Is There an Obligation to Sound Trumpets During the Current War?

Is there an obligation to sound trumpets during war?

  Topics of the article

Is there a special obligation to pray during these days? Is it a positive Torah commandment? What are the details of the mitzvah? Must a public fast be decreed? What are the considerations in this matter? Is there an obligation to sound trumpets in a time of distress? What is the obligation? How is it fulfilled? Does the obligation apply specifically to trumpets, or also to a shofar? What is the benefit of sounding trumpets or a shofar in a time of distress? Does this obligation apply in our times? Does the Swords of Iron war obligate these laws? Question: The Torah states (Bamidbar 10:9): “וְכִי תָבֹאוּ מִלְחָמָה בְּאַרְצְכֶם עַל הַצַּר הַצֹּרֵר אֶתְכֶם וַהֲרֵעֹתֶם בַּחֲצֹצְרֹת וְנִזְכַּרְתֶּם לִפְנֵי ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְנוֹשַׁעְתֶּם מֵאֹיְבֵיכֶם” — “When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, you shall sound the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before Hashem your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.” The question therefore arises: now, during the war and the terrible danger in Eretz Yisrael, are we obligated to sound trumpets?

Answer: The question divides into several issues, all of which are very important in these days. A. Besides the trumpets, the verse obligates additional matters, as we will detail; in the language of the Mishnah and the Shulchan Aruch this is called “mari’im u-matri’im” — crying out and sounding an alarm. We must define, according to Halacha, when this obligation applies. B. To specify what the obligation includes. C. Whether trumpets are also required nowadays. D. How to fulfill the full set of obligations learned from the verse.

Defining the times when there is an obligation to sound an alarm and cry out

The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 576:1) rules: “Just as we fast and sound an alarm over rainfall, so too they would fast over other calamities; for example, if non-Jews came to wage war against Israel, or to take tax from them, or to seize land from them, or to decree a calamity upon them even concerning a minor mitzvah — they fast and sound an alarm until they are shown mercy. All the cities around them fast but do not sound an alarm, unless they sounded it in order to gather to assist them. And even if they came only to pass through their land — having no war with them, but rather with other non-Jews, and they are passing through a Jewish area — they fast and sound an alarm.”

That is, there are two situations: the more severe situation, in which one must both fast and sound trumpets or a shofar, as we will explain below; and a situation in which one must fast but need not sound an alarm.

Our present reality is that, sadly, Hamas from the south and Hezbollah from the north have come to wage war against all of Eretz Yisrael, and they fire missiles at all of Eretz Yisrael. Therefore, in this case all of Eretz Yisrael is in a state that requires war, and all of us are in a situation in which one must fast and sound an alarm.

In practice, even if there were a threat only to certain parts of Eretz Yisrael, there would still be an obligation to fast and sound an alarm, since reinforcements are sent to that place. Certainly in a situation in which an emergency reserve call-up has been issued, and soldiers from throughout the country have been mobilized to gather together, there is also an obligation to sound an alarm.

The obligation of repentance for a place that merits special protection

However, one must pay attention to an additional point. In the prophecy (Amos 4:7) that arouses the Jewish people to repent because of the troubles that befall them, it says: “וְהִמְטַרְתִּי עַל עִיר אֶחָת, וְעַל עִיר אַחַת לֹא אַמְטִיר, חֶלְקָה אַחַת תִּמָּטֵר, וְחֶלְקָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא תַמְטִיר עָלֶיהָ תִּיבָשׁ” — “I caused rain to fall upon one city, and upon another city I did not cause rain to fall; one field was rained upon, and the field upon which it did not rain withered.” This means that there is a special way in which the Holy One, blessed be He, sends a sharp and clear message so that we should not think the matter is natural: He brings rain upon one city, while another city has drought, and the rain even distinguishes between plots of land — one merits the abundance of Hashem’s blessing, and the other remains dry. (See also Ta’anit 6a, regarding whether rain in a city and on a plot is a sign of blessing for that city and plot.) When this occurs, it is a clear identifying sign that the Holy One, blessed be He, wants to hear our prayer and our repentance. It is a resounding alarm signal that Heaven is speaking to us, and we are forbidden to fail to pay attention to it.

Therefore the Mishnah (Ta’anit 18b) states that in such a case one sounds an alarm immediately and does not wait until it is clear that there is a drought, because there is a sharp and clear message here to pray and repent.

