מלכויות זכרונות ושופרות

On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.

The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder.

The order of the blessings [to be said during the silent prayer of musaf - the additional prayer service - on Rosh Hashanah is as follows]: one says avot [the first blessing of the silent prayer, which focuses on the forefathers], and gevurot [the second blessing, which focuses on the power of God] and kedushat Hashem [the third blessing, which focuses on the holiness of God], and includes malkhiot‎ [a series of texts relating to the kingship of God] with them, and does not blow [the shofar; then] kedushat hayom [the standard middle blessing, which focuses on the holiness of the day], and [then] he blows; [then] zikhronot [texts relating to the kind remembrance of God to his creatures], and [then] he blows; [then] the ‏shofarot‎ [texts in which the sounding of the shofar is mentioned], and [then] he blows [a third time]; and [then] he says, avodah [the first of the concluding blessings, which focuses on the service to God], and hodaah [the second of the concluding blessings, which focuses on thanksgiving to God], and birkat Kohanim ‏[the blessing given to the congregation by the priests, who are from the tribe of Levi and are responsible for the Temple service] - so says Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri. Rabbi Akiva said [back] to him, "If he does not blow [the shofar after] malkhiot‎, why is it mentioned? Rather, [the proper order is as follows:] ‎ one says avot and gevurot and kedushat Hashem, and [then] includes malkhiot with kedushat hayom, and [then] blows [the shofar; then] zikhronot and [then] he blows; [then] the ‏shofarot‎ and [then] he blows [a third time]; and [then] he says, avodah and hodaah and birkat Kohanim."

We may not have less then ten [verses] of malkhiot‎, ten of zikhronot‎ and ten of shofarot‎‎. Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri says, "If one said three [verses] from each [category], he has fulfilled [his obligation]." We may not mention [verses] of zikaron, malkhut‎, ‎ or shofar, [associated with] calamity. One begins [the set of verses] with [verses] from the Torah and completes [the set] with [verses] from the Prophets." Rabbi Yose says, "It he completes [the set] with [a verse] from the Torah, he has fulfilled [his obligation]."

God and God of our ancestors, may there ascend and come and reach and be seen and be acceptable and be heard and be recalled and be remembered - our remembrance and our recollection; and the remembrance of our ancestors; and the remembrance of the messiah, the son of David, Your servant; and the remembrance of Jerusalem, Your holy city; and the remembrance of all Your people, the house of Israel - in front of You, for survival, for good, for grace, and for kindness, and for mercy, for life and for peace on this day of the Festival of Matsot. Remember us, Lord our God, on it for good and recall us on it for survival and save us on it for life, and by the word of salvation and mercy, pity and grace us and have mercy on us and save us, since our eyes are upon You, since You are a graceful and merciful Power. And may You build Jerusalem, the holy city, quickly and in our days. Blessed are You, Lord, who builds Jerusalem in His mercy. Amen.

Notwithstanding that the blowing of the ram's horn trumpet on Rosh ha-Shanah is a Scriptural statute, its blast is symbolic, as if saying: "Ye that sleep, bestir yourselves from your sleep, and ye slumbering, emerge from your slumber, examine your conduct, turn in repentance, and remember your Creater! They that forget the truth because of the vanities of the times, who err all of their years by pursuing vanity and idleness, which are of neither benefit nor of salvation, care for your souls, improve your ways and your tendencies, let each one of you abandon his evil path and his thought which is not pure! It is, therefore, necessary for every man to behold himself throughout the whole year in a light of being evenly balanced between innocence and guilt, and look upon the entire world as if evenly balanced between innocence and guilt; thus, if he commit one sin, he will overbalance himself and the whole world to the side of guilt, and be a cause of its destruction; but if he perform one duty, behold, he will overbalance himself and the whole world to the side of virtue, and bring about his own and their salvation and escape, even as it is said: "But the righteous is an everlasting foundation" (Prov. 10. 25), it is he, by whose righteousness he overbalanced the whole world to virtue and saved it. And, because of this matter, it became the custom of the whole house of Israel to excel in alms-giving, in good conduct and in the performance of duties during the intervening days of Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom ha-Kippurim above what they do during the whole year. It also became a universal custom to rise early during those ten days, to deliver in the synagogues prayers of supplication and ardor till the dawn of the day.⁵Kiddushin, 39b–40a. C.

From where is it derived that that one recites the blessing of Kingship? It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: One verse states: “I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:22), which is referring to God’s Kingship over the world; and two verses later it states: “In the seventh month” (Leviticus 23:24). This teaches that God’s Kingship must be mentioned on Rosh HaShana. Rabbi Yosei bar Yehuda says: This is not necessary, as the verse states: “Also in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed seasons, and in your New Moons, you shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings; that they may be to you for a remembrance before your God: I am the Lord your God” (Numbers 10:10). As there is no need for the verse to state: “I am the Lord your God,” and therefore what is the meaning when the verse states: “I am the Lord your God”? This is a paradigm that in all places where verses of Remembrances are stated, verses of Kingship should be recited with them. § The Gemara returns to the issue discussed in the mishna: And where does one recite the Sanctification of the Day? It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: One recites it with the blessing of Kingship, in the fourth blessing. He explains: Just as we find in all other places that the Sanctification of the Day is mentioned in the fourth blessing of the Amida prayer, so too here, it is recited in the fourth blessing.