Why does the last citation in the Shofaros section of Rosh Hashahnnah Musaph not mention the shofar?

Question

Talmud Rosh Hashannah 32b delves into a discussion on the Mishnah's instruction that each of the 3 sections in the middle part of Musaph Rosh Hashannah contain at least 3 verses from the Torah, 3 from the Prophets, and 3 from Writings followed by a concluding verse from the Torah (according to the opinion of Rav Yossi, whom we follow).

In the Shofarot section, the first 3 Torah verses mention the word shofar somewhere within the citation. The last concluding Torah verse, mentions the chatzotzrot (trumpets) and not the shofar. How is this verse, then, considered a "valid" verse if there is no mention of the theme of shofarot and is not consistent with the other verses?

Note: It is also true that the last Torah verse in Malchuyot also does not mention the word melech (king). However, there is a debate about this verse on this Talmud page. The opinion of R. Yossi is that the verse we use is considered Malchut. The Talmud does not discuss the apparent conflict with the verse in shofarot. Also, note that we follow the custom of Rav Yossi that states that we should end with a Torah verse.

Thanks to msh210 for pointing out that there are actually 11 verses in total (and, for some reason, Psalm 150, appears to be a 4th verse from Ketuvim, which is an anomaly). I had to edit my question, as a result to account for the count confusion.

Answer 1

This is an age old question. The verse you ask about is Numbers 10:10:

וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַתְכֶם וּבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם, וּבְרָאשֵׁי חָדְשֵׁיכֶם וּתְקַעְתֶּם בַּחֲצֹצְרֹת עַל עֹלֹתֵיכֶם וְעַל זִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵיכֶם; וְהָיוּ לָכֶם לְזִכָּרוֹן לִפְנֵי אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.‏
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed seasons, and in your new moons, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

This verse not only doesn't mention the Shofar or Teruah, its verb of Tekia is specifically about a trumpet.

Let's review some rules about the verses to use:

• The minimum is 3 verses each of Torah, Tehillim and Neviim but one can add more.
• Ideally we should finish with a Torah verse, but if we didn't we still fulfill our obligation.
• A verse that uses the verb פקד as a Remembrance counts for that section.
• A verse that mentions just Teruah ("תרועה שאין עמה לא כלום") such as Num 29:1 counts as a Shofar-verse without the word "Shofar".
• A verse that mentions a Shofar theme and a Kingship theme can be used twice.

The last three are the positions of R' Yose, though R' Yehuda disagrees. The law follows R' Yose, though at least in the first case the longstanding custom is to be strict to accommodate R' Yehuda's position.

For your verse to count as the final Torah verse, we have to assume that 1) it's permissible to interrupt before the final verse with prayer sequences, 2) against R' Yehuda that a verse with no mention of Shofar counts, 3) a Tekia verb is as valid as a Teruah verb, and 4) a verse that explicitly is about trumpets counts as "just Teruah".

Raavyah (536) quotes some who reject 1, but he defends 1 and rejects 4. He explains that there is indeed no need to finish with a Torah verse if you already have at least 10 verses because you added to the others as "we" do. He writes this Torah verse was put at the end of the blessing because it fits with the content generally (like many, many other blessings which include content appropriate verses; a common example is the second blessing after bread). This seems to also be the position of the Sefer HaIttur.

Some Rishonim felt you should indeed ideally add a Torah verse right at the end of the main verse section. Rabbenu Yonah and Ritz Giyat added Num 29:1 even though it doesn't have the word "Shofar" relying on the position of R' Yose against R' Yehuda. Ramban added Num 23:21 which also doesn't have the word "Shofar" even though this was already used as a Kingship verse, relying on the position of R' Yose against R' Yehuda on two counts. Rashba (1:481) quotes both these options.

If we didn't want to rely on R' Yehuda, there are exactly four verses in the Torah that actually use the word "Shofar", three of which have already been used. Accordingly, we could use Lev 25:9. Seemingly, this solution wasn't chosen because it feels odd to say on Rosh Hashana, though technically it should work and it indeed must have been used according to R' Yehuda. (Shibbolei Haleket (290) and Maaseh HaGeonim (RH 3) write that since there was no other Torah verse available, we are forced to use a non-Shofar verse in order to finish the Shofarot section with some Torah verse; however, this contradicts an explicit Gemara (RH 32b) that there are sufficient Remembrance and Shofar verses in the Torah.)

