📋 Shiur Overview
Summary of Chapter 3 — Laws of Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav (Rambam)
Introduction to the Chapter
Chapter 3 is the third and final chapter of the Laws of Shofar. The first chapter dealt with the instrument (the shofar itself), the second chapter with the obligation (who is obligated, when, Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbat). The third chapter deals with the quality of the blowing — what kinds of sounds one blows, how many, and in what order.
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Law 1 — How Many Blasts Must a Person Hear
The Rambam’s Words
“How many blasts must a person hear on the festival of Rosh Hashanah — nine… as it says teruah regarding the Jubilee and Rosh Hashanah… from the oral tradition they learned that all teruot of the seventh month are one, whether on Rosh Hashanah or on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee… nine blasts are blown on each of them.”
Plain Meaning
From the Torah one must hear nine sounds on Rosh Hashanah. The calculation: the word “teruah” appears three times — once regarding the Jubilee (“and you shall pass the shofar teruah on the tenth of the month”) and twice regarding Rosh Hashanah (“remembrance of teruah” in Parashat Emor, “day of teruah” in Parashat Pinchas). From the oral tradition they learned that all teruot of the seventh month go together — Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur of the Jubilee have one law. Each teruah comes with a plain blast before it and a plain blast after it (tekiah before and tekiah after). Three teruot times three sounds each = nine sounds.
Novelties and Explanations
a) Why does the Rambam call all the sounds “tekiot”?
The Rambam asks “how many tekiot” — he calls all the sounds generally “tekiot,” even though the main novelty is the teruot. This shows that “tekiah” is a general term for all types of shofar blowing, more than “teruah.” The Rambam himself in Chapter 1 says “it is a mitzvah to hear the sound of the teruah of the shofar” — there he calls it teruah, but here he calls the totality “tekiot.” “Tekiah” is the action — the blowing itself, and the sound that comes out from it.
b) “From the oral tradition they learned” — a distinction in concept
There is a distinction in the concept “from the oral tradition” by the Rambam:
– “From the oral tradition” simply means: it was received that the law is thus — a halachah leMoshe miSinai on the law itself.
– “From the oral tradition they learned” means something else: it was received how to learn the verse — i.e. the learning itself is not simple plain meaning in the verse, but the tradition says that this is how one must expound. Here, “from the oral tradition they learned that all teruot of the seventh month are one” — this doesn’t mean that it was received that one must blow three teruot (that is explicit in the verses), but that it was received the principle that one connects the Jubilee with Rosh Hashanah, that Rosh Hashanah learns from the Jubilee and the Jubilee from Rosh Hashanah.
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Law 1 (Continued) — Doubt About the Teruah
The Rambam’s Words
“This teruah mentioned in the Torah, we have a doubt about it because of the length of years and the many exiles, and no one knows what it is — whether it is the wail that women wail when they lament, or a groan… or both together, the groan and the wail that customarily comes after it are what are called teruah.”
“And the wail is what we call teruah, and the groan is what we call three shevarim.”
Plain Meaning
Through the long exiles, one forgot what exactly “teruah” means. Three doubts remained:
– Yelalah (= what we call “teruah”) — short quick sounds, like women who cry loudly at a eulogy.
– Anachah/Nachah (= what we call “three shevarim”) — three longer groans, like someone who groans quietly from worry.
– Both together (= shevarim-teruah) — both together, because the way of a worried person is first to groan and then to cry out.
Therefore — in order to fulfill all possibilities (doubtful Torah law, be stringent), one does all three: a set with shevarim-teruah, a set with shevarim alone, a set with teruah alone.
Novelties and Explanations
a) How can one forget a mitzvah that is done every year?
