Vedibarta Bam � And You Shall Speak of Them: Maftir

"In the seventh month, on the first of the month, you shall have a holy assemble; it shall be to you a day of shofar blasts." (Bamidbar 29:1)

QUESTION: Our Sages (Rosh Hashanah 29b) note that the wording here is "yom teruah" - "a day of shofar blasts" - while in Parshat Acharei Mot (Vayikra 23:24) it says "Shabbaton zichron teruah" - "a remembrance of shofar blasts". From this they derive that the shofar is sounded on Rosh Hashanah only when it falls on a weekday, but not on Shabbat.

Why is the mitzvah of sounding the shofar not cited the first time that Rosh Hashanah is mentioned in the Torah?

ANSWER: From the festival of Pesach one can determine on which day of the week all the festivals of that year will take place. This rule is known as a"t, ba"sh, ga"r, da"k (see Orach Chaim 428:3).

Alef - the day of the week when the first day of Pesach falls will be taf - the same day as Tisha B'Av.

Beit - the second day of Pesach will be shin - the same day of the week as Shavuot.

Gimmel - the third day of Pesach will be reish - the same day of the week as Rosh Hashanah.

Daled - the fourth day of Pesach will be kuf - the day of Kriat haTorah - Simchat Torah - when we complete and start anew the reading of the Torah.

According to the Gemara (Shabbat 87b) the Jews left Egypt on Thursday. Consequently, since the first Pesach was celebrated on Thursday, the following Rosh Hashanah was on a Shabbat. Therefore the Torah does not mention the actual sounding of the shofar but only "zichron teruah" - "a remembrance of shofar blasts."

A difficulty that may be raised with the explanation is that the rule of knowing from Pesach on what day of the week a given holiday will fall, applies only nowadays when the new month is established al pi hacheshbon - according to a pre-calculated calendar. Accordingly, one month is complete (thirty days) and the following month is incomplete (twenty-nine days), and everything is known in advance. However, when the new month was derived based on the testimony of witness who saw the moon's appearance, this rule would not be applicable since there can be a few successive full or incomplete months.

An answer to this difficulty may be the following: Rabbeinu Bachya (Shemot 12:2) writes in the name of Rabbeinu Channaneil that throughout the forty years the Jews sojourned in the wilderness, the new month was in fact established according to a pre-calculated system and not by testimony of witness. The reason is; Hashem covered the Jewish camp in clouds during the day and a pillar of fire during the night, (Shemot 13:21) which made it impossible for them to see the sun during the day or the moon during the night.

Thus, the first Rosh Hashanah the Jews celebrated was indeed on Shabbat and they did not blow the shofar.

"In the seventh month, on the first day of the month it shall be to you a day of shofar blasts."

QUESTION: The sounding of the Shofar is called "tekiat shofar," so why doesn't it say "yom tekiah yihiyeh lachem"?

ANSWER: It could be said that the word "teru'ah" is associated with the word "rei'ut" - "friendship." Hashem is thus telling the Jewish people, "Should you want to be victorious in the day of judgment and inscribed for a good year, the prerequisite is "yom teru'ah" - on this day be especially friendly among yourselves. In that merit you will be blessed with all the best materially and spiritually."