The sharp, painful, and resounding message that we received on the most recent Simchat Torah is a clear alarm signal to change our ways, improve our deeds, and pray to the Creator of the world. The message we received in such a clear, sharp, and shocking manner is that of (Tehillim 127:1): “אִם ה' לֹא יִשְׁמָר עִיר שָׁוְא שָׁקַד שׁוֹמֵר” — “If Hashem does not guard the city, the watchman keeps vigil in vain.” This message emphasized to us how much we live, as if naturally, amidst open heavenly miracles — a lone sheep among seventy wolves, who try day after day to destroy us in the cruelest way.

We have no understanding of Heaven’s calculations: why one kibbutz merited heavenly protection and all its inhabitants were saved, while in the neighboring kibbutz the heart cannot contain the terrible disaster of the blood that was spilled.

We must not fall into indifference and say that all the Shabbat-observant communities were protected by the merit of Shabbat, or that we saw tangibly how the yeshivot and places of Torah protected their inhabitants. For even when Hashem causes rain to fall on one city and not on another, it is a message to everyone to strengthen themselves and repent. Of course, one must also internalize that the true protection is Shabbat and Torah; but the obligation to awaken applies to all of us as one.

In summary: Regarding the first question, in our times it is a period in which one must sound an alarm and fast, since they have gathered against us for war. We will detail the practical halachot as practiced in our times.

The manner of fulfilling the mitzvah

The Mishnah Berurah (576:1) cites the wording of the Rambam (Laws of Fasts 1:1–4), which we must review carefully in these days: “It is a positive Torah commandment to cry out and to sound trumpets over every calamity that befalls the community, as it says: ‘against the enemy who oppresses you, you shall sound the trumpets’ — meaning, over anything that causes you distress, such as drought, plague, locusts, and the like, cry out over them and sound an alarm.

This is among the ways of repentance: when a calamity comes and they cry out over it and sound an alarm, everyone will know that it was because of their evil deeds that misfortune befell them, as it is written (Yirmiyahu 5:25), “עֲוֹנוֹתֵיכֶם הִטּוּ” etc. [“אֵלֶּה, וְחַטֹּאותֵיכֶם מָנְעוּ הַטּוֹב מִכֶּם”] — “Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have withheld good from you.” This is what will cause the calamity to be removed from them.

But if they do not cry out and do not sound an alarm, but rather say, ‘This happened to us as part of the way of the world; this calamity occurred by chance,’ this is a path of cruelty, and it causes them to cling to their evil deeds. The calamity will then add other calamities. This is what is written in the Torah (Vayikra 26:27–28): ‘והלכתם עמי בקרי’ and ‘והלכתי עמכם בחמת קרי’ — ‘If you walk with Me casually… I will walk with you in furious casualness’; that is, when I bring a calamity upon you so that you repent, if you say it is chance, I will add to you the fury of that chance.

By rabbinic enactment, one fasts over every calamity that befalls the community until they are shown mercy from Heaven.

On these fast days, they cry out in prayer, supplicate, and sound only trumpets. If they were in the Temple, they would sound trumpets and shofar. The shofar sounds short blasts and the trumpets sound long ones, because the mitzvah of the day is with trumpets. Trumpets and shofar are not sounded together except in the Temple, as it says (Tehillim 98:6): ‘בחצוצרות וקול שופר הריעו לפני המלך השם’ — ‘With trumpets and the sound of the shofar, sound an alarm before the King, Hashem.’”

From these words we learn that this mitzvah has four parts: A. Repentance. B. Prayer. C. Fasting. D. Sounding trumpets. We will briefly detail the special obligations within this mitzvah.

The obligation of repentance

The primary mitzvah is the mitzvah of repentance, and it is precisely this obligation that we tend to ignore. It requires a separate article in which we would discuss how to make a proper spiritual accounting — in a way that will endure and that will truly bring us to long-term repentance. However, great caution is needed so that the other things we do will not distract us from the essential matter: repentance and awakening. For this reason, the great sages of Israel are not quick to declare a fast, or the wearing of sackcloth and ashes, and the like, because in our generation, in most cases, excessive involvement in external matters causes us not to focus on the essential matter, which is repentance.

