QUESTION

Can a woman or child blow the shofar at the end of Shacharit during Elul?

ANSWER

I have not found much discussion of this question in the poskim. For some background, there is a widespread Ashkenazi minhag (custom) to blow the shofar at the end of Shacharit during the month of Elul (Rema, Orach Chayim 581:1). The purpose of this practice is not to fulfill the Torah mitzvah of shofar, which applies on Rosh Hashanah, but rather to awaken us spiritually as we prepare for the Yamim Nora’im (Tur OH 581). The sound of the shofar reminds us that Rosh Hashanah is approaching and calls us toward teshuvah (repentance).

Logically, there is a good reason to say that it should be permitted to be done by a child or a woman. After all, as noted above, the shofar blowing during Elul is a minhag, and not a fulfilment of a mitzvah. This is evidenced by the fact that most communities blow only tashrat, meaning one sequence of tekiah-shevarim-teruah-tekiah, and not a full set of tashat, tarat, and tashrat (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 128:2). On Rosh Hashanah itself, we blow the full set of different combinations of shofar sounds in order to account for the halakhic uncertainty regarding the precise nature of the Torah’s required teruah. This distinction matters because, when it comes to the actual mitzvah of shofar on Rosh Hashanah, women and minors cannot blow on behalf of others who are obligated in the mitzvah (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 589:2–3). Since women are not obligated in the time-bound positive mitzvah of shofar, and minors are not yet fully obligated in mitzvot, they cannot discharge the obligation of others who are obligated. Therefore, if the Elul shofar blowing were treated as an extension of the Rosh Hashanah mitzvah, there would be a strong reason to require a bar chiyuva, meaning someone fully obligated in that mitzvah, to serve as the ba’al toke’a. If so, technically, there is reason to say that having either a woman or a child blow would be within the bounds of the minhag. Along these lines, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky (Kovetz Halachot: Yamim Noraim 1:18 n. 22) is cited as saying that for the shofar blowing of Elul, one does not specifically need an adult, and in truth, even a minor can blow these tekiot lechatchila. However, the practice is to have them blown by an adult. He adds that it is obvious that if there is no adult who knows how to blow, and there is a minor present who does know how to blow, the minor should blow.

There is, however, an argument in the other direction. The Shevet Kehati (1:185) addresses the question of whether a child may blow the shofar during Elul. He notes that although the exact details of this minhag are not discussed in the poskim, other than the basic practice of blowing tashrat, it would still seem that the tekiot of Elul should be done in accordance with the rules that govern the tekiot of Rosh Hashanah. Therefore, the regular dinim of shofar should apply, including that the shofar itself should not be invalid and that the shofar should be blown by an adult male, rather than a minor.

Taken together, these sources frame the issue well. On the one hand, one could argue, as the Shevet Kehati does, that since the minhag is to blow shofar in a way that evokes the Rosh Hashanah tekiot, it should follow the regular rules of those tekiot. On the other hand, Kovetz Halachot treats the Elul shofar blowing as more flexible than the formal mitzvah of shofar on Rosh Hashanah, even as he notes that the accepted practice is still to use an adult.

That said, there is still an important practical and communal question. If we are looking at minhag and communal practice, I do not know of places that have the practice for a woman or child to blow the shofar during Elul. That does not necessarily make it prohibited, but it does mean that the question should not be looked at only in technical terms.

Practically, regarding a minor, I would be more hesitant. The purpose of this shofar blowing is to awaken us spiritually and to put us in the mindset of teshuvah as Rosh Hashanah approaches. That atmosphere could be seriously undercut if the shofar is blown by someone very young or under bar mitzvah age. It might end up feeling like a chinukh moment, or even somewhat amateurish, rather than something weighty and full of gravitas. I think we are Elul-spirit-challenged enough as a Modern Orthodox community, so we should be avoiding things that could take away from the weight that we are giving it.

Regarding a woman, the issue is somewhat different. The concern is not that it will feel childish or amateurish. Rather, the question is how the community understands and experiences this minhag. If we are treating the Elul shofar as a minhag and not as the formal mitzvah of shofar on Rosh Hashanah, then the technical argument that permits a minor should certainly permit a woman as well. A tzibbur (congregation) that is comfortable having a boy under bar mitzvah blow the shofar during Elul should also be comfortable having a girl or woman do it.

So, in the end, technically, there is room to say that both a woman and a minor may blow the shofar during Elul. Still, when it comes to a minor, my advice would be not to do so when an adult is available, because I think it does not give proper weight to the minhag. Regarding a woman, I think the question depends more on the community. For some communities, the issues of inclusivity will weigh more heavily, and the approach will be to see this as just a minhag, rather than through the lens of the tekiot that are coming on Rosh Hashanah itself. For others, the emotional resonance with the tekiot that they will hear on Rosh Hashanah will weigh more heavily, and that might not be fully achieved through having it done by a woman or minor. So I really think every Rabbi has to weigh the factors and make the proper decision for their community.