The Ba’al Shem Tov asked Reb Wolff Kitzis, who was very learned, to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashana, and to meditate on the various kavanot (sacred intentions) associated with each blast.
Reb Wolff studied all the kavanot and wrote them down on a piece of paper to look at while he blew the shofar. But the piece of paper fell from his pocket and was lost, and he could not remember any of the kavanot. He blew the shofar in utter simplicity, without any of the profound intentions he had planned.
Afterward, the Ba’al Shem Tov said to him: ‘In a king’s palace, there are many rooms, and each room has its own key. But one tool overrides all the keys — an axe, which can break through any door. The kavanot are like the keys. But a broken heart is the axe that opens all the gates of heaven at once.’
The shofar is meant to break open our hearts — not just fill them with intentions. On Rosh Hashana and throughout this season of t’shuva, may we have the courage to show up with our whole selves, broken and open, and let that be enough.