תקפט מי הם הראויים לתקיעת שופר ובו ט' סעיפים

Who Is Fit to Blow the Shofar

1. One who is half slave and half free must have a free person blow the shofar for him to fulfill his obligation. He does not fulfill his obligation by blowing it himself, because the free part of him is required to hear all nine valid blasts. If he blows it himself, each blast that comes from his mouth is half invalid, due to the slave part of him.

2. Although women are exempt, nevertheless, if they wish to blow the shofar themselves, they are permitted to do so. Even though blowing the shofar on Yom Tov without obligation is generally forbidden by rabbinic decree, still, in order to bring satisfaction to women, they permitted this minor prohibition, which is not even a full rabbinic prohibition, but only an act resembling a weekday activity. Similarly, another person who has already fulfilled his obligation may blow for them. It is also permitted to carry the shofar into the public domain in order to blow for them. It has already been explained in section 17 (paragraph 3) that women have the custom to recite a blessing over all positive time-bound commandments. Therefore, here too, women should recite the blessing themselves. However, men should not recite the blessing for them if they have already fulfilled their own obligation and are blowing only for the women, because this would be a blessing in vain. For women themselves are not obligated in this blessing, so that another should recite it to fulfill their obligation. Rather, for themselves, they are permitted to recite the blessing, for the reason explained there. But why should another recite it for no reason? One who wishes to blow for women and recite the blessing for them should do so before he has heard the blasts in shul, or he should intend in his heart not to fulfill his obligation with the blasts in shul. Then he may recite the blessing for himself, since he has not yet fulfilled his obligation. Even if he goes to blow for them in their homes and then returns to shul and hears the blasts with the congregation in the order of the blessings, he does not need to recite the blessing again over them. Even if he interrupted by walking to shul between his blessing and these blasts, he does not need to recite the blessing again, for even if he had interrupted with conversation in between, he would not need to recite the blessing again, as will be explained in section 292 (paragraph 7).

3. If someone has forbidden benefit from his fellow, saying, "Konam that I benefit from so-and-so," his fellow is permitted to blow a mitzvah blast for him, because this is not considered benefit, as explained in section 286. This is provided that his fellow blows for him on his own initiative, but he should not ask his fellow to blow for him, for since he has forbidden his fellow's benefit to himself, he may not appoint his fellow as his agent to blow for him.

4. When does this apply? When he has forbidden his fellow's benefit to himself. But if he has forbidden his fellow's blowing to himself, saying, "Konam the blowing of so-and-so is forbidden to me," he is not permitted to hear even a mitzvah blast from his fellow.

5. For all mitzvos, a person does not fulfill his obligation unless he intends, when performing them, to do so for the sake of the mitzvah, as explained in section 60. Therefore, one who is practicing blowing the shofar in order to learn does not fulfill his obligation. Similarly, one who hears from someone practicing does not fulfill his obligation, even if the listener intends for the sake of the mitzvah, since the blower did not intend, so the listener has heard an invalid blast.

6. Likewise, one who blows to make music, without intending it as a mitzvah blast, does not fulfill his obligation. Similarly, one who hears from him does not fulfill his obligation.

7. If the blower intends to fulfill the listener's obligation, but the listener does not intend to fulfill his obligation with this hearing, or if the listener intends to fulfill his obligation, but the blower does not intend to fulfill the listener's obligation, but blows only for himself, the listener does not fulfill his obligation until both intend, the listener and the blower. If someone blows and intends to fulfill the obligation of anyone who hears his blast, and a listener hears and intends to fulfill his obligation, even if the blower does not specifically intend for this particular listener, and does not know him at all, nevertheless, the listener fulfills his obligation, since the blower intended to fulfill the obligation of anyone who hears him. Therefore, one who was walking on the road or sitting in his house and heard the blasts from the shaliach tzibbur, fulfills his obligation if he intended to do so with this hearing, since the shaliach tzibbur intends to fulfill the obligation of the congregation with his blowing.

8. If someone heard a mitzvah blast and afterward is unsure whether he intended to fulfill his obligation with that hearing, he must have the shofar blown for him again out of doubt. But if he was walking and stopped in order to hear the blasts from the shaliach tzibbur, and afterward is unsure whether he intended to fulfill his obligation with that hearing, he does not need to have the shofar blown for him again, because since he stopped walking, it is presumed that he intended to fulfill his obligation.

9. One who comes to shul in order to hear the blasts from the shaliach tzibbur and to fulfill his obligation with the congregation, even if at the time he heard them he had no specific intention but simply heard them, he fulfills his obligation, because he follows his original intention, which was to come to shul to fulfill his obligation. But one who comes to shul without any specific intention, not intending to fulfill his obligation by hearing the blasts from the shaliach tzibbur, and then hears them without any intention, does not fulfill his obligation, because mitzvos require intention to fulfill them.