We must remember the words of the prophet Yoel (2:12–14): “וְגַם עַתָּה נְאֻם ה' שֻׁבוּ עָדַי בְּכָל לְבַבְכֶם וּבְצוֹם וּבִבְכִי וּבְמִסְפֵּד. וְקִרְעוּ לְבַבְכֶם וְאַל בִּגְדֵיכֶם וְשׁוּבוּ אֶל ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם , כִּי חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם הוּא אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל הָרָעָה. מִי יוֹדֵעַ יָשׁוּב וְנִחָם וְהִשְׁאִיר אַחֲרָיו בְּרָכָה מִנְחָה וָנֶסֶךְ לַה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם” — “Even now, says Hashem, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with lamentation. Tear your hearts and not your garments, and return to Hashem your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in kindness, and He relents of the evil. Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him — a meal-offering and a libation for Hashem your God.”

The Torah obligation of prayer

The Rambam’s view is that there are two separate mitzvot: A. The mitzvah of prayer every day (Sefer HaMitzvot, positive commandment 5). B. “We are commanded to sound trumpets in times of need and trouble, when we cry out before Hashem, may He be exalted” (Sefer HaMitzvot, positive commandment 59).

However, the Ramban’s view (Hasagot, positive commandment 5) is that the obligation of daily prayer is a rabbinic mitzvah, while the Torah mitzvah of prayer was stated only in a time of distress, and is learned from this verse.

The enactment of the Sages to sound an alarm over calamities

On the basis of this mitzvah, the Sages enacted (Ta’anit 18b) that one sound an alarm over various calamities, and they established for them the laws of fasting and the order of prayer. The Ritva (ad loc., s.v. “ve-achshav”) explains that the reason for the alarm is the fulfillment of the verse “וְכִי תָבֹאוּ מִלְחָמָה בְּאַרְצְכֶם” etc. — “When you go to war in your land…,” which obligates the seeking of mercy in every time of distress.

In summary: There is a positive Torah commandment to pray during these days, and there is a complete obligation to pray regarding the severe distress in which the Jewish people finds itself. One who does not do so exhibits a measure of cruelty.

The obligation of fasting nowadays

In our times, people are very often caught up in external matters, and there is great danger that if a fast is established, people will view it as an exemption from tearing the heart. Already in the days of Yoel, the prophet had to warn that the main thing is the tearing of the heart. Therefore, the great sages of Israel do not hasten to establish a public fast.

Additionally, the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 571:3) rules that during wartime one should not decree a fast, so as not to weaken the strength of those fighting; rather, they should accept upon themselves that after the war, after victory, they will accept a fast.

In our times, the generations have become weaker, and for many people fasting entails difficulty and danger, especially during tense days of anxiety. If a fast is decreed, it is clear that even people with various illnesses for whom fasting is dangerous will fast — such as diabetics, heart patients, and others. In practice, if a fast is decreed, soldiers and members of emergency-response units will also want to fast, and great judgment is needed in deciding when to decree a public fast.

In addition, the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 576:16) rules: “On every fast day decreed upon the community because of calamities, the court and the elders sit in the synagogue and examine the deeds of the people of the city from after Shacharit until midday; they remove the obstacles of transgressions, warn, expound, and investigate those who commit violence and transgressions, and separate them; and they humble the strong-arm oppressors.” The Magen Avraham (subsection 12) and the Mishnah Berurah (subsection 36) wondered why this is not practiced in our times, since this is the essence of the fast.

In practice, in our times, when we do not have the power of a court that can carry out the above, and there is no court with the authority to restrain transgressors, the essence of the fast is lacking. Therefore, this is an additional reason to minimize the decreeing of public fasts.

In summary: Establishing a fast is a matter entrusted to the judgment of the great sages of Israel. Therefore, in our times they have greatly limited public declarations of fasts. The focus should be primarily on repentance and prayer.

Sounding a shofar in a time of distress outside the Temple

The Rambam’s view is that the sounding of trumpets applies everywhere, and even if one wishes to sound a shofar instead of trumpets, he does not fulfill the mitzvah. However, the view of the Geonim (cited in Ba’al HaMaor and in the Ramban’s Milhamot, Rosh Hashanah 27a) is that the practice was to sound only a shofar. But the Ba’al HaMaor disagreed with them and held that one sounds only trumpets.

The Maggid Mishneh cites in the name of the Rashba (Rosh Hashanah HaShalem 26b) that in the Temple they sound both trumpets and shofar, whereas in other places they sound one of them — either trumpets or shofar. If one wishes in other places to sound only a shofar, he may.

The Mishnah Berurah (Orach Chaim 576:1) rules that the halacha follows the Rashba, that the mitzvah can also be fulfilled with a shofar.

