The Meaning of the Mitzvah of Blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah

Maimonides, in The Laws of Teshuvah (Repentance for Sins), writes: Blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a decree of Scripture! There is a hint in it: “Awake, you who sleep, from your sleep, and you who sleep, awake from your sleep, and examine your deeds, and repent, and remember your Creator.” Those who forget the truth in the vanities of the world and waste their entire lives in vanity and empty things that will neither benefit nor save them, look into your souls and improve your ways and actions, and let each of you abandon your evil way and your unworthy thoughts.

And Rabbi Saadia also wrote the reason for blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah to remember that on this day, when Adam was created, Hashem, blessed be He, sat on the throne of His kingdom. Because before the creation of man, His kingdom, blessed be He, was not visible until Rosh Hashanah; therefore, we blow the shofar on this day, according to the scripture: “And you shall blow the shofar and say: Long live the king,” and thus we enthrone God, blessed be He, and blow the shofar. And in contrast to this, we establish a verse: “With trumpets and with the sound of the shofar, rejoice before the King, the Lord.”

It is known that for this reason, our Master, the Vilna Gaon, was very happy during the mitzvah of blowing the shofar, since the sound of the shofar signifies the reign of God, blessed be He, over us as King. Therefore, he was very happy on Rosh Hashanah during the blowing of the shofar, for the privilege of enthroning Hashem, blessed be He, as King over the entire world.