1) If it is possible to arrange that someone could come into the prison to blow the Shofar for the prisoner, this would be the best thing. If the prisoner knows how to blow the Shofar, it might be possible to obtain permission from the prison authorities for a Shofar to be brought in.

2) If this is not possible, we can resort to the rule of "Anus Rachmana Patrei" -- the Torah exempts somebody from a Mitzvah if there is no way that it is possible for him to perform it.

3) In addition, it says in the Shulchan Aruch that if one is not able to blow the Shofar, this does not prevent him from praying the Musaf prayer, even though the latter includes the blessings and verses about the Shofar. We see from this that someone who is unable to blow the Shofar should say all the prayers and this will be considered, for someone in this unavoidable situation, as if he has blown the Shofar. By saying all the parts of the service, especially those connected with the Shofar, and thinking about the significance of the Shofar and the Teshuvah that it calls us to do, this is equivalent to blowing the Shofar, since there is no other choice.

Wishing you a Kesivah and Chasimah Tovah, and a very Happy New Year,

Dovid Bloom

1) I posed this question to a great Rabbi and he replied that the prisoner should be upset about the Mitzvos that he has lost the opportunity to perform.

2) We can understand this with the help of what the Talmud says (Berachos 6a) that if a person intended to do a Mitzvah but was prevented from doing so by a circumstances beyond his control, it is considered by the Torah as if he has done the Mitzvah. However, this applies only if he feels genuinely sorry that he was unable to do the Mitzvah.

3) So it all depends on a person's attitude. If he regrets the situation that he is in, it is as if he has heard the Shofar.

Kol Tuv,

Dovid Bloom

I have found sources for the above idea that if one is unavoidably prevented from doing a Mitzvah, one should be upset ("Mitz'ta'er") about this, and in the light of this regret one receives a reward as if one had actually performed the Mitzvah.

1) The first source is the Shlah ha'Kodesh, cited by the Magen Avraham (Orach Chayim 62:2). The law is that if a place is not totally clean (but does not actually smell bad) and for some unavoidable reason it is impossible to clean it up, one should not recite the Shema out loud, because the surroundings are unclean, but instead one should think the words of the Shema in his mind. The Shlah says that this does not literally mean that one says the words of the Shema in his mind, but rather it means that one should think in his heart that he is obligated to say Shema and should be "Mitz'ta'er" -- upset -- that he is unable to say it.

2) The Derishah to the Tur (Orach Chaim 85) explains this further and writes that one should think in his heart that his desire and wish is entirely to say Shema. This aspiration should be "wished by his entire heart and soul." If a person has this attitude, then Hash-m will count his good intentions as good actions, and will consider it as though he has performed the Mitzvah.

3) According to this, if one is genuinely unable to hear the Shofar, but he is sincerely "Mitz'ta'er" about this fact, this regret makes it equivalent to him actually hearing the Shofar.

Kol Tuv,

Dovid Bloom