Welcome to our special series of pesukim of Musaf Rosh Hashanah. We are up to the first pasuk of Shofarot . Shofarot talks about the shofar of Har Sinai in the first three pesukim, then the shofar of nowadays, and the last three pesukim are about the shofar of Mashiach . And now our first pasuk, וַיְהִי֩ בַיּ֨וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֜י בִּֽהְיֹ֣ת הַבֹּ֗קֶר וַיְהִי֩ קֹלֹ֨ת וּבְרָקִ֜ים וְעָנָ֤ן כָּבֵד֙ עַל־הָהָ֔ר וְקֹ֥ל שֹׁפָ֖ר חָזָ֣ק מְאֹ֑ד וַיֶּחֱרַ֥ד כׇּל־הָעָ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בַּֽמַּחֲנֶֽה On the third day, in the morning, there was Kolot U'Brakim/thunder and lightning, with a heavy cloud on the mountain, and the loud sound of the shofar, and everybody trembled. The Toldot Yitzhak says that these Kolot were the voices of the angels that praised Hashem every morning, and the B'rakim , the lightning was also angels that were fiery. So they had a revelation of the angels. But why the heavy cloud ? Because if the Jewish people would see the angels, they'd be panic stricken, so Hashem put up a cloud to protect them. This was a tremendous revelation. That's one understanding. The Midrash Shir Hashirim, 1,57 tells us something very interesting- that Hashem is compared to a king who says, I'm coming to the town on such-and-such date, but when he gets there, everybody's sleeping. He has to get trumpeters to wake them up, and the mayor of the town goes around to make sure everyone gets up to greet the king. So too, Hashem came, and everybody was sleeping, because it was a short night. They were tired, so they wanted to take advantage. As they were enjoying a good night's sleep, Hashem finds them sleeping. He wakes them up with the thunder and the lightning, and Moshe goes around to wake them up. It's very interesting, that this is our first pasuk of Shofarot , because the Rambam tells us the hint of the shofar is, Wake up, you sleepy ones. The first shofar that we blow, the shofar of Har Sinai, is Wake up, you sleepy ones . So there's a strong connection between our shofar and the shofar of Har Sinai- and the whole purpose of the Torah is to wake us up from our slumber and our sleep with the truth . That's why there was this symbolic sleep that the Jewish people were sleeping, and Hashem had to wake them up. So too, on Rosh Hashanah, we are, in a way, sleeping , as the Rambam says, because we're pulled in by the Havlei HaZman / vanities of the time, and we don't connect ourselves with the truth of the Torah. So this pasuk is, so to say, a wake-up call , that reminds us that we are in a state of sleep, and not seeing the world in its proper way. And Hashem comes to wake us up, A pasuk in Shir Hashirim 5,2 tells us, אֲנִ֥י יְשֵׁנָ֖ה וְלִבִּ֣י עֵ֑ר ק֣וֹל ׀ דּוֹדִ֣י דוֹפֵ֗ק פִּתְחִי־לִ֞י אֲחֹתִ֤י רַעְיָתִי֙ יוֹנָתִ֣י תַמָּתִ֔י שֶׁרֹּאשִׁי֙ נִמְלָא־טָ֔ל קְוֻצּוֹתַ֖י רְסִ֥יסֵי לָֽיְלָה׃ I am sleeping and my heart is up. Hashem is the Tzur Levavi/the Rock of my heart. And God bangs on the door. He sends us our prophets, to wake us up. Open up the door. Wake up. Don't stay in a sleepy state. And the first pasuk of Shofarot gives us that important message. Sepharadim say Selichot for the entire month of Elul , and we open with the words Ben Adam Ma Lecha Nirdam/Oh, man, why are you sleeping? Get up. There's a serious situation at hand right now. You can't be asleep. This was what the captain told Yonah, when Yonah was sleeping- Yonah, get up! You can't sleep now. The ship is going to capsize! Our lives are being decided now. It's not a time to sleep! The shofar is a reality check, the truth of the shofar . As the Rambam says, we might have spent our whole year chasing imaginary fantasies and thrills, but come Rosh Hashanah, it's time to wake up, and, as we say, smell the coffee . Smell the reality. That's the first shofar blowing, to wake up the sleepy people on the night of Matan Torah, and to wake up the sleepy people on the day of Rosh Hashanah.