Shofar: The Sounds of Repentanceનમૂનો

A Wake-Up Call

I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one.” — SONG OF SONGS 5:2

There are three types of shofar sounds that are used during Rosh Hashanah, each eliciting different emotions and responses. One of the most intense sounds is the teruah, which consists of nine short blasts. It sounds similar to an alarm clock, and that’s precisely its intention—to wake us from our spiritual slumber.

We all relate to waking up to an alarm clock. The bed is warm, the pillow is soft, and we long to stay in bed a bit longer. Outside, we face a world that is colder and harsher. We would prefer to stay in the security of our bed. But if we want to make the most of our time, we need to rise early and overcome the urge to stay in our beds. Only then can we head into our day with a sense of purpose. This is what the psalmist meant when he wrote that those who know the sound of the teruah are happy.

And when we use to the fullest the gifts God has given us, we will be rewarded accordingly. In Psalm 62:12, we are reminded, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.” In the Christian Bible, the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Rome, similarly reminded the people there that judgment was coming and warned them, “God will repay each person according to what they have done” (Romans 2:6).

In Jewish tradition, the shofar is our collective wake-up call so that we might lead productive lives and have meaningful years ahead. During the year, it’s easy to fall into a mindless slumber as we get caught up in daily life and mistake the allure of getting ahead materially with our purpose.

In Song of Songs we read: “I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: ‘Open to me...’”

This is an apt description of our spiritual state during the year and our wake-up call at the start of the year. During the year, we might drift to sleep spiritually and mentally, but our heart remains alert. Then, on Rosh Hashanah, God knocks on our door via the sound of the shofar. It beckons us to wake up and let Him in, a call we find repeated in the Christian Bible: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20).

In the Christian Bible, we also discover numerous calls to “wake up” from our slumber. Paul, after instructing the church in Rome on how to live godly lives, exhorted them, “And do this, understanding the present time: the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). And in his vision that the Apostle John recorded in the Book of Revelation, the church at Sardis was sternly warned to “Wake up!” and repent because “I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again” (Revelation 3:2-3, NLT). Indeed, waking up and repenting go hand-in-hand, as we will explore more deeply in the next section.

Those who hear the sound of the shofar will awaken to a more God-centered life. They will start the New Year with renewed purpose and motivation. It is more demanding than sleepwalking through our days, but ultimately, it leads us to a life richer in meaning and satisfaction.