We all know that the mitzvah of the day of Rosh Hashanah is the mitzvah of תקיעת שופר, of blowing shofar. We also know that on Rosh Hashanah we have to say pesukim of מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות. In the Shemoneh Esreh of Mussaf of Rosh Hashanah we mention pesukim that deal with מלכיות, pesukim that tell us that Hashem is the king over the Bnei Yisrael, זכרונות, pesukim that tell us about the zikaron of Hashem, that Hashem remembers us, and pesukim that tell us about the inyan of blowing shofar. And the Gemara says in the end of Maseches Rosh Hashanah, דף ל\"ד עמוד ב', that תקיעות וברכות של ראש השנה מעכבות, that the תקיעות, the blowing of shofar of Rosh Hashanah, and the brachot that we say on Rosh Hashanah are me'akev. One is important for the other; you cannot do one without the other. And the Gemara says, \"מאי טעמא?\" What is the reason? \"אמר רבא,\" so Rava said, because \"אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא,\" Hashem says, \"אמרו לפני בראש השנה מלכיות, זכרונות, ושופרות.\" Say to me on Rosh Hashanah pesukim of מלכיות, pesukim of זכרונות, and pesukim of שופרות. מלכיות, why should you say the pesukim of מלכיות? \"כדי שתמליכוני עליכם,\" in order that you should make Me a king over you. זכרונות, why should you speak about pesukim of זכרונות? \"כדי שיעלה לפני זכרונכם,\" in order that your זכרון, your remembrance, should come in front of Me, לטובה, for the good. ובמה, and all this is done through what? Through shofar. And in this Gemara, when the Gemara says that the tekiot and the brachot of Rosh Hashanah are me'akev, which means you can't do one without the other, there's a machloket between Rashi and Tosafot. Rashi learns that the tekiot and the brachot refer to the blowing of the shofar, and the brachot, the pesukim of מלכיות, זכרונות, שופרות, that if you could do one without the other, you are not yotzei. Which means if a person is able to blow the shofar, but he can't say מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות, then there is no use in his blowing the shofar. And the same is the opposite. If a person can't blow shofar, but he's able to say מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות, there is no use in his מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות if he doesn't blow shofar. Because the פסוקים, מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות, and the tekiot itself and the blowing of the shofar itself are connected, that you cannot do one without the other. But Tosafot learns that that's not what it means. Tosafot learns that it means that the tekiot themselves are me'akev one another. That means that if a person could only blow part of the tekiot but can't blow them all, he only could blow tekiot but can't blow שברים or תרועה, or the opposite, then he's not yotzei at all. There is no use in blowing tekiot if you don't blow שברים, or שברים without תקיעות, etc. And the same thing is concerning the berachot, that if a person could only say the pesukim of מלכיות, but he doesn't know how to say the pesukim of זכרונות and שופרות, or he knows זכרונות and not מלכיות, so then there is no use in saying the berachot. Which means that the תקיעות amongst themselves are מעכב each other, the berachot amongst themselves are מעכב each other, but the berachot, which means the פסוקים, מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות, are not מעכב the blowing of the shofar, and the blowing of the shofar is not מעכב the pesukim of מלכיות, זכרונות, שופרות. But according to Rashi, as we said before, Rashi holds that they're all connected, that saying מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות and the blowing of the shofar are all connected. And this is not only the shittah of Rashi, this is also the shittah of the Raavad. The other shittah, which is the shittah of Tosafos, is also the shittah of the Rosh, and the Ran, and of the Rambam. But the shittah of Rashi is also the shittah of the Raavad. Now lichorah, to explain the reason behind the shittah of Rashi, why does Rashi learn that the מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות are so closely connected to the etzem of blowing shofar? L'choirah, why shouldn't they be two separate things? So in halachah, there are different reasons, that Rashi has ראיות from the Gemara, etc., etc. But what we're going to explain now is not according to halachah, but we're trying to explain the reason for Rashi in the form of drush. In the דרך הדרוש, what would be the reason why Rashi learns that the blowing of the shofar and the מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות are very closely connected?

