The Torah commands in Parashat Behar (Vayikra 25:9-10) that a Shofar must be blown on Yom Kippur at the beginning of Yobel – the fiftieth year. The Shofar sound announced the release of all indentured servants, and the return of all purchased lands to their original owners. Servants are released without having to pay any money.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that the Torah commanded sounding the Shofar in order to publicize the release of the servants, such that people will realize that everyone is undergoing this process. Releasing a servant was very difficult for a master, especially if the servant had been working with him for a long time and was already familiar with his work, his routine, and so on. Many masters also had forged a close personal connection with their servants. In order to alleviate the difficulty entailed in releasing servants, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes, the Torah required sounding a Shofar and reminding masters that this hardship is shared by everybody. The Sefer Ha’hinuch references the adage, “Sa’ar Rabim Hasi Nehama” – “public distress is half-consolation.” When somebody in distress knows that many others are in the same condition, it makes the hardship easier to handle. And thus the Torah commanded sounding a Shofar to announce the release of servants, reminding masters that this difficult situation is being faced by people throughout the land, and this awareness will lessen the distress. The servant, too, might feel uneasy about leaving his master, who has cared for him and with whom he has built a close bond, and so he, too, needs the public Shofar sound to be reminded that others are going this uneasy process just as he is.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch notes that a number of Halachic differences exist between the sounding of the Shofar on Yobel and the Shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah. For example, when Rosh Hashanah would fall on Shabbat, the Shofar was blown only in the city’s Bet Din. On Yom Kippur of Yobel, by contrast, the Shofar was blown in every city that had a Bet Din, but not necessarily in Bet Din itself.
The Gemara teaches that from Rosh Hashanah at the beginning of the Yobel year, until Yom Kippur, the servants were not required to work, but rather ate, drank and rejoiced, celebrating their imminent emancipation. They were then free to return home after the sounding of the Shofar on Yom Kippur.
The Misva to sound the Shofar is assigned specifically to Bet Din. It applies in the Land of Israel, in periods when the law of Yobel applied.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch’s understanding of the reasoning behind this Misva underscores the importance of positive peer pressure. Just as awareness of shared hardship makes the hardship easier to bare, when it comes to Misvot, too, we gain strength from knowing that everyone is sharing the burden. If we are jointly committed to fulfilling the Misvot, it becomes easier for each individual to overcome the challenges and difficulties that are sometimes entailed in Misva performance. Knowing that we are all in this together, that our peers face this struggle just as we do, alleviates the hardship and helps us exert the effort needed to satisfy our obligations, no matter what this involves.