Regarding the Rambam’s view, several later authorities (Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim I:169; Avi Ezri, Laws of the Temple Vessels 3:5) understand that it is one mitzvah together with the sounding of trumpets in the Temple.

Sounding in our times during distress

The Ramban (Milhamot, Rosh Hashanah 27a; Derashah for Rosh Hashanah) and the Ritva (Ta’anit 14a) wrote that the custom in France was not to sound, since we do not have trumpets. Igrot Moshe explained this to mean that although we can make silver trumpets, since it is one mitzvah together with the sounding of trumpets at the time of offering the sacrifice, we have no possibility of fulfilling this mitzvah.

However, the Ramban and the Ritva wrote that one may sound a shofar. The Ramban elaborated that this was the custom of Spain, and he explained at length the reasons and sources for the custom of France not to sound, and the custom of Spain to sound the shofar. Therefore, according to the ruling of the Mishnah Berurah that one may sound a shofar, it would indeed have been fitting to sound a shofar even in our times. Indeed, Sephardim had the custom during fasts and prayers over calamities to sound the shofar; however, Ashkenazim did not customarily do so.

Indeed, the Magen Avraham (introduction to siman 576) wondered why Ashkenazim did not have the custom to fulfill this positive mitzvah of sounding in a time of distress. The Pri Megadim (Eshel Avraham ad loc.) wrote that one may question whether the mitzvah was stated regarding every community of ten Jews anywhere in the world, or whether this mitzvah was stated only regarding a community in Eretz Yisrael, since the verse says “in your land.” According to this possibility, it is understandable why they do not sound nowadays in the Diaspora; yet it remains difficult why this was not practiced in Eretz Yisrael. The Mishnah Berurah (576:1) adds that some say the mitzvah applies specifically when Eretz Yisrael is under our authority. Others say the obligation exists only when there is danger and distress affecting the majority of the Jewish people.

The reason trumpets are needed at the time of the sacrifice and prayer in a time of distress

The Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 384) explains that the root of the mitzvah is that at the time of the sacrifice one must concentrate very well, for it can be invalidated by a thought of piggul. Likewise, the sacrifice requires complete intention before the Master of all, Who commanded us concerning it. Similarly, at a time of distress, a person needs great concentration when pleading before his Creator to have mercy on him and save him from his distress. Therefore, they were commanded to sound the trumpets and the voice of the shofar at these times. For a person is material; nature dulls his senses, and nothing awakens the human soul like the power of melody. All the more so the sound of the trumpets, which is the greatest sound among musical instruments. In particular, it is known to anyone who has inclined his ear to hear trumpets and the sound of the shofar that through the power of these sounds a person removes from his heart thoughts of other worldly matters, and at that moment sets his heart only upon the matter of the sacrifice or the prayer over his distress.

We will conclude with the words of the prophet Yoel (2:15–18): “תִּקְעוּ שׁוֹפָר בְּצִיּוֹן קַדְּשׁוּ צוֹם קִרְאוּ עֲצָרָה. אִסְפוּ עָם קַדְּשׁוּ קָהָל קִבְצוּ זְקֵנִים אִסְפוּ עוֹלָלִים וְיֹנְקֵי שָׁדָיִם יֵצֵא חָתָן מֵחֶדְרוֹ וְכַלָּה מֵחֻפָּתָהּ. בֵּין הָאוּלָם וְלַמִּזְבֵּחַ יִבְכּוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים מְשָׁרְתֵי ה' וְיֹאמְרוּ חוּסָה ה' עַל עַמֶּךָ וְאַל תִּתֵּן נַחֲלָתְךָ לְחֶרְפָּה לִמְשָׁל בָּם גּוֹיִם לָמָּה יֹאמְרוּ בָעַמִּים אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם” — “Sound a shofar in Zion; sanctify a fast; call an assembly. Gather the people; sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the infants and nursing children; let the bridegroom leave his chamber and the bride her canopy. Between the hall and the altar, let the kohanim, the ministers of Hashem, weep, and let them say: ‘Spare Your people, Hashem, and do not give Your heritage to disgrace, for nations to rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples: Where is their God?’”

And may the continuation of the verse soon be fulfilled for us: “וַיְקַנֵּא ה' לְאַרְצוֹ וַיַּחְמֹל עַל עַמּוֹ” — “Then Hashem will be zealous for His land and have compassion upon His people.”

Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 576.