To explain this, we have to first mention what the Ritva says on that Gemara. As we said, the Gemara says that Hashem says, \"Say for Me מלכיות, זכרונות, and שופרות: מלכיות in order that I should become king on you, זכרונות in order that I should remember you for the good, and through what is this done? Through shofar. ובמה? בשופר.\" So the Ritva says that the words, \"ובמה? בשופר,\" that how is this done, through the shofar, this refers to both. This refers to מלכיות, which is for כדי שתמליכוני עליכם, השם should become king on us, and also for זכרונות. And he explains it like this. Because במה ראוי להמליך או להזכיר זכרוניכם לפניי. In which way is it fit to make a king, and in which way does it fit that his the remembrance of the Yidden should come to him is b'shofar, through shofar. שכן כתיב, because it says, ויתקעו העם בשופרות, that the nation blew שופרות, וימליכו את שאול עליהם למלך. And they made Shaul as a king upon them. The truth is that the meforshim ask that where is this pasuk? There is a similar pasuk in מלכים א, קפיטל א פסוק ל״ד, concerning Shlomo and other pesukim. But the pasuk the way the Ritva quotes it, we don't find. But whatever it is, this is what the Ritva says. And the Ritva says מלכותא דארעא כמלכותא דרקיעא. The malchut of this world is similar to the malchut of Hashem, as the Gemara says in Berachot דף נ״ח עמוד א. Mimela, just like in the malchut of this world, concerning a melech basar vadam, a physical person, the way you make him into a king is by blowing shofar, the same is לגבי השם, that through blowing shofar you make Hashem into a king. That's what the Ritva says.

Now when we say that you make Hashem into a king through blowing shofar, לכאורה, it doesn't mean that the shofar itself makes the king into a king. It means that bish'at you make the king into a king, at that time you blow shofar. But lechora, according to that, why is the lashon in גמרא ובמה? בשופר. Through what? Through shofar. That through the shofar you make him into a king, which lechora is not so, you don't make him into a king through the shofar. You make him into a king by accepting him as a king. At the time when you accept him as a king, you blow shofar to express the fact that you make him into a king. But the blowing of the shofar itself doesn't make the king into a king, and the same with Hashem. So why does the Gemara use the לשון ובמה? Through what? Through שופר, as if saying that the shofar makes him to a king. And we also have to understand, the Ritva says that the words ובמה בשופר refers to both, to malchuyot and zichronot. Which means that the shofar causes not only malchuyot, but also zichronot. What is zichronot? כדי שיעלה לפניי זכרוניכם לטובה. And Hashem says that your remembrance for the good should come to Me. And we're saying through what does this happen? Through shofar. How does shofar accomplish that Hashem should remember us for the good? So in essence what we're asking really here is, how does shofar accomplish the malchut of Hashem, because it's mashma that not only is it the time of the malchut, but the shofar itself makes Hashem into melech? And also, how does the shofar make that Hashem should remember us for the good?

