The Horowitz boys hurried along with Totty as they went around Passaic, NJ dropping off stacks of Toras Avigdor at the various distribution points.
“Wait,” said Sholom, after leaving a pile of booklets at Bagel Munch. “Bagel Munch is our last stop. Why do we still have more booklets left in the bag?”
“Well there is a new location that we are delivering to starting this week,” Totty replied, as the family got back into the car.
“Oh look!” exclaimed Mordechai, as they pulled into a large parking lot. “It’s the grand opening of the new Aisle One kosher supermarket!”
“I heard it’s supposed to be an amazing event!” Sholom said. “There’s going to be free cotton candy, a marching band, and the mayor, Lector Hora, is going to be there!”
“Oh wow, is this where we’re dropping off the Toras Avigdor booklets?” asked Yisroel Meir, excitedly.
“It sure is,” Totty said, smiling again. “Come, let’s go inside.”
Inside the store, the Horowitz boys stared in astonishment at the size of the new supermarket. There were so many aisles - it looked like you could park a jumbo jet inside the store!
“Look, Totty!” Yisroel Meir said. “There’s the Spira family from down the block! And there’s Rabbi Isaacson,” said Yisroel Meir. “Did you know he has his own kashrus agency? Maybe he’s here to make sure everything is kosher!”
Just then everybody was startled by a sudden loud trumpet sound. “Toooooo, Tooooooo, Tooooo,” and the band began to play with a loud clash of cymbals, accompanied by trombones and french horns.
“What’s happening?” asked Mordechai.
“Oh, it must be an important guest has arrived. I’m not sure who it is but let’s try to get close to the stage and see who it is.” Sure enough, as soon as the trumpets quieted down, the popular mayor of Passaic, Lector Hora, ascended the stage and began to speak about how important the new store is for the city and how he hoped it would solve all of the city’s parking and plumbing problems.
Once everything had died down and the Horowitzes finished their Shabbos shopping, Totty handed the stack of Toras Avigdor booklets to the manager and they headed back to their car.
“Wow, that was so fun, Totty!” said Sholom. “Thanks for taking us to the grand opening!”
“Yeah,” added Mordechai. “But Totty, when they blew the trumpets I thought it was a smoke alarm or something. How did you know that the trumpet meant that someone important is arriving?
“Well, it’s just like when we blow the Shofar,” said Totty as he and the boys loaded the grocery bags into the back of the car.
The boys looked at each other, confused. They had been hearing the Shofar in shul the entire Elul and didn’t remember anything happening after the Shofar was blown.
“But nothing happens when we blow the Shofar,” said Yisroel Meir, confused. “The baal tokeia just blows and then we continue davening.”
“Nothing happens?” said Totty as everyone got into the car and buckled up. “The biggest thing happens! Hashem arrives! That’s what I learned from this morning’s Toras Avigdor email. When somebody asked Rav Miller why we blow shofar on Rosh Hashana, he explained that in the olden days when a King was arriving in a city for a visit, they blew trumpets. It was a way of showing special honor to the King, to greet him with blasts of a shofar.
Totty continued as he started driving. “The same way that people use the trumpets of a marching band to signal that someone important is coming, we also do the same with the trumpet of Klal Yisroel.”
“The Shofar is the trumpet of Klal Yisroel?” asked Mordechai.
Yes, the Shofar says ‘He is here! The King has arrived!’
The boys thought about this for a few minutes.
“I never realized that,” said Sholom. “I thought it’s just a Mitzvah that we do.”
“Every Mitzvah is more than ‘just a Mitzvah’, Sholom,” said Totty. “Hashem gives us Mitzvos because they are supposed to make us think. Each time we do a Mitzvah, we should be thinking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu - and doing so brings us closer to him. And when it comes to tekias shofar, one of the most important thoughts is that Hashem is arriving to judge us.
As they drove home, Sholom and Yisroel Meir discussed how they would be trying to use what Totty just told them to enhance their davening this Rosh Hashana. But Mordechai was just sitting quietly, frowning at the booklet in his lap.
“Is everything okay, Mordechai?” asked Totty.
“Yeah, it’s just that the story in this week’s Toras Avigdor Junior is all about us and what just happened. How did they know?”
Have A Wonderful Shabbos!
Takeaway:
When we hear the Shofar we know that it is a Mitzvah of Hashem, but it also reminds us of the sound of a trumpet which announces the arrival of the king. On Rosh Hashanah, the King comes for a visit! We should keep that in mind.
