One for All and All for One? Individual and Communal Obligations of Shofar

Rav Mordechai Yehuda Leib Winkler (1845-1932, Hungary) was a student of the Ketav Sofer, the son of the Chatam Sofer and served as the Rabbi and Rosh HaYeshiva of Mád in Northern Hungary. His book of responsa, Levushe Mordechai, contains 1555 separate responsa addressed to 174 different locations (including 4 to the United States), testifying to his popularity and importance as a posek. And he continues to be seen as an important and reliable posek in the Charedi world today.

This teshuva addresses the technical question of why it is that a brit milah can be split between two mohels, whereas shofar blowing cannot be divided between two blowers except in extenuating circumstances. The answer, he argues, is that brit milah is a communal responsibility and therefore, there is additional merit for every person who is involved in the ceremony. On the other hand, the mitzvah of shofar blowing is an obligation on every individual which is enacted in community because of the power of doing mitzvot en masse and because not every individual is able to blow for themselves. Because it is an individual obligation, there is no additional merit to have a second shofar blower, and on the contrary, if somebody begins the mitzvah, we instruct them to finish it. 

This year, when so many people will miss the communal aspects of Rosh Hashanah, and in particular the experience of hearing shofar in the synagogue, it behooves us to remember the individual nature of the mitzvah of blowing shofar. Though there is an aesthetic preference to hear the shofar amongst the masses, the mitzvah of blowing the shofar is ultimately incumbent on each and every one of us as individuals. It may be comforting to remember that this is a mitzvah that we are able to fulfill on our own, and its meaning and importance doesn’t change whether we hear it in shuls or in our homes. 

Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (1878-1953), better known by the name of his magnum opus, Chazon Ish, was a major posek in Europe for more than two decades before moving to Israel in 1933 and settling in Bnei Brak.  In the years that followed he became one of the foremost poskim in the entire world. He did not write responsa in any great number, but he was consulted on nearly every major halakhic issue of his time and his decisions continue to be authoritative, particularly in the Charedi community. Indeed, it may be said that the Chazon Ish was the pre-eminent leader of the Charedi community in Eretz Yisrael from shortly after his arrival until his death 20 years later in 1953.

In this text, he explores the question of the individual’s relationship to the second set of shofar blasts (the tekiyot demeumad) which are sounded during the repetition of the musaf amidah. He determines that those who are not able to come to synagogue can still fulfill the mitzvah of shofar at home by hearing thirty blasts and they have not sinned by missing the additional blasts that are sounded only during the repetition of musaf in synagogue. These additional blasts are an obligation on the community rather than the individual. Therefore, so long as the individual has done their part to ensure that these additional blasts will be sounded in shul, they have fulfilled their obligation towards them.  

Once again, in a year when many people will not be attending communal services, this approach provides a framing where everyone, whether in shul or at home, belongs to one large community, supporting in whatever way they can the continued observance of the mitzvah of shofar. Those forced to stay at home can arrange to hear the first blasts (the tekiyot demeyushav) but the second blasts are only blown in a communal setting. Nevertheless, those at home are not excluded from this mitzvah. In actuality, the additional shofar blasts  during musaf are being sounded partly on their behalf.