[Avodah] shofar on shabbat

[Eli Turkel]

The gemara Bavli quotes the gezerah of Rabbah that one cannot blow shofar on
shabbat perhaps one will go to a "baki" to learn how to blow the shofar and will
carry either 4 amot in reshut harabim or between reshut hayachid and reshut
harabim

It seems very strange that we should worry about someone just starting
to learn how
to blow shofar on Rosh Hashana. Perhaps the one supposed to blow got sick
at the last minute but it still is farf fetched

Interestingly Rambam (Shofar 2:6) replaces this by the more realistic fear that
the blower of the shofar would go to someone else (eg to a hospital) carrying
the shofar on shabbat.

Also interestingly SA gives the reason of the gemara and not Rambam.

Given either reason it is still not clear to me why  Chazal (R
Yochanan ben Zakai)
would stop the mitzvah for all Jews and similarly for lulav on shabbat
for a rather
flimsy reason. Especially difficult if succot or RH is only one day.

MB already points out that since we no longer have a reshut harabim except for
very restricted areas this is more "flimsy"
I read that R. Akiva Shlessinger wanted to institute shofar in the old city
of Jerusalem when RH fell on a shabbat (about 1905)  This combined the
shitot that there
no reshut harabim and the abam that the prohibition does not apply to the
mikdash which includes the (walled) city of Jerusalem and the shita of the
Rif that allows shofar in front of an important bet din whuch he convened.
I understand he had haskamot from R. Salant and other gedolim in Jerusalem.
However, 'kanaim" came and prevented him from carrying out his plans and he
only blew shofar in his private home.

For some reason the practice was never continued even though it was only
super-righists that imposed there will against the haskama of gedolim.


-- 
Eli Turkel