Study Rosh Hashanah folio 27A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ופיו מצופה זהב. והתניא: ציפהו זהב במקום הנחת פיו — פסול, שלא במקום הנחת פיו — כשר! אמר אביי: כי תנן נמי מתניתין — שלא במקום הנחת פה תנן.
§ It was taught in the Mishnah: And the mouth of the shofar that was used on Rosh HaShana was plated with gold. The Talmud raises a difficulty: But isn’t it taught in a baraita: If a shofar was plated with gold at the place where one puts his mouth, it is unfit for blowing; if it was plated, but not at the place where he puts his mouth, it is fit for blowing? Abaye said: When we learned in the Mishnah as well, we learned that it referred not to the place where one puts his mouth, but a little above it.
ושתי חצוצרות מן הצדדים. ותרי קלי מי משתמעי? והתניא: ״זכור״ ו״שמור״, בדיבור אחד נאמרו, מה שאין הפה יכולה לדבר ואין האוזן יכולה לשמוע! לכך מאריך בשופר.
§ It was taught in the Mishnah: And there were two trumpets, one on each of the two sides of the person sounding the shofar. The Talmud asks: But is it really possible to properly discern two different sounds, that of the shofar and that of the trumpets, at the same time? Isn’t it taught in a baraita: The two versions of the fifth of the 10 Commandments, “Remember the Shabbat day” (Exodus 20:8) and “Keep the Shabbat day” (Deuteronomy 5:12), were spoken by God simultaneously in a single utterance, something that the human mouth cannot speak and the human ear cannot hear? This indicates that it is impossible to take in two sounds at once, and so, due to the sound of the trumpets, it should be impossible to hear the blast of the shofar. The Talmud answers: For this reason they would sound a long blast with the shofar, to make it possible to hear the sound of the shofar on its own.