"מצות היום בשופר"
“The mitzvah of [Rosh Hashanah] day, is [sounding of] the shofar.” (Rosh Hashanah 26b)

QUESTION: Why is a lowly animal’s horn used to invoke the height of spirituality during the holiest time of the year?

ANSWER: Each person is driven by conflicting impulses: The soul yearns for spirituality, and the body is driven by mortal needs and instincts. Our purpose is to attain harmony — not dissonance — between body and soul, to unite their drives in Divine service.

The use of an animal’s horn on Rosh Hashanah reminds us that even the most hardened “animal-like” instincts within mankind — those comparable to the hardest portion of the animal, its horn — are to be included in service to Hashem.

This is why in the Shema prayer, rather than saying, “Love G‑d bechol libecha — with all your heart,” it says, “bechol levavecha — with all your hearts” — with the desires of both body and soul — the yeitzer tov and yeitzer hara — good and evil inclinations (see Berachot 54a).