One blows shofar every year — how can one forget? The Rambam answers: “because of the length of years and the many exiles” — in difficult times Jews came to new places, one couldn’t blow, one didn’t remember. The saying is brought “every year that they don’t blow for Him at its beginning” — a year that one didn’t blow at the beginning, troubles come at the end; and perhaps the troubles already began before Rosh Hashanah, so that year too one didn’t blow.
b) The Rambam’s approach — one actually truly forgot
The Rambam means literally that one forgot what “teruah” means. This is in accordance with the Rambam’s general approach (as he writes in his introduction) that everything that is not clear in the Oral Torah, one must blame on “the length of years and the many exiles,” not on the Torah itself.
c) Contradiction to the Rambam’s own foundations
The Rambam himself (in the introduction to Mishneh Torah) holds strongly that halachah leMoshe miSinai cannot have dispute, and dispute doesn’t come from forgetting. The Rambam emphasizes that the essential form of the mitzvot which is halachah leMoshe miSinai has no dispute and no forgetting — dispute is only in new questions or matters dependent on reasoning (forgetting the reasoning, not forgetting the halachah). But here the Rambam says clearly that one forgot!
Answer: One must say that the Rambam means: the essence of the mitzvah — that one must blow teruah — one didn’t forget. But the detail of how it sounds, that one forgot. This is not forgetting the halachah but forgetting the reality — a practical forgetting.
d) Rav Hai Gaon’s alternative approach
Rav Hai Gaon answers that one didn’t forget at all. From the Torah one fulfills with any one of the types — it’s not invalidating which one does. From Moshe Rabbeinu’s time there were different communities that did differently, and all fulfilled their obligation. Rav Abahu only made an enactment that all Jews should do the same, so that one shouldn’t ask why one does thus and another differently. But the Rambam doesn’t look like this — by the Rambam it’s a simple doubt: “and we don’t know what it is.”
e) Why can’t one simply make shevarim-teruah together and fulfill all opinions?
If one makes shevarim-teruah together, one should fulfill all possibilities — because it contains both! The answer (as the Maggid Mishneh explains): the first two opinions (only yelalah, or only nachah) hold that the other sound is an interruption — if one makes shevarim-teruah together, according to the opinion that teruah is only yelalah, the shevarim are an interruption, and vice versa. Therefore one must make three separate sets.
f) Novelty of the Maggid Mishneh — interruption between sounds invalidates
From the fact that one can’t rely on shevarim-teruah together, one sees that interruption between the sounds invalidates. This is apparently a contradiction to what one will learn later that if one interrupted between tekiot (even a long time), one fulfills. The answer: the permission of interruption is only when one doesn’t interrupt with a different type of sound (i.e. a “wrong one” — a foreign sound that doesn’t belong). Silence or time is not an interruption, but a foreign sound yes.
g) “Doeg” — the character of teruah
The Rambam uses the language “for such is the way of the worried one” — someone who worries. It is discussed whether “doeg” means specifically worrying about sins (teshuvah context), or simply someone who is in distress. “Daagah” means generally distress/worry, not only regret.
h) The source for “yelalah” — Targum Onkelos and Sisera’s mother
The Rambam calls teruah “yelalah” because the translation of teruah is “yevava,” and the same word appears by “and Sisera’s mother wailed” (Judges 5:28) — Sisera’s mother’s crying. From there one knows that yevava/yelalah is a type of crying. The doubt is which type of crying of a mother — short bursts (teruah), longer groans (shevarim), or both together.
[Digression: Forgetting of Torah] In only three lines of Gemara come out fifteen different opinions how to make the tekiot (Rashi, Tosafot, etc.). This is proof of forgetting of Torah. A novelty: forgetting of Torah doesn’t mean when the Torah becomes shorter — it can mean when the Torah becomes longer. From forgetting comes dispute, and one begins making thirty sounds because one doesn’t know which are correct.
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Law 1 (Continued) — Order of the Tekiot
The Rambam’s Words
“The order of the tekiot is thus: one blesses and blows tekiah, and after it three shevarim and after it teruah and after it tekiah, and repeats this order three times. And afterwards blows tekiah and after it three shevarim and after it tekiah, three times. And afterwards blows tekiah and after it teruah and after it tekiah, three times. Thus there are thirty sounds in order to remove oneself from the doubt.”
