I have a question about the Shofar

[~Hanna~]

A year or two ago, I had a dream with the Tekia Shofar blast in it (3 times).

Can someone please tell me what the Tekia shofar blast is for? I know they mean different things.

Thankyou.

[Rubystars]

I don't know the answer but I do think the Shofar is a beautiful instrument.

[muman613]

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm

The shofar is a ram's horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day. There are four different types of shofar notes: tekiah, a 3 second sustained note; shevarim, three 1-second notes rising in tone, teruah, a series of short, staccato notes extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and tekiah gedolah (literally, "big tekiah"), the final blast in a set, which lasts (I think) 10 seconds minimum. Click the shofar above to hear an approximation of the sound of Tekiah Shevarim-Teruah Tekiah. The Bible gives no specific reason for this practice. One that has been suggested is that the shofar's sound is a call to repentance. The shofar is not blown if the holiday falls on Shabbat.

http://www.ou.org/chagim/yomkippur/ykshofar.htm

To "Confuse the Satan"

We did not blow the Shofar on the last day of Elul, the morning before Rosh HaShanah, in order to "confuse the Satan." Perhaps this means that the Satan would think that "they’re finished blowing, and have nothing left for the Day of Judgment." But we say "Ashrei HaAm Yod’ei Teruah!" "Fortunate is the People who understand the power of the Shofar!"

We can differentiate between the Shofar of Elul, which is primarily a wake-up call, "Wake up, you sleepers, from your sleeping, and those of you who are in deep slumber, arouse yourselves from your slumber. And Return to Hashem!" By the end of Elul, we are, hopefully, fully awake and ready, or at least aware, of the "Fear and Trembling" required by Rosh HaShanah.

The basic combination of sounds produced by the Shofar both during Elul and on Rosh HaShanah is "Tekiah-Teruah-Tekiah." The "Tekiah" is a straight sound, a sound of attention, a call to gather. It's possible that the most important sound in Elul is the "Tekiah," the call to attention. Whereas, the central sound bearing the Rosh HaShanah-specific content is the "Kesseh," the Hidden One, the sound concealed within two "Tekiot;" namely, the "Teruah."

Unfortunately, the meaning of the "Teruah" is unclear. The Talmud considers three possibilities for its meaning: the 1) "Shevarim," 2) the sound which we call the "Teruah," and 3) the sound which we call the "Shevarim-Teruah."

The Broken Sound

The "Shevarim" is, as its root, "shin-bet-resh," "to break," implies, a sound of brokenness. It is a sigh, a sound of despair. The despair is over the distance felt from Hashem, caused by our sins. A possible reason that the sigh has to be within the two "Tekiot" is that a sigh is considered destructive; it can break the body. It emanates from the heart and crushes the heart. Without the uplift of the "Tekiot," the effect would be to leave us in a state of depression.

The Wailing Sound and the Sighing-and-Wailing

An alternative for the meaning of the "Teruah" is the sound (which we, confusingly, call the "Teruah") of wailing. It is the undulating sound produced by mourners, especially women, at funerals in the Middle East. This too is a sound of despair, perhaps beyond despair, when all hope is lost. This too cannot be our final statement. Again, a lift out of that mournful attitude is required, and that lift is provided by the "Tekiot." The third possibility is a sigh-and-a-wail, which we call the "Shevarim-Teruah," again enclosed within two "Tekiot," with their unique restorative powers.

Three "Additional" Rosh Hashanah Prayers

The Mussaf of Rosh HaShanah contains three remarkable "Tefilot," or Prayers: "Malchiyot," "Kingliness," "Zichronot," "Remembrances," and "Shofarot," "Calls of the Shofar."

In "Zichronot," we asked Hashem to remember, in our behalf, that ultimate act of self-sacrifice, performed by Avraham when he brought Yitzchak to the "Akeidah." We asked Hashem to suppress his legitimate anger against us as Avraham, ready to sacrifice his son, suppressed his natural fatherly mercy. How he raised the knife until Hashem intervened at the last moment, and accepted the mysterious ram which, according to Pirkei Avot, was created on the first Shabbat Eve. And then we blew the ram’s horn.

[~Hanna~]

I do too, I know someone in Israel who makes them.

I don't know the answer but I do think the Shofar is a beautiful instrument.

[~Hanna~]

Thankyou Muman, now I know, I appreciate it.

[IsraelForever]

As a young boy in Shul, I found the blowing of the Shofar to affect me deeply and to be very powerful. 

[~Hanna~]

Yes, I know what you mean. It has brought me to tears when I have heard it before.

As a young boy in Shul, I found the blowing of the Shofar to affect me deeply and to be very powerful.