But the truth is this is explained through two mashalim that is brought down concerning inyan of shofar. One mashal is from the Baal Shem Tov, that's brought down in the Hosafot to the Keter Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov brings a mashal of a melech that had a בן יחיד, an only son, who was very learned, and he was very beloved by his father, mamash beloved like the apple of his eye. And the father decided that his son should go to faraway countries to learn other chochmot and to know how people act. So then the father gave him a lot of שרים ומשרתים, a lot of servants, and a lot of money he should go and see the other countries, see the faraway islands in order that the son should reach a higher maalah. He will reach a higher madregah than while he is together with his father in his house. So he went away. Many years passed from after his father gave him everything. He used up the money for all the expenses, and he used up the money for all his physical desires. And the more ta'avot he had, the more desires he had, he used up more money till he sold everything that he had, and azoy he went from one country to another and he went faraway from the king, till he came to a place where the king's name was not even known. And then he felt started feeling very bad when he started realizing how far he went. So later on, he decided that he wants to return to the country of his father. But because it was so far away, and so long since he was in his father's house, he even forgot the language of the country of his father. So finally he got back to the country of his father. What could he do since he didn't even know the language? So he started with his hands to the people that he is the son of the king. But no one understood what he was talking about. Till finally he got to the חצר המלך, to the palace, and he started being meramez to them that he is the son of the king. No one cared about him, no one looked at him. Till he started screaming בקול גדול, in a loud voice, in order that the king should recognize his voice. And when the king recognized his voice, the king started saying to himself, \"Well, this is the voice of my son who is צועק מתוך דוחקו, who is screaming out of trouble.\" And this awakened within the father, the king, the ahavah, the love he has to his son, and he came down and he took him in, and he started hugging him and kissing him till finally he brought him back to the same level as he was before. And he says, the Baal Shem Tov, that the same is concerning the Bnei Yisrael and Hashem. The נשמות ישראל, יידן are called בנים למקום, like children to Hashem. Hashem brought a neshamah down into a body, which is similar to the son of the king that went away to a faraway country in order to learn other things. The same is concerning Hashem sending away the neshamot from their place in the palace of the king, which is in Shamayim, sending him down to this world in order order that through מצוות ומעשים טובים they will go up to a higher madregah. But sometimes, because the person gets involved in the ta'avot of the guf, in the desires of the body, he goes so far away that he comes to a place that he doesn't even remember his father, even forgets the language of the father, meaning forgetting the language of the ruchniyut. But then he decides to return to his father, return to Hashem. So the way that he returns to Hashem and Hashem recognizes him is through screaming בקול פשוט. The language he doesn't know, but he just screams out in a simple voice, and Hashem recognizes the voice. And that's that idea of the תקיעה בקול שופר, that the צעקה פנימית מעומקא דליבא, he says, that's the depth of the screaming from the depth of the person's heart that shows that he has charatah for what he did. And through this tzeakah, through the screaming, Hashem gets awakened again to return his love to the בני ישראל, just like the father after he hears the screaming of the son, this awakens within him that he should start loving his son again. That's one mashal concerning תקיעת שופר from the Baal Shem Tov.

Then there's another mashal from R'' Levi Yitzchak Berditchever in the Sefer Kedushas Levi in his דרוש לראש השנה which starts with the words בחצוצרות. He says there a mashal of a king who got lost in the woods, and he didn't know the way back, and he started looking around, trying to find a way back, and he saw many people, peasants, simple people, and he started asking them how to get back to the דרך המלך, and he told them that he's the king. No one even heard of the king, no one certainly knew the way to the palace of the king, and no one could help him. But amongst them, there was one smart person, and he takeh recognized the king, and he knew the way to the דרך המלך. So he showed the king the דרך המלך, and he acted to the king with the greatest respect, like it deserves to king, and he showed him and helped him to get back. After the king got back, he remembered this special person, and he called him to this palace, and he appointed him, gave him a special job, till he appointed him to be a special advisor. As years passed, this person did something wrong against the king. The king was very upset, and he called in the his judges, and said, \"Let's judge this person to see what to do with him.