The shofar we blow on Rosh Hashana has so much power within every blast.  The first account we have of hearing shofar is in the moments leading up to the events on Mount Sinai.  The mountain is covered in fire and cloud, thunder and lightning, and the sound of the shofar is heard throughout the entire camp of Israel.  It was at this moment that the Heavens opened up, the world was held in silence, and we received the Torah.  A new understanding of unity now existed in our human consciousness.

Rav Yitzchak Hutner (1906-1980), the Pachad Yitzchak, writes that with the giving of the Ten Commandments there was an eradication of all barriers - siluk mehitzot.  There were no barriers between the Heavens and the Earth, no barriers between man and his fellow man, nor between Man and G-d.  It was a moment of unification in the world, and we have the key to recreating that experience - the shofar.  

On Rosh Hashana we proclaim Hashem's unity.  We affirm Hashem as Almighty King, Master of the World, Ribbono Shel Olam; and we do so through the sounding of the shofar. The shofar is also mesalek mehitzot - it removes all barriers.  It bypasses the necessity to speak - connecting one's very breath to the Creator through a sound that can pierce the Heavens.  It revives the eternal promise of na'ase v'nishma, which can inspire us to feel renewed dedication to serving Hashem, while simultaneously inspiring us to reconnect with each other as we were when we stood at Sinai.  The moment when the Israelites were able to say these powerful words was none other than the first moment of national unity - where the entire Nation of Israel was able to speak as one, with one heart.  

I bless us all that this awareness will inspire us to do whatever repentance is needed to completely heal any and all relationships, both between people and between man and G-d.

May it be Your Will, that when we hear the shofar we are filled with Love and Awe, and that all barriers that have been blocking us from achieving a closer relationship with Hashem will be removed.  If we can hear all of this in the shofar then this year's shofar may just be the shofar that heralds in the mashiach!