Sing Aloud to the God of Jacob Who Called the House by His Name

"For the leader, upon the Gittith, of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; shout to the God of Jacob" (Psalms 81:1-2). Our master taught us: a shofar that was pierced and stopped up, is it fit to blow with? Our sages taught: if the repair impedes the blast, it is unfit; if not, it is fit (Rosh Hashanah 3:4). What is the reason? It is written, "And the LORD God will blow the shofar" (Zechariah 9:14): just as the shofar of the Holy One, blessed be He, is whole, so the shofar of Rosh Hashanah must be whole; because on Rosh Hashanah they are redeemed from the angel of death. And why do Israel blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah? So that the Holy One, blessed be He, may judge them with mercy and find them meritorious, as it says, "God has ascended amid the blast, the LORD amid the sound of the shofar" (Psalms 47:6). Rabbi Tanchuma bar Abba opened: "He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob" (Numbers 23:21). What did Balaam see, to mention Jacob and not Abraham or Isaac? He saw that from Abraham came forth the dross of Ishmael and the children of Keturah, and from Isaac the dross of Esau and his chiefs, but Jacob was wholly holy, as it says, "All these are the tribes of Israel, twelve" (Genesis 49:28). Therefore he mentioned none of the patriarchs but Jacob: "Shout to the God of Jacob, selah." Another teaching: why Jacob more than all the patriarchs? Our sages taught: by the measure a person measures, by that measure it is measured to him (Sotah 1:7). A parable of a king who had three friends and wished to build a palace. He brought the first and said, see this place where I wish to make my palace; that friend said, I remember this place was a mountain at first. He brought the second and said the same; he said, I remember it was a field at first. The king set them aside. He brought the third friend and said the same, and he said, I remember it was a palace at first. The king said to him: by your life, I will build that palace and call it by your name. So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the friends of the Holy One, blessed be He. Abraham called the Temple a mountain, as it says, "On the mountain of the LORD it shall be seen" (Genesis 22:14). Isaac called it a field, as it says, "See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field" (Genesis 27:27). And Jacob called it a palace, as it says, "How awesome is this place; this is none other than the house of God" (Genesis 28:17). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: you called it a house before it was built; by your life, I will build it and call it the house of Jacob, as it says, "O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD" (Isaiah 2:5).