Hashem commanded Moshe to make two silver trumpets, which would be for Moshe’s exclusive use. They were used either to summon the entire nation or just the leaders to come to Moshe — or to signal that they were about to move on. The trumpets were also sounded to arouse Klal Yisrael in the event that a catastrophe struck Eretz Yisrael. The blasts of the trumpets, comments the Rambam, were a call to repentance. It was a clarion call to the people, telling them that the impending disaster was not happenstance, but rather a message from Hashem that they had sinned and should repent. The trumpets were also sounded by the Kohanim in conjunction with the various korbanos offered on Shabbos and Yom Tov.
We must address a number of questions pertaining to the use of the trumpets. First, why were trumpets used during an eis tzarah, time of distress, or in the Mikdash during Shabbos and Yom Tov, while on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur of Yovel the shofar was blown? While the Torah does not say specifically that the shofar was to be sounded on Rosh Hashanah, the Torah does refer to the day as Yom Teruah, a day of the blowing of the shofar. Second, the Rambam says that if they are in the Mikdash during an eis tzarah, they sound the shofar and the trumpets, but if they are outside of the Mikdash, they only sound the trumpets. Why does the Torah distinguish between the Mikdash and everywhere else, indicating that the shofar is not sounded outside the Mikdash except for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur of Yovel?
Horav Avraham Kilav, Shlita, explains that the trumpets and the shofar had two distinct purposes. First, by their very construction, they are different from one another. The trumpets are man-made. Never has a trumpet been found growing from the ground. The shofar, on the other hand, is fashioned by Hashem and comes to us in its natural state. Man has very little to do with the making of a shofar. Second, the underlying motif of the mitzvah of shofar is different than that of the trumpets. The mitzvah of shofar is to listen/hear the sound of the shofar. The mitzvah of the trumpets is to sound the trumpets.
The Rambam writes that one of the methods of teshuvah during times of distress is to bare the soul, to cry out with voice and through the sounding of the trumpets, Hence, the trumpets serve as a medium for demonstrating one’s anguish parallel to crying out. One who weeps aloud does not do so to hear himself cry; he cries out of bitterness and fear. The blast of the trumpets is not a mitzvah to hear, but to be heard. He cries out that he is to blame, that he is responsible for his sins. He must rebuild himself, adjust his lifestyle, and correct his ways. Just as the man created the trumpet, man seeks to “re-create” himself. As a block of silver can be transformed into a powerful trumpet, so too, can a man who sins, repent and transform his life.
The blast of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah has a different goal. Its purpose is to awaken those who slumber. It is man’s reminder that the Day of Judgment is fast approaching. Man must come closer to Hashem through the performance of mitzvos and good deeds. The shofar calls man to action, to act positively to elevate himself even higher, so that he can be inscribed in the Book of Life. It is a time when man is to refine and enhance his good deeds, to better himself in the eyes of Hashem. This instrument is a shofar which is created by Hashem, but embellished by man. This idea applies also to Yom Kippur of Yovel, when the shofar serves as the harbinger of freedom for all the land. The eved Ivri who has forgotten that he is obliged to Hashem — and instead becomes a servant to a man — now receives the clarion call that he is the creation of the Almighty. He is reminded to fulfill his life’s purpose of service to Hashem.
The implication is that the trumpets serve as a sort of “grn rux” directive, to turn away from evil and desist from acting inappropriately. The shofar, in contrast, takes on the positive concept of “cuy vag” doing good and acting positively. The Mikdash is the place in which both of these ideas meld together. On the one hand, man divorces himself from evil as he enters the Sanctuary. On the other hand, he elevates himself to higher a spiritual plane as he absorbs the holiness of the place. Consequently, in the Mikdash, both the trumpets and the shofar may be sounded.
