During the month of Elul it is customary to sound the shofar (generally, a ram's horn) every day, in anticipation of the coming Days of Awe. The shofar is commonly associated with our arousal to repentance as well as a "reminder" to Hashem of the Binding of Yitzchak.

The sound of the shofar can also be undersood in another context, as beautifully expressed by Rav Shmuel Gruenfeld z"l in his introduction to Beit Hashoevah, only a small piece of which is paraphrased below.

The last psalm in Sefer Tehillim reads:
...
Praise Him with blasts of the shofar;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with drum and dance;
Praise Him with flutes and pipe.
Praise Him with resounding cymbals;
Praise Him with wailing cymbals.
The entire soul shall praise G-d.
Halleluy-a.

Rav Shmuel associates this psalm with the following quote, preserved in the last mishna of Seder Kodshim:

Rabbi Yehoshua said: This is what they referred to when they said, "When he [the ram] is alive he has one voice. And when he is dead he has seven. How is it that he has seven voices? Its two horns are two trumpets [commentaries: shofars]; its two thighs, two flutes; its skin, for a drum; its intestine, for harps; its small intestines for lyres." (Kinim 3:6)

When a ram is alive it has only one voice. However when it is dead, it should not be considered a loss. On the contrary! Its potential to sound praise to Hashem has increased, and in a certain sense it is seven times as great as it was in its lifetime.

Before Rav Shmuel's untimely and tragic passing, he enthusiastically advocated the restoration of Tekhelet to Am Yisroel. It is no coincidence that the complete listing of the seven voices of the ram, in the mishnah quoted above, concludes:

And some say: Even its wool is for Tekhelet.

Most commentators explain that the sound associated with Tekhelet is that of the golden bells sewn on to the hem of the M'eel HaEphod, the Tekhelet robe of the Kohen Gadol. However this explanation is deemed as lacking, as the bells - and not the Tekhelet - produce the sound.

It is possible to get a sense of Tekhelet being the eighth voice, from the last phrase of the Psalm: The entire soul shall praise G-d.

The first eight letters of add up numerically to the word . What is the connection? Rabbi Shlomo HaSefardi explains that this phrase is a hint to the higher soul which is in heaven. According to the Zohar (3:29) all souls are etched beneath the Throne of Glory, which is itself associated with Tekhelet. It would not be far off to say, that the sound of Tekhelet is in essence the sound of the soul.

May the shofar blasts this year serve not only as an impetus to mend our ways, but also as an instrument in our praise of Hashem. And may the neshama of our dear friend Shmuel continue to praise Hashem eightfold.