Once, on Rosh Hashanah, in a hospital in Eretz Yisrael, a baal chesed blew shofar for the bedridden patients. A non-religious Jew was present, and the shofar inspired him. He said, "I understand what the shofar is all about."
He told them, "I served in the Israeli Navy in a submarine. The means of communication underseas was Morse code, and I could quickly send and decipher messages.
"A couple of years after serving in the Navy, I saw an advertisement. The army was looking for a Morse code expert to be in charge of several submarines. To apply for the job, we had to be at a certain office between 10:00 and 12:00 in the morning. I arrived at 11:50. The room was packed with applicants, with soft music playing in the background. No one was being called in, and everyone was on edge. They had come for an interview; why weren't they being called in? But I didn't wait. I stood up and opened the door of the office. 'I came for the interview.'
"Many people are waiting in line ahead of you," the secretary said agitatedly. "And you just came. Wait your turn!"
"I ignored her, walked into the room, and went straight to the commander in charge. In a few moments, I was hired for the job."
When the people in the waiting room heard that this person had been chosen, they were angry. "This man came in last," they protested. "You make us wait for hours, and then you take someone who just arrived?!"
The interviewer told them, "Listen carefully to the music. Don’t you get it? It's Morse code, saying, 'If you've come for the interview, just open the door and come inside.' This man heard the message. That's why he came in. But you didn’t understand. So you're obviously not fluent enough in the code."
The irreligious man in the hospital said, "I understand that this is what the shofar is doing. It is telling a coded message. We just have to decipher it."
It is indeed true. The shofar is telling a message, but it isn't in code.
When a cell phone rings and the tune is pleasant, most people aren't interested to know who is on the phone and what the person wants. They are more interested in the music. But one person is interested in the caller; the cell phone owner. The same is with the shofar. Some people pay attention to the music, but the wise pay attention to the shofar's message.
In Eretz Yisrael, some shuls have coin-operated air conditioners. When it is about to turn off, the machine beeps to remind people to add more money (if they want it to continue working). L'havdil, the call of the shofar is our reminder and arousal to put in more tefillos. It tells us that a new year is approaching, and we must do teshuvah.
Shofar is roshei teivos (Tehillim 24:9) תחיפ שאוו אשיכםר עריםש שאו, and (Tehillim 126:2) נהר לשננוו ינופ חוקש, and (Devarim 29:17) לענהו אשר ורהפ ורשש.
The Kav HaYashar concludes that one should also arouse his fellow man to do teshuvah. (Obviously, this must be done with extreme care, and often it can't be done altogether, but they are the Kav HaYashar's holy words, so we quote them here.) The Kav HaYashar writes:
"He should also arouse his friend to do teshuvah. Certainly, if he sees that his friend did something disgusting, he should arouse him with kind words, 'My dear friend, it is now the time to correct our paths. Listen to what I tell you and go away from this way that you are doing. These deeds aren't proper. I have to warn you about this, and if you see something improper with my behavior, you should also tell me and say, 'You did this and that,' because we are brothers, our neshamos come from the same place, from under Hashem's throne."
The Rambam (Teshuvah 3:4) writes, "The shofar is saying, משנתכם ישנים עורו— wake up, from your sleep... Examine your deeds. Repent. Remember your Creator, all you people who forget the truth..."
The Rambam refers to the shofar of Rosh Hashanah, but the shofar of Elul serves the same purpose. It is to arouse us to teshuvah.
The Tur (581) writes, "Chazal established that every year, we should blow the shofar on rosh chodesh Elul and throughout the month, to arouse Yidden to do teshuvah, as it states (Amos 3:6) יחרדו לא ועם בעיר שופר יתקע אם, 'Will a shofar be sounded in the city and the people not tremble?' Also, it is blown to confuse the Satan..
But we have to pay attention to the message.
Listen to what people say after they hear the shofar in Elul. People say, "He blows nicely. I like his truah." And another person will respond, "Last year, he blew nicer." These people listen to the sound, not the shofar's message.
But the wise listen to the message and are aroused to teshuvah.
Kav Hayashar (ch.48) states, "The minhag of Yisrael is to begin blowing shofar from Rosh chodesh Elul, which is thirty days before Rosh Hashanah, like [the halachah] that someone who has a debt, beis din gives him thirty days to gather money to pay up his debts. Similarly, the beis din of heaven gives the person thirty days to do teshuvah so that he will come out zakai (innocent) in the court of heaven. This is when he does teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah, which removes the bad decree. The shofar is to arouse us... Therefore, when he hears the call of the shofar, a person who fears Hashem should be afraid and tremble out of fear of Hashem and before Hashem's greatness. שופר stands for מעשיכם שפרו, improve your ways and leave your bad ways...
Therefore, everyone should be awakened by the sound of the shofar that is calling him to do teshuvah and he should call to Hashem with tears and prayer. This is the custom of אנשי מעשה, righteous Yidden, when they hear the shofar from Rosh chodesh Elul. They turn their face to the wall and call to Hashem with tears and with cries..."
The shofar is a call without words, but there doesn't need to be any words because the message is understood. The shofar in Elul is shouting, "Yiddelach, it's time to get rid of your aveiros and bad deeds."
Reb Yechezkel Levinstein zt'l reminisced about how it was in Europe when government officials came to a city to check whether people were properly disposing of their trash or were polluting the city. Whoever left his garbage in front of his home was fined. To avoid this penalty, when someone saw the government inspectors approaching, he would shout, "Yiddelach! Yiddelach!" He didn't say more. He didn't have to. Everyone understood that they should quickly dispose of their garbage. The shofar also calls us without words, and we understand the message.
The Or HaMeir (Devarim, Rosh Hashanah) writes, "A mashal of a city who appointed someone to be in a tall tower to guard the city. When the guard sees the enemy approaching, he must shout to arouse people to go out to war. When the townspeople hear the guard's call, the wealthy people are afraid because they have a lot of money, their homes are filled with gold and silver and beautiful clothing, and they are worried that the enemy will take away everything that belongs to them, and they will be left penniless. But this fear is solely for the wealthy, not the poor whose homes are bare. They aren't afraid of thieves because nothing can be taken away from them.
"However, when the guard shouts from the tower, in panic, 'Oy vay,' and doesn't say any words, then everyone in the city is afraid, the poor and the wealthy alike because when no words are spoken, it means that the enemy came to kill, chas v'shalom... and everyone is afraid."
The Or HaMeir explains, “This is why the kadmonim established that we should blow shofar from rosh chodesh Elul. It is a straight call, and it is for all Yisrael, the wealthy and the poor. This is because a straight call means that people's lives are at stake, and it arouses each person in his own way."
If the shofar produced words, or if a Rav would give a mussar drashah, some people will say that the topic doesn't apply to them because, indeed, everyone needs to hear something else. Mussar which is fitting for some is superfluous for those who have already attained perfection in those areas. Therefore, we are aroused by the straight sound of the shofar. This prompts everyone to do teshuvah, each person in their own way.
