Behaalotcha 5786 | Rabbi Zvi Davidson

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── Shiur Outline ──
(0:09) Four purposes of the Chatzotzrot trumpets
(1:22) Feinstein queried on blowing trumpets on a fast
(2:53) Feinstein’s answer: same trumpet for Temple and today

AI-Generated Summary (AI can be inaccurate. Check important information):

1. Four trumpet functions — The Chatzotzrot (trumpets) served four specific roles: two temporary ones in the Midbar and two permanent ones for all generations.
2. Desert-specific blowings — In the Midbar, the trumpets were used both to gather the congregation together and to signal the time to travel.
3. Sound symbolism — The Ksiv V'HaKabalah explains that a Teki'ah (straight sound) was used for gathering, while a Teru'ah (broken sound) symbolized the movement and picking up of camp.
4. Future generational blowings — For all time, trumpets are required during times of war (Al Hatzar HaTzorer Etchem) and during festive, joyous days (Yom Simchatchem).
5. Rambam's unique categorization — Unlike the two different Mitzvos for Shofar, the Rambam lists both the war-time and joy-time trumpet blowings as a single Mitzvah (Mitzvas Aseh 59).
6. Rav Moshe's resolution — Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that we cannot blow trumpets on fast days today because they must be the exact same trumpets used in the Beis HaMikdash.
7. Connection via values — The inner link between war and joy is Hisromemus HaNefesh (uplifting of the soul), which is the core essence of the Chatzotzrot.
8. Shofar vs. Chatzotzrot — While the Shofar represents Hachna'ah (submission and humility), the trumpet represents greatness and standing tall even in the face of adversity.
9. Strength through purpose — By using the same trumpet for both joy and war, the Torah teaches that our strength in times of challenge comes from being connected to the Shechinah and a higher cause.

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And חצוצרות.

There were four different purposes for the חצוצרות,

for the trumpets that were blown.

Two of them were only in the מדבר,

two of them are for all times.

The two in the מדבר were to gather the people together.

That's one function in the מדבר,

to gather all the people together,

and one is when they needed to travel.

And it's super interesting what the כתב והקבלה writes is which sound was blown

for each of those two.

To gather everyone together was a תקיעה,

because תקיעה is bringing all the sounds together,

it's one long straight sound.

When they needed to travel,

that was a תרועה,

because traveling is where you're picking up from where you are and moving along,

so it was broken sounds.

Those are the two in the desert.

There were also two for future times.

One was על הצר הצרר אתכם,

which means a time of war.

And the second one,

which is brought in a separate פסוק,

was יום שמחתכם מועדיכם,

the joyous days.

And here again,

it has two different sounds.

When it's על הצר הצרר אתכם,

again,

it's the תרועה,

a broken sound,

because that's where things are broken,

people are separating,

people are dividing,

it's time of war.

But when it's שמחתכם מועדיכם,

that's the ingathering.

That's when there's עליה לרגל,

everyone's coming together,

that was a תקיעה,

a straight sound.

A fascinating question was asked to רב משה פיינשטיין.

It appears in אגרות משה אורח חיים חלק א,

where he was asked according to the ריטב"א,

why don't we blow the חצוצרות today on the תענית?

The ריטב"א himself was asked that question and the ריטב"א said well you know

why we don't blow the trumpets today on a תענית,

which is really a תורה דאורייתא,

מצוה from the Torah of על הצר הצרר אתכם,

anytime of challenge we should be blowing the trumpets.

Says the ריטב"א,

well we don't have them today.

And the questioner asked רב משה פיינשטיין,

what answer is the ריטב"א giving that we don't have them today?

So make them!

We can make the trumpets!

We should be blowing them today!

And רב משה פיינשטיין answers with a very,

very interesting insight,

that the רמב"ם,

when it comes to הלכות שופר,

he has two separate מצוות.

The שופר of ראש השנה is one מצוה when the רמב"ם's listing the מצוות

in ספר המצוות,

and the שופר of יובל is in a separate מצוה,

two separate מצוות.

But when it comes to the חצוצרות,

the trumpets,

there he lists על הצר הצרר אתכם and יום שמחתכם מועדיכם as one מצוה,

which is very strange.

It's two separate פסוקים,

two different times.

Why is the רמב"ם listing the challenging time of blowing the שופר in a

challenge and the joyous time of blowing the,

sorry,

trumpet,

a blowing the trumpet in a joyous time,

he lists them all in מצות עשה נט.

Why are they all brought as one מצוה?

They really should be two separate מצוות like by the שופר he lists them

as two מצוות.

And from here we can see an amazing insight.

רב משה פיינשטיין's answer was we can't blow the trumpet today because since we

don't have it for the בית המקדש,

it's the same trumpet,

so we can't blow it for the challenging days either because it needs to

be the same trumpet.

So רב משה פיינשטיין essentially is saying we really should be blowing the trumpet

today in the צרה צררת אתכם,

but because we don't have the בית המקדש to be blowing the trumpet there,

we can't blow the trumpets in the צרה either.

So what you see from there is some inner connection that when a person

goes to war or is going through a challenge and they need to blow

the trumpet,

they need to know that this trumpet that I'm blowing now isn't a standalone

trumpet,

it's not a separate.

Rather,

this is the same trumpet that's blown in the בית המקדש in the joyous

times,

because a trumpet represents התרוממות הנפש.

If a שופר represents הכנעה,

we blow the שופר on ראש השנה when השם is a מלך and we're

representing the emotional state of הכנעה,

submitting ourselves,

but a trumpet,

that represents התרוממות הנפש,

a greatness.

And that's interesting.

Can we have greatness at times of war and times of challenge?

Well,

that depends.

If you're connected to great values,

if you're connected to the בית המקדש,

if you're connected to the שכינה and השם's purpose of why He's bringing His

presence down into the world,

then you're connected to great values.

You have התרוממות הנפש.

Take that same trumpet and when you go out to war or go through

a challenge,

you can handle it.

You can go through it with התרוממות הנפש and be successful because you're fighting

for a cause,

you're connected to something much higher.

But if חס ושלום there's a separation between those two,

then you say well,

I can blow the trumpet at times of joy,

but it's not the same trumpet,

how am I going to get through the time of a challenge?

How am I going to get through the war?

I don't know if I can make it.

In order to give us courage,

the רמב"ם writes it's the same trumpet,

both of them listed in the same מצוה נט.

Take the same trumpet that you use to recognize the great values that הקדוש

ברוך הוא brings us,

מצוה נט in the רמב"ם,

that same מצוה נט in the רמב"ם is the same trumpet that we blow

when we go out to war.

And that's a great source of חיזוק from רב משה פיינשטיין's תשובה,

that it's not two separate trumpets,

it's all the same.

When we're connected to our higher values,

when we're thinking about the שכינה...

When we're thinking about the שכינה that dwells in the בית המקדש,

we take that כוח,

that strength of knowing we're part of הקדוש ברוך הוא plan and history of

bringing His presence down into the world,

then even when we go through a challenge,

go to war,

then we're able to hold our heads up high and go through the challenge

successfully because we're connected to הקדוש ברוך הוא bigger plan.

Have a wonderful שבת.