Accidentally Saying "Yom Teruah" on Shabbos

Q. This year the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Shabbos and we will not blow shofar. In Shemoneh Esrei instead of saying “yom teruah” (a day of blowing shofar), we say “zichron teruah” (that it is a day of remembering the sound of the shofar). What if one accidentally said “yom teruah”?

A. The Mishnah Berurah (582:19) writes that if one said “yom teruah” on Shabbos Rosh Hashanah, or one said “zichron teruah” on a weekday of Rosh Hashanah, and realized the error after finishing Shemona Esrai, the mitzvah is fulfilled and the tefillah need not be repeated. Mishnah Berurah explains that since the Torah refers to Rosh Hashanah as both a “yom teruah” and a “zichron teruah”, bidi’eved (after the fact) both terms are acceptable. It is true that the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 29b) understands “zichron teruah” (which means a remembrance of blowing) as referring to Rosh Hashanah on Shabbos when shofar is not blown and there is only a memory of blowing. On the other hand, “yom teruah” refers to a weekday when shofar is actually blown. If so, how can one be yotzei on a weekday when reciting “zichron teruah” if shofar is blown, and how can one be yotzai on Shabbos when saying “yom teruah” if shofar is not blown? The answer is that the gemarah’s explanation of zichron teruah and yom teruah is homiletic, but it is not the primary meaning. The main reason we do not blow shofar on Shabbos is because the Rabbis were concerned that one might carry the shofar where there is no eiruv. The simple meaning of zichron teruah is “to be remembered by blowing the shofar” (see Rashbam), and this phrase is appropriate for a weekday as well. “Yom teruah” is appropriate for Shabbos because on a Biblical level, shofar is blown even on Shabbos.

There is an additional reason why “yom teruah” is appropriate on Shabbos. We do not blow shofar on erev Rosh Hashanah to separate between the blowing during Elul that was not mandatory and the blowing on Rosh Hashanah which is obligatory. The Mishnah Berurah (581:24) writes that we do not blow shofar on erev Rosh Hashanah even when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. He explains (Shar Hatziyun 581:35) that since we say “zichron teruah” in Shemoneh Esrei (that it is a day of remembering the sound of the shofar), it is as though we blew the shofar. On Shabbos, since it is forbidden to blow shofar, Hashem accepts our remembering of the shofar as though we blew the shofar. So, in reality, Shabbos is a “yom teruah” as well.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.