One year, the Berditchever Rav zy'a raised his shofar and called out to the women's section, "The shofar needs to be rinsed out," and all the women began to cry. Their tears rinsed out the shofar.
The Arvei Nachal zy'a told the following mashal:
A king was traveling with his son in a distant country. The king warned his son, "Beware of evil people because my enemies live here and want to harm us." But the prince wasn't careful, and the king’s enemies captured him.
Once a year, the king had a custom to drive through that country. The prince planned to shout and scream on that designated day when the king passed his place of captivity. The king would hear him and rescue him. But his captives knew the prince's plan, so they put him in an iron room where his voice wouldn't be heard.
The child had special stones he received from his father years before. These stones had an extraordinary power that, when thrown at an iron wall, the wall collapsed. As the king passed through the city, the prince threw the stones at the iron walls, but the walls didn’t fall. This was because only clean stones have this extraordinary power, and his stones weren't clean.
Realizing his chance for freedom was slipping away, the prince broke out in tears. His hot tears fell on the stones, cleansing them. The prince realized that his stones were sparkling clean. With renewed hope, he threw them at the wall, and the wall collapsed. The king was able to hear the prince’s cries and saved him.
The Arvei Nachal explains that the shofar has the potential to break down the iron walls that separate us from our Father in heaven and to bring the long-awaited geulah. But it doesn’t seem to be working. Why? The answer is the shofar works together with tears. It does not function properly when blown without a broken heart and tears.
My grandfather, Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov, zt'l, fell ill one year and miraculously recovered and lived for another five years. The Rosh Hashanah following the illness, my grandfather said to my father, "Last year, by shofar, you shed true tears at tekiyas shofar," implying that was what saved his life.