Rosh (RH 4:3) accepted all 4 assumptions and defended counting Num 10:10 even after an interruption. He cites a Yerushalmi (that we don't seem to have) that explicitly mentions using this verse at the end of the Shofarot section as a way to mention Rosh Chodesh on Rosh Hashana, but the proof isn't ironclad because the verse, while clearly an old part of the blessing, could be there as Raavyah explained simply as appropriate content. Rambam and many others, by not including any other verse there in their Siddur, appear to have agreed to count the verse. Ritva (RH 32b) too defends counting the verse, noting that one opinion in the Sifrei actually derives the obligation of the Shofarot section from that verse, though he writes it is better to follow his teachers Ramban and Rashba to include Num 29:1 as well.

As mentioned if you don't include a final Torah verse you still fulfill your obligation, so this is a "low risk" sort of problem. On the other hand, if you add an extra verse you still fulfill your obligation, so this is also a "low risk" sort of solution. Ask your rabbi what you should do.

Answer 2

The section of shofaros starts with "Ata nigleysa" "You revealed yourself...". The first verse used in the ten shofaros verses is a pasuk from Torah (Exodus 19:16) "VaYehi bayom hashlishi..." "And it was on the third day...". The tenth verse used is one from the Prophets (Zechariah 9:14) "VaHashem aleyhem yeraeh..." "And G-d appeared unto them...".

The tenth verse mentions the shofar. "...and G-d sounded with the shofar..."

The machzor then has the key words "Elokeinu vEylokei avoseinu" to indicate that the 10 verses are over and the chazzan is now continuing with a special request poem connected with shofar leading to the brachah of shofaros. Along the way, a pasuk from Torah (Numbers 10:10) is used to stress the poem's point, that we should all experience happiness on the holiday when we offer karbanos. This pasuk mentions trumpets but not shofar. That is because it is not one of the ten pasukim of shofaros.

The 4th verse of shofaros mentions trumpets and shofar (Psalms 98:6)

There is a connection to trumpets and shofar as both were combined in the Temple service (based on Psalms 98:6). See Mishnah Rosh HaShannah 3:3-4.

Apparently, our machzorim are not strict about the 10th verse being from Torah specifically (as opposed to Prophets or Writings).

Hope this helps.

EDIT......

Hi all, The above answer is wrong. I do not know protocol here for this so I would appreciate the help. Should it be deleted? etc.

Here are my 3 basic mistakes:

1) Numbers 10:10 is in fact the final Torah verse of shofaros. I was wrong to assume that since it looked like the 11th, that it was not part of the ten. The Psalm 150 is the addition.

2) Double AA is correct. The key words Elokeinu VElokei avoseinu (although usually does introduce a new section in davening) does not preclude the 10th verse from being saved for that paragraph. He is right from the example that Zichronos does the same thing. The trick is that Malchiot does not allow its tenth verse in the Elokeinu VElokei avosenu paragraph.

3) Our machzorim do in fact make sure that the tenth or final verse is from Torah (not Navi or Ketuvim).

Thanks also to DanF and msh210 for notes that got me thinking along with Double AA.

The real answer is that :

1) The final verse of each set is meant to appear in the final brachah paragraph. The exception is malchiot; for a special reason.

2) The Psalm 150 is included as an 11th verse in shofaros due to its midrashic value of being the source for learning that we need ten.

3) The trumpets verse that the OP originally asked about (due to its lack of mention of the key word "shofar"), Numbers 10:10, is used anyway due to it being a major source drashah for the origin of the obligation of Malchiut, Zichronos, and Shofaros in the first place. Some say that Psalm 150 was added to make up for Numbers 10 lacking the word shofar.

I did research this last night to find this all out. However, some of it is still unclear to me and I have not verified the sources yet, so I am just providing short notes above with my retraction.

TY

Answer 3

I can't believe that I missed an answer that was in the Gemarah all along, on the same page that I cited.

Rosh Hashanah 32b

תרועה שאין עמה לא כלום כגון (במדבר כט, א) יום תרועה יהיה לכם אומרה עם השופרות דברי רבי יוסי

My translation:

If the word תרועה is mentioned in the citation without anything else [e.g. the word shofar] such as the verse

"A day of teruah shall it be for you" (Numbers 29:1),

should be said in the Shofarot section. These are the words of R. Yossi [whose opinion we follow].

The last verse that I mentioned does, indeed contain the word teruah without the word shofar. According to Rav Yossi, this verse, is then, valid to be used in the Shofarot section.