms associates the shofar not with a human king but with the declaration of God as King. A key text is Psalm 47, said in many congregations before the shofar blowing on Rosh HaShana:


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עָלָה אֱלֹהִים בִּתְרוּעָה, ה' בְּקוֹל שׁוֹפָר. 
זַמְּרוּ אֱלֹהִים זַמֵּרוּ, זַמְּרוּ לְמַלְכֵּנוּ זַמֵּרוּ. 
כִּי מֶלֶךְ כָּל הָאָרֶץ אֱלֹהִים, זַמְּרוּ מַשְׂכִּיל (תהלים מז, ו-ח).

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
God has been raised up in sound; raised, the Lord, in the voice of the shofar…. For God is King over all the earth…. (Ps. 47:6, 8)


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מזמור צח יוצר זיקה ברורה בין מלכות ה' לבין היותו שופט.

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
Psalm 98 makes a clear connection between God’s kingship and His judgment:


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בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת וְקוֹל שׁוֹפָר הָרִיעוּ לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ ה'...
לִפְנֵי ה' כִּי בָא לִשְׁפֹּט הָאָרֶץ,
יִשְׁפֹּט תֵּבֵל בְּצֶדֶק וְעַמִּים בְּמֵישָׁרִים (פסוקים ו, ט).

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
With trumpets and the sound of the shofar, shout for joy before the Lord, the King…. For He is coming to judge the earth. He judges the world with righteousness and all nations with equity. (Ps. 98:6, 9)


###### Ceremony and Celebration; Introduction to the Holidays, Rosh HaShana; The Anniversary of Creation, The Kingship of God 16
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וכך אנו מגיעים לממד הגדול השני של ראש השנה. אנו מציינים ביום הזה את מלכות אלוהים. ממד זה טבע אף הוא את חותמו על תפילות החג. מילת המפתח היא "מלך" - החזן פותח את חלקו בתפילת שחרית בזמרה דרמטית של המילה "המלך". הברכה השלישית בתפילת עמידה, הנחתמת בדרך כלל במילים "האל הקדוש", נחתמת בראש השנה ובעשרת ימי תשובה בנוסחה "המלך הקדוש". ובולט מכול הוא פרק ה"מלכויות" הפותח את שלישיית מלכויות, זיכרונות ושופרות שהזכרנו, זו הניצבת בלב תפילת מוסף. ברכה ארוכה זו מיוסדת על סדרת פסוקים המתארים את מלכות ה'. בראש השנה אנו מציינים לא רק את היות ה' בורא העולם, אלא גם את היותו שליטו.

**Maggid Books, 2017:**
We have now arrived at the second great dimension of Rosh HaShana. It is the day on which we celebrate the kingship of God. This has left its mark throughout the Rosh HaShana prayers. The key word is *Melekh*, “King.” The leader begins in the morning service with a dramatic rendition of *HaMelekh*. The third blessing of the Amida, which normally ends with the words “the holy God,” on Rosh HaShana and throughout the Ten Days of Repentance becomes “the holy King.” In particular, Musaf on Rosh HaShana begins with an entire section dedicated to *malkhiyot*, verses relating to divine kingship. Rosh HaShana is the day we celebrate God not just as Creator of the world, but its Ruler also.