Plain Meaning
The order is: first three times tashrat (tekiah-shevarim/teruah-tekiah), then three times tashat (tekiah-shevarim-tekiah), then three times tarat (tekiah-teruah-tekiah). Together 30 sounds.
Novelties and Explanations
a) Why begin with tashrat?
Why does the Rambam place tashrat (shevarim-teruah together) as first? The reasoning is that this is the “best” approach — because if teruah means both together, one fulfills optimally. Or: the Sages held that that opinion is the strongest. Or: as a person cries — he groans and cries together.
b) Why three times each set:
Because in the Mishnah it says that teruah comes three times (three verses). Each set is done three times in order to fulfill the three teruot.
[Digression: condition between tashrat and tashat] When one blows tashrat and then tashat out of doubt, why does one need a new tekiah at the beginning of tashat? The last tekiah of tashrat should be able to serve as the first tekiah of tashat — if tashrat is valid, one doesn’t need anything more; if tashrat is invalid, the tekiah should count as the beginning of tashat! The answer: tekiah before it and after it means a “sandwich” — if the tekiah was meant as the end of tashrat, it’s not a tekiah before for tashat. One can make a condition, but then it’s not the normal order. With a condition one could have saved three sounds (27 instead of 30).
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Law 2 — Measure of Teruah, Shevarim, and Tekiah
The Rambam’s Words
“The measure of teruah is like two tekiot, and the measure of three shevarim is like two tekiot.”
Plain Meaning
The length of a teruah is as long as two (minimum) tekiot, and also three shevarim lasts as long as two tekiot.
Novelties and Explanations
a) “Measure of teruah” — one teruah or all three?
The Maggid Mishneh and others held that “measure of teruah” means all three teruot of one set together. But the plain meaning in the Rambam is that one teruah is as long as two tekiot, and also one set of three shevarim is as long as two tekiot.
b) Tekiah is short according to the Rambam:
If one teruah = two tekiot, it comes out that a tekiah is shorter than a teruah. The Rambam means minimum tekiot — a person may make longer tekiot.
c) By tashrat — the middle sound is like four tekiot:
When one blows shevarim-teruah together, the middle part (shevarim + teruah) is as long as four minimum tekiot (two for shevarim + two for teruah).
d) Dispute of Rambam and Raavad:
The Raavad (he said: all this is the copyist’s error) disputes the Rambam:
– The Rambam’s opinion: Both tekiot (before it and after it) together are as long as one teruah in the middle. It comes out that one tekiah = half a teruah.
– The Raavad’s opinion: One tekiah is as long as one teruah. A teruah is as long as three shevarim. It comes out that according to the Raavad a tekiah is twice as long as according to the Rambam.
Practical novelty: There’s no practical contradiction between them, because the Rambam only gives a minimum measure of tekiah, not a maximum. He says clearly that if one makes longer it’s still called a tekiah. Therefore one can be stringent like the Raavad and make longer tekiot, and one fulfills also according to the Rambam.
e) The Rambam’s interpretation in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 33b):
In the Mishnah it says: the measure of tekiah is like three teruot, and the measure of teruah is like three yevavot. The Rambam interprets “tekiah like three teruot” not that one tekiah = three teruot, but that all the tekiot of one order (bava) together = all the teruot of that order. It comes out that one tekiah = half a teruah.
Reasoning for the Rambam: The tekiah is there to “serve” the teruah — it’s like a sandwich, where the bread (tekiot) is as big as what’s in the middle (teruah). The reasoning makes sense, but the interpretation in the Mishnah is a bit forced.
