Whose Turn to Blow?

After the legendary Rabbi Tokayer had retired from serving as the shul’s ba’al tekiah two years earlier, Rabbi Mandel began blowing shofar on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and his friend, Rabbi Stern, on the second.

Both men were skilled ba’alei tekiah and were happy to blow on one day of the holiday.

“This year, the first day of Rosh Hashanah is on Shabbos,” Rabbi Mandel remarked one evening during Elul. “And of course, we don’t blow shofaron Shabbos.”

“I know,” replied Rabbi Stern. “That means only I will blow this Rosh Hashanah, on the second day. Are you OK with that?”

Rabbi Mandel looked surprised. “Why should I lose out?” he asked.

“It’s very simple,” replied Rabbi Stern. “You have a chazaka for the first day, and I have one for the second day. The fact that the first day does not work out for you this year is no reason to change our arrangement.”

“I don’t look at it quite that way,” Rabbi Mandel replied. “Each year, I have the first opportunity. Since we can’t blow on Shabbos, I should have the first opportunity when it arrives on the second day.”

Rabbi Stern shook his head. “Who said that you were given precedence?” he argued. “We each took a day, with its ups and downs. If you are entitled to that right, though, I’m not going to take it from you.”

“I also don’t want to take from you, if it’s your right,” replied Rabbi Mandel. “Let’s ask the Rav!”

The two approached Rabbi Dayan and asked:

“Who gets to blow shofar on the second day this year?”

“Panim Meiros (2:126) addresses this exact question,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “He compares this case to the practice concerning a piyyut normally recited on the first night of Sukkos, but which is not said when the first night falls on Shabbos.

“Levush (O.C. 642) writes that prevalent practice is that the piyyut is postponed to the second night, and the piyyut for the second night is omitted. However, in the city of Posen, they simply omitted the piyyut for the first night entirely, following the principle of ho’il v’idchei, idchei – once something was displaced from its proper time, it remains displaced.

Magen Avraham finds supports for the prevalent practice of postponing the first-night piyyut and omitting the second-night one from the Gemara (Sukkah 55a) regarding the Shir shel Yom recited in the Beis HaMikdash on Chol HaMo’ed Sukkos. When Shabbos occurs during Chol HaMo’ed, the remaining sequence is postponed by a day, and the last song is omitted.

Panim Meiros applies this principle to the two ba’alei tekiah. He concludes, following the prevalent practice, that the ba’al tekiah of the first day should blow and the second ba’al tekiah be pushed out of the proceedings for that year.

Shaarei Teshuvah (O.C. 581:7) and Beis She’arim (O.C. #270) question this analogy, though. It is logical that the Sages initially arranged a sequence of Shir shel Yom or piyyutim, perhaps related to their relative importance or relevance to the holiday. Thus, it is understandable that when the first item is postponed, the last is pushed aside.

Here, however, each person acquired his own day, unless it was initially established that the first-day ba’al tekiah should take priority. The fact that the first person is unable to exercise his right does not allow him to usurp the second person’s right.

Moreover, each ba’al tekiah has a distinct advantage. The first has the distinction of blowing on the primary day of Rosh Hashanah; the second has the distinction that his day never falls on Shabbos.

Igros Moshe (Y.D. 3:101) further writes that the first-day ba’al tekiah never established a chazaka regarding a year in which Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. He therefore concludes that the second ba’al tekiah retains his established right.

KetzehHaMateh(on Mateh Ephraim 581:30) cites ParshasMordechai(O.C. #23), who concludes that the rights of the two are equivalent, so that the more qualified ba’al tekiah should blow. KetzehHaMatehconcludes that if choosing between them will lead to dispute, or if the two are equally qualified, then they should divide the tekios (Piskei Teshuvos 581:15).

“I certainly hope,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “that people worthy of serving as ba’alei tekiah should be able to reach an acceptable arrangement without strife.”

Verdict: In a year when the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, Panim Meiros rules, following the prevalent practice regarding the first-night Sukkos piyyut, that the ba’al tekiah who usually blows shofar on the first day takes precedence and blows on the second day. However, several Acharonim reject this comparison, and uphold the right of the usual second-day ba’al tekiah to blow on his day. Others consider their rights equivalent and rule that the more qualified ba’al tekiah should blow or the two should divide the tekios.