Heavenly Voices By Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

For example in Pirkei Avos (6:2) R’ Yehoshua ben Levi says “b’chol yom vayom bas kol yotzeis mehar chorev umachrezes v’omeres: oy lohem labriyos mei’elbonah shel Torah – Every single day a heavenly voice emanates from Har Chorev, and calls out and says: Woe to creation because of the insult to the Torah.”

Similarly, the gemara in Taanis (24b) states, “omar rav yehuda omar rav b’chol yom vayom bas kol yotzeis v’omeres kol haolam nizun bishvil chanina bni; v’chanina bni dayo b’kav charuvim -- the whole world is sustained because of Chanina my son, and Chaninah my son subsists on a small measure of carob.”

When we begin to sound the shofar from Rosh Chodesh Elul, the intent is to arouse us to do teshuvah. That is the nature of the shofar, as the pasuk states (Amos 3:6) “Im yitoka shofar b’ir v’am lo yecheradu – is a shofar sounded in the city and the people don’t tremble?”