Siman 588

The time for the blowing of the shofar is by day and not by night, as it is said: "It shall be a day of sounding for you" (Megillah 20b). And even though every "day" in the Torah refers to the entire twenty-four-hour period, nevertheless, this "day" is superfluous; for since it is written (Numbers 29:1): "And in the seventh month, on the first of the month" etc.—it should have concluded "it shall be a sounding for you," as in Emor, where it is written: (Leviticus 23:24): "In the seventh month, on the first of the month" etc., "a memorial of sounding" etc., and "a day of memorial of sounding" is not written. Rather, learn from this that it comes for an exposition: "by day and not by night."

And by Torah law, it is valid from the rise of amud hashachar, for from then it is considered day. However, the sages said (ibid.) that ab initio one should blow from the sunrise, for then is the primary part of the day. And so it is regarding all matters whose mitzvah is by day; we learned there that ab initio it is from the sunrise, and post facto it is valid from the rise of amud hashachar. And the end of its time is until the sunset, for afterward bein hashemashot begins, and one blows without a berakhah. See what I wrote in siman 261. And if one heard part of a tekiah before amud hashachar rose, and part afterward—he has not fulfilled the obligation, even if there is the measure of a tekiah in what follows afterward. And there are those who disagree on this, as I wrote in the previous siman, section 5; see there.

The measure of the shofar blasts will be explained in siman 590, and there it will be explained that one is obligated to hear nine blasts on Rosh Hashanah, which are: three teruot and six peshutot. For every teruah, a peshuta precedes it and a peshuta follows it. And we hold that even if one heard the nine blasts over nine hours in the day—he has fulfilled the obligation (34b), that is to say: that he sounded the peshuta that precedes it in the first hour, and the teruah in the second hour, and the peshuta that follows it in the third hour, and so with all of them—he has fulfilled the obligation, for we do not require them to be consecutive, and even with a large interruption such as this it is called "preceding it and following it." And even if they are from nine people, provided that they sounded them in order: first a tekiah and afterwards a teruah and afterwards a tekiah, and so with all of them. But if not in order—he has not fulfilled the obligation.

And some say that this is specifically when there was no interruption between them with a shofar sound that is not appropriate for that sequence; that is to say: if he heard a teruah and after it two tekiahs—he has not fulfilled his obligation. But if he heard a tekiah and a teruah, and a teruah and a tekiah—the second teruah is not considered an interruption, for it is no worse than a delay. For even though regarding the one who blows the shofar himself we maintain below in siman 590 that he has not fulfilled his obligation, in such a case it is because he performs an action not according to the halachah. But this is not so regarding the listener, for regarding the listener it is as if he is not present during that sound itself (Levush and Magen Avraham, subsection 3). And some disagree on this, for the listener is comparable to the one who blows, as the essence of the mitzvah is the hearing (Taz, subsection 2), and so it is implied in the Ran (Magen Avraham, ibid.).

And specifically when the nine people blew one after another in order. But if they all blew as one – he has not fulfilled the obligation, for we require that the tekiah precede the teruah, and the teruah precede the tekiah that follows it, and the order of the first to the second and the second to the third, and here they all came as one and it is not effective. And even though Rashi there disagrees on this, nevertheless the poskim have decided to invalidate in such a case. However, if two people or more blew the tekiah as one, and afterwards two blew the teruah, and so on – he has fulfilled the obligation. For even though two voices are not heard, shofar is different because it is beloved, and they apply their minds to hear the sound of the shofar.

If Reuven needed the tekiyah before it, and Shimon needed the tekiyah after it, and they heard one tekiyah—they have fulfilled their obligation, and for this one it counts for the one before and for this one for the one after. And one tekiyah fulfills the obligation for both of them, since everything is a tekiyah. And even if the blower himself needed the tekiyah before it, and intended for this, nevertheless the hearer who needed it for the one after has fulfilled his obligation. And so too from order to order, since there is no difference in the essence of the tekiyah—we are not concerned with the intention of the blower, provided that he intends to fulfill his obligation. For if he did not intend to fulfill his obligation—it is nothing.

Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbat, one does not blow the shofar. This is the wording of the Rambam in chapter two, law 6: Even though the blowing is on account of a shevut, and by law one should blow—the positive commandment of the Torah should come and override the shevut of their words. And why do we not blow? A decree, lest he carry it in his hand to someone who will blow for him, and transport it four amot in the reshut harabim, or bring it out from one domain to another domain, and come to a prohibition of stoning. For everyone is obligated in blowing, but not everyone is expert in blowing. Thus far his words. And even though blowing does not override even a shevut, as I wrote at the end of siman 586, and how did he write that it overrides a shevut? This is a shevut that is incidental, such as bringing it from outside the techum, or climbing a tree. But regarding the essence of the blowing which is a shevut, perforce it would override it even on Shabbat, for this shevut exists also on Yom Tov. And if you say that even on Yom Tov it should not override this shevut, if so, you have nullified the mitzvah of blowings entirely, and this is impossible. But the shevut of carrying is not like Yom Tov; therefore they decreed regarding it on Shabbat due to this concern (Lechem Mishneh and Magen Avraham and Taz).

Therefore, it is forbidden to move the shofar on Shabbat, as it is muktzeh; unless it is for the purpose of its use or its place, when it is fit for some permitted use, such as to sip water in it for an infant. For otherwise, even for the purpose of its use or its place it is forbidden, as I wrote in siman 308. And on Yom Tov, even though it is obvious that it is permitted to move it, since one must blow it, nevertheless, in one particular detail it has a greater stringency than Shabbat, namely: that it is forbidden to use it for a mundane use, such as to sip water in it, since it was set aside for its mitzvah (Magen Avraham, subsection 5). This is not the case on Shabbat, for since one does not blow it—it was not set aside for its mitzvah at all. And it appears to me that even on Yom Tov, if he has two shofars, and he prepared one to blow it, and the second he did not want to blow it—it is not muktzeh for its mitzvah.

And even though this fact that we do not blow on Shabbat is rabbinic due to a decree, as I have written, nevertheless the Torah also alluded to this, for in Parashat Pinchas (Numbers 29:1) it is written "it shall be a day of blowing for you," and in Parashat Emor (Leviticus 23:24) it is written "a remembrance of blowing," and this is when it falls on Shabbat, for it is only a remembrance of blowing and not a day of blowing (Gemara beginning of the fourth chapter 29b). And there is a further, deeper allusion to this, for behold, the parasha of "an ox or a sheep" in Emor was stated in the second year of the exodus from Egypt, regarding the matter of the shofar, for this parasha was stated after the giving of the Torah. And the Pesach when Israel left Egypt fell on a Thursday, as is found in Shabbat (87b). And it follows that afterwards in the second year, Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, for the third day of Pesach is Rosh Hashanah, as is known. Therefore the Torah said "In the seventh month, on the first of the month, shall be a solemn rest for you, a remembrance of blowing, a holy convocation," meaning: that this Rosh Hashanah will come to you on Shabbat, and therefore only "a remembrance of blowing" and not "a day of blowing." And there is nothing that is not alluded to in the Torah, for all the words of the sages were given from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He, to Moses at Sinai, and He revealed to him what the sages would innovate.

The sages taught in the Mishnah (beginning of the fourth chapter): When the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, in the Mikdash they would blow, but not in the province. Once the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai ordained that they should blow in every place where there is a beit din. And the reason is because a beit din is diligent, and they will not come to desecrate Shabbat, and all the more so in the Mikdash where they were diligent, and there is no concern regarding them lest one carry it etc. And this is all during the time when there was an ordained beit din. But now, in our iniquities, when we do not have an ordained beit din—we do not blow in any place in the world, even in Eretz Yisrael. And when the righteous redeemer comes—then we will blow in Jerusalem, if God wills. And one of the great ones among our teachers wanted to say that even now, when there is a great beit din of all the world—they blow there. But his words were not accepted. (See in the Maor, and Milchamot, and in the Maggid Mishneh that the Rif holds accordingly, but even his students did not practice accordingly; see there.)