The Frightening Truth About Rosh Hashanah on Shabbos

This year, the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos — and we will not blow the shofar. The Gemara makes a frightening statement: “Any year in which the shofar is not blown at its beginning, distress will come at its end.” And when we look back at Jewish history, some of our greatest tragedies — including the destruction of both Batei Mikdash, pogroms, the Holocaust, 9/11, COVID, and October 7 — occurred in years when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos. Should we be worried? In this shiur, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg explores the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah and the approaches of the Bahag, Rashba, Tur, Taz, Tzitz Eliezer, and Rav Yaakov Ettlinger, the Aruch LaNer. Along the way, we discover that years like this have also produced some of the greatest moments and miracles in Jewish history. So what determines which kind of year this will be? The answer points us toward two of the most important things we can work on as we enter Rosh Hashanah: how we honor and cherish Shabbos, and how we love, support, and stand together with our fellow Jews. This year doesn't have to be a year we fear. It can be an extraordinary year. May our love for Shabbos and for one another create a sound even lou