The Shofar Controversy in Jerusalem: Rav Akiva Yosef Schlesinger and a Bold Bid to Restore an Ancient Practice

In the late nineteenth century, as the Jewish return to Eretz Yisrael began transforming the landscape of Jerusalem, a dramatic controversy erupted around a question that had lain dormant for centuries. Could the shofar once again be sounded when Rosh Hashanah coincides with Shabbat?

At the center of the debate stood one of the most colorful and controversial rabbinic personalities of the Old Yishuv: Rav Akiva Yosef Schlesinger.

When Rosh Hashanah coincides with Shabbat, the shofar is not blown, out of concern that one might carry it in the public domain. According to the Mishnah, however, this prohibition does not apply in the Mikdash or where there is a beit din: “When the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, they would blow [the shofar] in the Mikdash, but not in the provinces. After the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai decreed that they should blow [the shofar on Shabbat] wherever there is a beit din. Rabbi Elazar said: Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai instituted this only in Yavneh. They said to him: Both Yavneh and any place where there is a beit din.”

The Mishnah raises two fundamental questions: how far does the sanctity of the Mikdash extend, and what type of beit din qualifies?

Rashi limits Mikdash to the Beit HaMikdash itself. The Rambam, however, in his Peirush HaMishnah, explains that Mikdash includes the city of Jerusalem as well.

There is a major machloket Rishonim regarding the nature of the beit din required. Rashi, Rosh, and the Tur require a Sanhedrin Ketana of twenty-three judges. The Rambam requires judges possessing authentic semicha, like those who could sanctify the new month. According to the Rif, however, any established and recognized beit din of three is sufficient.

The Rosh and the Ran relate that the Rif himself blew the shofar on Shabbat in his beit din in Fez, Morocco, though his students did not continue the practice. The Ba’al HaMa’or and Ritva write that they are unaware of any community that blows the shofar on Shabbat, while Rabbeinu Mano’ach records that it was done in Damascus. Sefer HaChinuch cites the conflicting opinions without ruling on the matter, concluding instead: “And you my son, should you merit it, choose what is good in your eyes.” The Shulchan Aruch rules that today the practice is not to blow the shofar on Shabbat.

For centuries, the accepted consensus was that absent a Sanhedrin or a beit din possessing authentic semicha, the shofar would remain silent on Shabbat. That changed when Rav Akiva Yosef Schlesinger sought to restore the ancient practice, stirring a controversy that shook Jerusalem.

A fascinating figure, Rav Akiva Yosef studied in Pressburg under the Ketav Sofer and Maharam Schick before immigrating to Eretz Yisrael in 1870. Once in Jerusalem, he became a passionate advocate for religious and national renewal. He championed agricultural settlement, encouraged the revival of the Hebrew language, promoted reforms to the kollel system, advocated for the restoration of the korban Pesach, supported the rediscovery of techelet, and argued for renewing the sounding of the shofar on Shabbat.

In advance of Rosh Hashanah 5642 (1881), he published a pamphlet arguing that the shofar could be blown on Shabbat in Jerusalem before an established beit din. Seeking to implement his ruling, he attempted to assemble twenty-three rabbis and constitute a beit din chashuv. As Rosh Hashanah approached, however, most participants withdrew in the face of fierce rabbinic opposition.

The controversy resurfaced when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat in both 5665 and 5666 (1904–1905). The debate filled the pages of the Hungarian Torah journal, Tel Talpiot. By then, Rav Akiva Yosef had gained the quiet support of prominent Jerusalem rabbis, including Rav Shmuel Salant and Rav Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim, the Aderet. Sensing he might not live to see another Rosh Hashanah, the Aderet reportedly remarked: “If only Rav Akiva Yosef would blow [the shofar] on Shabbat, I would stand behind the wall to hear the sound of the shofar.”

Some accounts suggest that, faced with overwhelming opposition, Rav Akiva Yosef rose before dawn, shuttered the windows of his Jerusalem home, and blew the shofar in private.

The initiative ultimately failed. The overwhelming majority of authorities insisted that only a fully constituted Sanhedrin or a beit din possessing authentic semicha could revive the ancient practice. Yet Rav Akiva Yosef’s attempt was never merely about halacha. He heard the reverberations of redemption in the streets of a rebuilt Jerusalem and asked whether a national restoration demanded renewed religious expression as well. A century later, that question remains unanswered.

Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel serves as rabbi of Har Nof’s Beit Knesset Dati-Leumi and rosh kollel of Jerusalem’s Sinai Kollel.