05 Sep NITZAVIM/ VAYELECH: RECOGNIZING OUR ROYALTY

As everybody knows, we
blow the shofar a lot on
Rosh Hashanah. In fact,
we blow no fewer than
100 sounds on each day of
the two days.

Already the Gemara raised the question of
why we blow so many shofar sounds. The
Torah obligation can be fully satisfied with
just the first set of 30 shofar sounds which
we blow before musaf. Why, then, do we
blow all the extra shofar sounds?
The Gemara gives a very mysterious
answer to this question: “in order to
confound the Satan.”
Numerous interpretations have been
offered for this remark. Tosafot, a
commentary on the page of the Gemara,
explains that when the Satan hears the extra
sounds, he fears that this is
the shofar heralding the arrival of Mashiah,
when he will meet his final downfall. He
becomes so frightened that he does not have
the ability to prosecute against us.
Later commentators ask a strong question
about Tosafot’s explanation. Is Satan really
worried that the extra shofar sounds mean
that Mashiah is coming? We blew the same
number of shofar sounds last year, and the
year before, and the year before that, and for
many, many years. All of a sudden now, this
year, Satan thinks that the
extra shofar sounds are the sounds
of Mashiah? After hearing this number of
sounds year after year after year, he’s still
worried?!
The commentators give a very powerful
answer. They explain that Satan knows
something that we don’t.
Satan knows how great the Jewish People
are. He knows that we are very capable of
repenting and bringing Mashiah. He knows
how close we are to our destiny. And so he
is always afraid that we’ve gotten
there. When he hears the shofar, he is
worried that this might be the time of our
final redemption. He believes in us more
than we believe in ourselves.
On Rosh Hashanah, we all come together
to crown Hashem as King over the
world. We are chosen for this because we
are His special, beloved nation. We are
royalty. We are unique. We are His
cherished people.
Rosh Hashanah is not only about our fear
of judgment. It’s primarily about
recognizing our royal stature, feeling
privileged to be part of Hashem’s “royal
family.” Sure, this privilege carries with is
certain obligations and responsibilities. But
it is still a great privilege, one for which we

should feel especially grateful.
If we have doubts about whether we really
our royalty, the Satan reminds us. His fear
on Rosh Hashanah shows us just how much
potential we have.

As we assemble this Rosh Hashanah to
crown Hashem as King, let us recommit
ourselves to abide by the standards expected
of His “royal family,” and celebrate this
unique, priceless privilege that we have
been given.