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Thought for the Day: When We Don't Have Shofar, Shabbos Will Vouch for Us... But There is a Caveat

Shabbos morning after davening, a chavrusa presented to me a question I don't remember hearing before, nor even knew was a thing. Chazal say (Rosh HaShanah 16b) that a year that doesn't start with shofar will not end well. Since the first day or Rosh HaShanah this year was on Shabbos, we didn't blow shofar. So the question is: What will protect us from a difficult year?

Honestly, I didn't really appreciate the question. We didn't blow shofar because Chazal told us not to; זה הוא/what's the question? Then he told me the Meshech Chochma is the source of the question. I now appreciated better that it was my ignorance that was preventing me from really appreciating the question. He told me the answer of the Meshech Chachma and I thanked him... though still not really appreciating what I was hearing.

After mincha that afternoon the Agudah had a guest speaker,  R' Rajchenbach, the rosh kollel of the Kollel Zichron Eliyahu. The rosh kollel started with the question: Since the first day or Rosh HaShanah this year was on Shabbos, we didn't blow shofar. So the question is: What will protect us from a difficult year? he went to explain that the problem is not that we did anything wrong, but the shofar stands as defense attorney for us all year, and we are missing that. I understand it as something like not getting the flu shot. Even if you had the best intentions to get vaccinated, but your doctor said it would be dangerous to get it because of your health -- nonetheless, you are not going to be protected from the flu this year and you will have to take other precautions. So what is our protection this year; what else should we do?

Now that I had an appreciation for the question and I HaShem had sent the topic to me twice in one day, I was ready to listen. I know I am stubborn; I try not to be obstinate. It seem that everyone stats from Tosafos who understand that the dire predictions of a difficult year when we don't start with shofar applies even if for situations completely out of ones control; it's just bad mazal. EXCEPT when it is a year that shofar is not blown because the first day of Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbos. That's different and the prediction doesn't apply. Why, though, is Shabbos different?

The Meshech Chochma answers that the merit of giving up the beloved mitzvah of shofar in order to guard Shabbos from even the most remote chance of desecration stands for use on a year like this.

The Aruch LaNer has different approach; namely that it is Shabbos itself that will stand as our defense attorney this year. The Aruch LaNer went further: he actually did a historical study (presumably looking Chazal with his encyclopedic knowledge of Shas and Midrashim). He found that years when we didn't blow shofar because Rosh HaShanah fell on Shabbos were some of the best years for Klal Yisrael. However, he also found those to be some of the worst years.

What else, then, affects the year's outcome? The Aruch LaNer gives a משל/allegory: Imagine a close advisor to the king commits a crime, a crime that can't be ignored. The king decrees that he must stand trial. No lawyer, of course, will take a case like that. The advisor's wife says she will go. With no other option, they go to court. The wife pleads with the court that her husband knows he acted wrong and stands ready to correct everything and never again commit such a crime. The advisor is pardoned Some time later, another official does something in the same vein. He tells his wife to come with him and plead his case; he's knows the system. However, this official does not treat his wife properly. She starts to plead his case and the judge stops her; something seems off. The bailiff whispers to the judge that is is well known that this official mistreats his wife. The judge looks at the official and tells him that his defense attorney has just presented the best case to find him guilty.

So, too, says the Aruch LaNer. In years where Klal Yisrael treated Shabbos the way she should be treated, Shabbos is wonderful defense attorney for us. If Klal Yisrael does not treat Shabbos appropriately, she becomes a witness for the prosecution.

I think these two explanations complement each other. When is it a merit for us to not blow shofar on Shabbos? When we are treating Shabbos as she should be treated. The rosh kollel went on to give very practical advice to ensure this is a good year: Learn hilchos Shabbos. Learn a halacha or two each week very well, then it will follow that our keeping of Shabbos will improve. It seems to me that as much as the actual keeping of Shabbos will improve, it shows that our attitude to Shabbos -- and, perforce -- all the mitzvos, is to always want to improve. There is no greater kavod Shabbos than that.

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