Have two silver trumpets made; make them of hammered work. They shall serve you to summon the community and to set the divisions in motion. … The trumpets shall be blown by Aaron’s sons, the priests; they shall be for you an institution for all time throughout the ages. (Num. 10:9-10)
Given that the trumpets are only mentioned here, and serve a functional purpose, is there any larger meaning within the Torah that speaks to us today?
Perhaps… For starters, unlike a shofar, the trumpets are made of silver. Silver is first mentioned in the Torah with Avimelech, who almost sinned with Sarah:
And to Sarah [Abimelech] said, “I herewith give your brother a thousand pieces of silver; this will serve you a covering of the eyes before all who are with you, and you are cleared before everyone.” Abraham then prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his slave girls, so that they bore children. (G. 20:16)
Does it seem that Avimelech’s silver is a way to clear possible wrongdoing, and also the doorway to a miraculous delivery?
Might we apply this idea to the trumpets, suggesting that the silver represents the same thing: a clean slate, and the request for blessings from G-d?
Similarly, the trumpets were made of hammered work. The only other things in the Torah made with hammers are all used in the mikdash, and all are used for a close divine relationship: the Cherubim, the Menorah, the gold threads in the Curtains, and plates for the Altar. Does this suggest that the trumpets are also supposed to make us think of a close relationship with G-d?
The most interesting aspect, however, might be what the trumpets do. They make a sound, for all to hear.
The Torah has a word for “sound”, kol. But kol is not really about sounds per sé, and certainly not natural ones. Its primary meaning is to convey presence, as we see where kol is first mentioned:
[Adam and Chava, after eating the fruit] heard the kol of G-d moving about in the garden in the breeze of the day; and the Human and his wife hid from G-d among the trees of the garden. (G. 3:8)
Kol is found in the plague of thunder (kol) and hail in Egypt, as well as in the thunder (kol) heard at Sinai. That is the same kol as in Eden; the sound fills us, and tells us of the divine presence.
Kol is also used to describe the sound of the pomegranate bells on the garment the high priest wore when he went in and out of the tabernacle, announcing his presence.
Does this bring the entire idea together for us: that the trumpets remind us of the possibility of miracles (Avimelech and silver), of a close divine relationship (the Mikdash and being hammered), and the presence of G-d as per Eden (through kol)?
Might the trumpets be designed to replace something we had in the wilderness, but would not have forever?
After all, we know that all through the wilderness the Jews were accompanied by pillars of cloud and of fire so that we would always know that G-d was with us.
But when we left the wilderness, G-d’s presence was no longer so obvious to us. Were the trumpets supposed to be a replacement, as a symbol of His presence even when the supernatural miracles were no longer obvious for all to see? To be a comfort to the people that G-d is with us, even when we cannot see him?
(As has often been pointed out, Judaism is not visual: the G-d of the Jews has always been the G-d that we hear.)
And on your joyous occasions, and your fixed festivals and your new moon days—you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being. They shall be a reminder for you before your G-d: I, the LORD, am your G-d. (N. 20:20)
Does this verse really summarize the above conclusion?