Shehecheyanu on a New Shofar for Rosh Hashana

by R. Daniel Mann

Question: I hope to buy a new shofar for Rosh Hashana. Can I make Shehecheyanu on it? If so, as the ba’al tokeiah, can that count for the Shehecheyanu of blowing the shofar on the second day of Rosh Hashana? Is this affected by whether I use it on the first day or to practice before Rosh Hashana?

Answer: Among the times we recite Shehecheyanu are for performing a mitzva that comes up cyclically (including shofar) and for acquiring a significant object that makes one happy (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 223:4; Mishna Berura 223:13). It is a machloket whether to make Shehecheyanu on an object whose importance is only because of the mitzva, as mitzvot are not considered to have worldly benefit (ibid.). The Shulchan Aruch (OC 22:1) says that one makes Shehecheyanu on the garment of tzitzit because it is clothes with importance, but not on tefillin. One can ask whether we look at a shofar as a musical instrument, which is important to a buyer like you (albeit because of the mitzva), like tzitzit, or whether we view it only as an article of mitzva, like tefillin, in which case there is a machloket and one would refrain out of doubt. Another factor is that many (see Piskei Teshuvot 223:6), especially Sephardim (see Yalkut Yosef, OC 223:3), have the minhag not to make Shehecheyanu on objects other than fruit and clothes. In cases of safek, poskim often recommend reciting Shehecheyanu by connecting first use of the object in question to Shehecheyanu on something that definitely requires it (Be’ur Halacha 22:1). This likely applies to shofar, and for you, when blowing on the first day could be a great time (see below).

Regarding reciting Shehecheyanu specifically on the second day, the situation differs for Ashkenazim and Sephardim. Sephardim do not recite Shehecheyanu on the second day if it was recited on the first (Shulchan Aruch, OC 600:3), and there is no minhag to “create” a need for it.

Ashkenazim always recite Shehecheyanu on the second day’s blowing (Rama ad loc.) even without help from a new object. However, some Acharonim (see Mishna Berura 600:7) express a preference for the ba’al tokeiah to wear new clothing on the second day to strengthen the beracha’s justification, like is done at Kiddush. If you were not going to be machmir, the good chance that the new shofar warrants Shehecheyanu only helps. However, if you use the shofar instead of the new clothes you would have worn, then there is a chance you are weakening the case for Shehecheyanu. However, concern for that is somewhat extreme, considering the Rama’s ruling and the good chance that your excitement over a new shofar (specifically if you do not often buy new ones) warrants Shehecheyanu.

The final question is your point about the shofar being used before. The Rama regarding Shehecheyanu on a tallit (22:1) says that if it is not recited when attaching the tzitzit, it should be recited during the first wearing. While some Acharonim claim that it does not have to be the first wearing (see Be’ur Halacha ad loc.), contemporary poskim generally agree that one can make Shehecheyanu on a new garment as long as he has not removed it, but he cannot do so for a second wearing (see Mishneh Halachot VI:42; V’zot Haberacha p. 167). By extension, if you use it on the first day, it is no longer new enough for Shehecheyanu on the second day. (One could also ask about the propriety of using it on the first day, when Shehecheyanu is said due to the mitzva, and having in mind that it should not also go on the shofar.) If you will not use the new shofar on the first day but use it for practice during Elul, it is logical to distinguish between the type of practice usage. Just practicing at home a few times to check the alignment of the shofar and the lips is like trying on a garment for size or alterations, which does not preclude Shehecheyanu for the first real wearing (V’zot Haberacha ibid.). However, using the shofar in shul at the end of Shacharit or for extensive practice, should preclude Shehecheyanu thereafter.

לעילוי נשמת יואל אפרים בן אברהם עוזיאל זלצמן ז”ל