In Numbers 29, Rosh Hashanah is called a day for what sound?

In Numbers 29, Rosh Hashanah is called a day for a trumpet blast.

Numbers 29:1 describes the first day of the seventh month as a sacred assembly and “a day of blowing trumpets.” In Hebrew, the expression is yom teruah, often translated as “day of trumpet blasts,” “day of blowing,” or “day of shouting.” The wording connects the festival with a loud ceremonial signal rather than ordinary music.

The instrument associated with Rosh Hashanah in Jewish practice is the shofar, usually made from a ram’s horn. Although English translations sometimes say “trumpets,” the later rabbinic tradition distinguishes the shofar from the metal priestly trumpets described elsewhere in the Torah. The shofar’s sounds include tekiah, a long steady note, and shevarim and teruah, broken or trembling blasts.

A common mix-up is to call the biblical observance simply a “day of music.” Its defining sound is a ritual blast announcing the holy day. Leviticus 23 gives a parallel description, calling the date a memorial proclaimed with blasts, while rabbinic tradition links the sound with kingship, remembrance, repentance, and spiritual awakening.