| Home |Breishith |Shmot |Vayikra |BaMidbar |Dvarim |Holidays |Tehillim |Stories |
| Rosh Hashanah: Knowing the Teruah-Blast |
The order of the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah may be understood as
corresponding to major stages in the history of the universe. There are two
basic types of shofar blasts:
Past, Present, and Future
All of history may be divided up into three stages, corresponding to the three
parts of the prayer:
"God reigned." This refers to God's absolute sovereignty in the past, before
the sin of Adam. This is the first tekiyah, the pure clarion call of a pristine world.
The word tekiyah comes from the root taku'a, meaning 'set' or 'fixed in place.'
Likewise, in the end of days, the era of the tekiyah will return. After all the
tribulations over time, the simple, unwavering tekiyah will be heard once again,
as the entire world will recognize God's rule. This is the future era of "God will reign forever."
Knowing the Teruah
In between the two constant tekiyah blasts, however, comes
the complex intermediate stage. This is the current reality,
a world that struggles to implement the ideal of "God reigns."
This difficult stage is represented by the broken shevarim blows
and the sobbing of the teruah blasts ("shever" means 'broken'
and ra'uah means 'shaky'). It is a time of volatility and uncertainty,
an era characterized by advances and setbacks, progress and failure.
This is the meaning of the verse, "Fortunate is the nation
that knows the teruah" (Ps. 89:16). Fortunate are those
who know how to cope with the challenges of this world, who know how to
transcend the teruah blasts of uncertainty and hardship. Despite
the doubts and confusion, they are able to "walk in the light of Your
Presence" (ibid.), in the knowledge that the future era of "God will reign forever" lies ahead.
(Silver from the Land of Israel, pp. 57-58. Adapted from Mo'adei HaRe'iyah, pp. 62-63.)
Copyright © 2010 by Chanan Morrison
The shofar blasts are organized in sets of tekiyah, shevarim-teruah, tekiyah.
First we blow one long blast, then several broken and staccato blasts, and then a
long concluding blast. What do the different blasts symbolize, and why this particular order?
"God reigns; God reigned; God will reign
forever."