\" Now, he knew that if he would be judged, he would be judged as a מורד במלכות, as a revolutionist against the king, and אחת דתו להמית, he would get killed. And he wanted to awaken within the king the rachmanus. What did he do? He said to the king, \"Before you judge me, I want to ask you for one favor.\" And the king said, \"Good, it's granted.\" What was this favor? He asked that he should get dressed the same way he was dressed at the time when the king got lost in the woods. The king should also get dressed the same way he was dressed then, and that's how they should judge him. So the king said, \"Why not?\" So when he got dressed that way, and the king got dressed that way, and he sat down to judge him, this reminded the king how he helped him at a time when the king had a lot of trouble. And that itself awakened within the king the feeling of rachmanus to him, and he forgave him for his sins. And the same the Berditchever says is concerning the בני ישראל. When Hashem wanted to give the Torah, he came to all the nations, and no one wanted to accept the Torah, till finally he came to the בני ישראל, and the בני ישראל accepted it. And not only stam accepted it, but they said נעשה before נשמע, they said, \"We will do before we even understand,\" and they accepted the תורה בשמחה. Then, the Yidden sinned to Hashem. And when they sinned, they deserved to be judged, and when they're judged, they deserved to be punished. So what's the etzah? In order for the king, Hashem, to have rachmanut on us, the etzah is to do something that will remind the king of מתן תורה. And Hashem will remember that just like at that time when no one else wanted to help me, k'vayachol, no one wanted to take my Torah, these were the only people that took my Torah, so now I will have rachmanut on them. Just like that person who wanted the king to have rachmanut on him, so he wanted to remind the king of the time when he saved the king, the same here, we want that Hashem should remember the time of מתן תורה. So just like in the mashal, what did he do? He got dressed with the same levushim as he was dressed at the time when the king was in trouble and he helped the king, that awakened within the king the feeling, the remembrance of what happened then, the same is with us. At the time of מתן תורה, it says, what did Hashem do? He blew the shofar, as it says, ויהי קול השופר. So now by us blowing shofar, this reminds Hashem of מתן תורה, so it reminds Hashem of how we accepted the Torah, no one else wanted, so k'vayachol, as if we helped him, and when Hashem remembers that, he forgives us for our aveirot. That's the mashal of R'' Levi Yitzchak Barditchever concerning the inyan of תקיעת שופר. Now we see how both inyanim, the inyan of Hashem accepting his kingdom and also Hashem remembering us l'tovah, both come through shofar. Because the first mashal, the mashal of the Baal Shem Tov shows how the shofar brings about that Hashem should accept the malchut, and the mashal of R'' Levi Yitzchak Barditchever, that brings out how Hashem remembers us letovah. The mashal of the Baal Shem Tov explains how the shofar itself makes Hashem want to be king on us, not like we said before that at the time when we accept Hashem as king, that's when we blow the shofar, but the shofar is not the cause for Hashem accepting his kingdom. But the way we explain now from the mashal of the Baal Shem Tov, it is so. What makes the king get his love back to his son? The fact that he heard his son scream. The same is here. What makes Hashem want to become become the king on us is the fact that we blow the shofar, which is the tzeakah, the screaming, the קול פשוט that comes from the depth of our heart that we want to return to Hashem, that itself awakens within Hashem the fact that He wants to be a king. And that's what the Gemara means, במה, בשופר, that the shofar itself makes Hashem want to be the king on us. And the same is concerning the second inyan, that through the shofar Hashem remembers us for the good, that is like the mashal of R'' Levi Yitzchak Mberditchov, that the shofar makes Hashem remember the time of מתן תורה when we accepted the Torah when no one else wanted it. So that itself brings זכרונות, k'viyachol, within Hashem, that makes Hashem remember how we were at that time, and memeila Hashem remembers us for the good. Just like the mashal, that the king remembers the good act of this person through him putting on the levushim, the garments, as he was then, the same we, through blowing shofar, doing the same thing that was done by מתן תורה, so that makes Hashem remember us for the good because He remembers the way we accepted the Torah. So now we see how the act of shofar accomplishes both. The one act of blowing shofar accomplishes both, accomplishes the fact that Hashem wants to be the king on us, which means He expresses His love to us and wants to become our king, and also shows how through our blowing shofar Hashem remembers us for the good. So it comes out that the etzem blowing shofar is very closely connected to the inyan of מלכיות and to the inyan of Zichronot. And that's the reason, al pi derush, for the shittah of Rashi that he holds that the pesukim of Malchuyot, Zichronot, Shofarot are closely connected to the blowing of the shofar, that one without the other can't go because, as we explain now, all of the inyanim are connected together. The blowing of the shofar accomplishes Malchuyot, Zichronot. It accomplishes that Hashem should want to be the Melech, and accomplishes that Hashem remembers us for the good.