The Shofar, The Torah and you

In this week's Parsha we read about the giving of the ten commandments, the fundamentals of the Torah.

"And when the voice of the shofar sounded long, and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice."

The classical Biblical commentator Rashi explains:
”When a person blows a shofar, (Ram's horn blown on the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah and some other occasions throughout the year) - the longer he sounds the shofar, the weaker the sound becomes. At Mount Sinai, though, the sound of the shofar became louder as it got longer.”

Anyone who has had any musical experience knows that any (non-synthetic / non-electronic) musical instrument that is played for a long note will end on a diminuendo.

However, the sound of the shofar was different. How?

The sound of the shofar at the giving of the Torah has never ended. It continues and becomes stronger from generation to generation. It calls upon Israel and the pious people of the nations of the world to fulfill the commandments of God, which gladden the heart and enlighten the eyes.

The great Chassidic Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev explains:

“Some people hear the shofar of Rosh Hashanah all year, and some hear the sound of the shofar which was blown when the Torah was given all the days of their lives.”

We have to hope and strive for that Shofar to appear in our lives on a daily basis. That shofar, the sound of repentance and closeness to God, speaks to us.

All we have to do is understand the language.