11) The Rambam Igros U’Teshuvos (Pirkei Hatzlocha, Perek 1) describes how the seder of tekias shofar [order of the shofar blasts] should be. He writes:ואתה בהתקע שופר בר״ה תקונו והכשרו הנה תהיה תנועתו כולה באיבריך ידיך ואיבריך פשוטות ללקיחת השופר אצבעותיך מקמצות להחזיק בו גרונך ולשונך וכלי הקול משמשים בהנעים תקיעתו תהינה אזנך קשובות ורגלך עומדות ועיניך עצומות ויתר חלקיך נרעדים וחרדים – “And when you blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the best way is to do it using all your limbs. Your hands and limbs stretched out to take the shofar, your fingers gathered together to hold it. Your throat, tongue and voice instruments used to make the tekiah. Your ears attentive, your feet standing still, your eyes closed, and the rest of your body trembling and anxious.”
R’ Zilberstein is medayek [makes an implication] from these words of the Rambam, that the ba’al tokea should have his eyes closed when blowing the shofar. However, he concludes, that this din may only apply to the ba’al tokea, however, for the people listening there is no need.
The simple explanation is, when a person closes his eyes, he can concentrate better, as he gets less distracted from what is going on around him. However, R’ Chaim Malin shlita suggests a different explanation. It’s well known, that if one is blind chas vesholam and unable to see, he can hear better. Therefore, perhaps the Rambam says that one should close his eyes, so that he can hear the sound of the shofar at full force, in the loudest possible manner. By closing his eyes, his ears will work better, and he will be able to hear the shofar better.
R' Eliyohu Mann in his sefer Kol Mishaloisecha (pg. 162) writes, that he once told R’ Chaim Kanievsky, that his brother-in-law R’ Zilberstein once met with parents from Chutz La’aretz who had given birth to a child without any arms and legs, rachmonah litzlon, and he told them over a Reshash in Chullin (58b). The Mishnah in Bechoros (40a) teaches: If an animal has five legs it is considered a blemish and can’t be brought as a korban [sacrifice]. The Gemara says: If the extra leg is a hind leg, the animal is a treifah as well (not just a ba’al mum which is disqualified from being a korban, one isn’t allowed to eat it either). The Gemara explains because: כל יתר כנטול דמי – “having extra is equivalent to having less”. The simple explanation is: If an animal has extra limbs, it’s equivalent to missing a limb, and an animal with five legs is like an animal with three legs, therefore it’s considered a treifah as it is equivalent to an animal missing a leg.
However, the Reshash explains the Gemara differently, based on something the scientists say. They say: One who is blind in one eye, can see with his weaker eye better than what a regular person can see from one eye. The power of seeing comes from the brain, and it gets divided between the two eyes. However, one who is blind in one eye only has to use the brain power in one eye, therefore, his one eye is much stronger. The same is with all limbs which have a pair. The Reshash then says: It works the opposite way as well. If one has extra limbs, the strength the animal/person has gets split into more limbs, consequently, if an animal has five legs, each leg gets less energy and is weaker. Meaning: If an animal has five legs, each leg is now weaker, and it is equivalent to the animal missing a limb, therefore, it is considered a treifah.
Based on this Reshash, R’ Zilberstein told the parents of this child, that he is going to grow up to be a tremendous talmid chocham, as most people have to use part of the strength that comes from their brain to help their arms and legs work, this child, however, has no arms and legs, therefore, he can use all his brain power for Torah.
After hearing this, R’ Chaim said that when he lived in Givat Rokeach, the Chazon Ish lived downstairs, and he lived upstairs and as a young child he once went to sleep in the house of the Chazon Ish. When staying there, the Chazon Ish complained to R’ Chaim about the children who were making lots of noise outside talking nonsense to each other (like children do). The Chazon Ish then tried to give some merit to the children, and he said: “When one sense stops working, another one gets stronger. Since I have bad eyes, my hearing is very good, and I can hear the children talking from very far away.”
R’ Chaim said: From the Reshash we see that when it comes to limbs which have pairs, when one stops working the other one works better, however, from the Chazon Ish we see that it even works for different limbs.
Based on the above, R’ Chaim Malin suggests: Not only if one’s sight is damaged permanently does one’s hearing get better, but even if one closes his eyes for a few moments, at that time his sight is weaker, and his hearing is improved (personally, when I close my eyes, I find that I am able to hear better, feel free to try yourself.) Perhaps this is why the Rambam tells us to close our eyes when listening to the shofar, to ensure that we can heard it loudly and clearly.
