Rambam’s Shofar: A Call to the Heart, Not to the Heavens
Rambam writes (e.g., Sefer Hamitzvos , Mishneh Torah ) that the mitzvah of shofar is to hear the shofar—not to sound it. That's to say that each man doesn't have an obligation to blow shofar personally (which is only fulfilled via שומע כתוקע if one is listening to another sound it*) but rather simply to listen to the sound of the shofar (with the caveat that it is blown by someone similarly obligated as well as both the blower and hearer intentionally thinking about connecting with the other). The bracha recited prior to mitzvas shofar is formulated in Mishneh Torah to reflect that with the nusach לשמוע—not לתקוע. Of course there's also Rambam's famous ethical lesson that the Shofar teaches us which too is about what we hear (and internalize)—not what we project to others (also referenced in the Guide to the Perplexed )**. Halachic rationale aside I'd like to suggest that this is (also) Rambam following his philosophical beliefs. In Tanach and...