After detailing the procedures for the daily sacrifices, G‑d instructed Moses regarding the weekly Sabbath sacrifices, the sacrifices for the first day of every Jewish month, and the sacrifices for the holidays. In the course of these instructions, G‑d referred to Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, as a day for sounding the shofar, or ram’s horn.
Renewal
וּבַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ . . . יוֹם תְּרוּעָה יִהְיֶה לָכֶם: (במדבר כט:א)
[G‑d instructed Moses to tell the Jewish people,] “The first day of the seventh month . . . must be a day of shofar-sounding for you.” Numbers 29:1

Annual renewal is necessary if life is to retain its freshness and novelty. If we merely continue cultivating the same type of Divine consciousness, we will remain locked in its limitations, ultimately making our religious lives seem repetitious and dull. Rosh HaShanah is an opportunity for us to make a quantum leap to a new plateau of Divine consciousness that will inspire our lives for the coming year.

To accomplish this, however, we cannot rely on the words of our prayers, because words carry specific meanings for us that are limited by the knowledge and experiences we have accrued in our lives. In order to break out of our limited modes of expression, we use the blasts and wails of the shofar, which transcend the confines of verbal language. In this way, we recapture the innocence and inspiration of a newly born soul and of the Jewish people when they received the Torah at Mount Sinai. This renewed inspiration invigorates our relationship with G‑d for the coming year.1