Rabbi Saadia Gaon’s 10 Reasons for Sounding the Shofar

This post summarizes ten different symbolic explanations as to why we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashana, according to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, including to proclaim God as King, to serve as a spiritual wake up call, to recall the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the Binding of Isaac, and to foreshadow the ultimate redemption. Rabbi Saadia Gaon (late 9th – mid 10th century), was one of the most prominent Jewish philosophers and commentators of the Geonic period.