The Gemara’s answer: In the Gemara there is a contradiction — elsewhere it says “the measure of tekiah is like teruah” (not like three teruot). The Gemara answers that our Mishnah speaks of “all the vavot” (all the tekiot together). The Rambam builds his opinion on this answer.
f) What is a teruah? — the Rambam’s silence:
The Rambam says nothing at all about what a teruah is — not how many sounds, not how long. He only says that it’s a “yelalah” (wail that they wail), but he doesn’t define what a yelalah is. By shevarim he does say that it’s three, but by teruah he doesn’t say how many small sounds there must be. The Maggid Mishneh says that a teruah is nine small sounds — but this doesn’t appear in the Rambam itself.
g) The Rambam doesn’t give any absolute measure:
The Rambam only gives a relative measure: a tekiah is half as long as a teruah. It’s not clear whether it depends on the tokea’s strength, or whether it’s a fixed measure. The Rambam is basically simply copying what appears in the Gemara and says no more.
h) Tarmitin / Tarmuta — the Yerushalmi’s language:
The language “tarmitin” (or “tarmuta”) is not from the Bavli but from the Yerushalmi. The Raavad brings it, and the Binyan Olam explains that the Raavad means the Yerushalmi’s explanation.
Two interpretations of “tarmuta”:
1. Rabbi Rabinowitz’s interpretation (as Menachem Mendel heard in Eretz Yisrael): Tarmuta means a long sound that goes up and down — like a siren (woo-woo-woo). This fits with “wails that they wail.” In Yemen they make such a type of teruah to this day. This also fits with the manuscript of Rav Saadia Gaon where he makes a diagram with “waves” (like music notes). Because one couldn’t practically make such a sound, one chopped it into short pieces — and this is how Ashkenazic Jews make teruah today (tu-tu-tu).
2. Other commentators’ interpretation: Tarmita = a minimum sound (a smallest sound-unit). A shever = three tarmitin. A teruah = three shevarim = nine tarmitin (nine small sounds). This is how the Shulchan Aruch rules.
i) Dispute in the Yerushalmi about teruah:
In the Yerushalmi there is a dispute: one says teruah is tarmuta (the long wavy sound), and one says it’s three kukin (shevarim). This is basically the dispute that the Bavli also brings — that “yevavah” in the Mishnah means teruah, and in the Baraita it says shevarim, and it’s a dispute of Tannaim.
Summary: From two-three lines of Gemara come out four-five different opinions (Rambam, Raavad, Rashi, Tosafot, etc.) — all depending on how one interprets the Mishnah and Gemara.
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Law 2 (Continued) — A Long Tekiah Counts Only as One
The Rambam’s Words
“If one blew and sounded a teruah and afterwards blew a tekiah long and drawn out like two at first — it is only one tekiah, even if he drew it out the whole hour it is only one tekiah.”
Plain Meaning
If someone blows a tekiah after a teruah and draws it out very long, one cannot say that the first half is the tekiah after the teruah and the second half is the tekiah before the next teruah. It’s only one tekiah, even if he draws it out a whole hour.
Novelties
a) A tekiah ends when one stops, not when the measure is finished:
A tekiah doesn’t end when the minimum measure is over, but when the blower stops blowing. Therefore one cannot “divide” a long tekiah into two.
b) Tekiah can be long:
The Rambam says explicitly that one may make a long tekiah. But the Rambam doesn’t say explicitly how short a tekiah can be — this remains a question.
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Law 2 (Continued) — Heard One Tekiah at This Time
The Rambam’s Words
“If one heard one tekiah at this time… even if he waited the whole day, they combine and he fulfills his obligation. Provided that he hears each bava from them in order. Not that he hears teruah after two tekiot.”
Plain Meaning
One doesn’t need to hear all nine sounds at once. Even with interruptions between them, even the whole day, one fulfills — but only when one hears them in order. If one hears a teruah after two tekiot (instead of tekiah-teruah-tekiah), one doesn’t fulfill.
Novelties
a) Time itself is not an interruption:
Only another thing not of the matter is an interruption. This is compared to the law by prayer, where pausing enough time to finish it all is an interruption, but mere time is not.
b) The invalidation of “teruah after two tekiot” is not only interruption — it’s “wrong order”:
One cannot say that one will “divide” two tekiot — one for the previous set and one for the coming one — because one didn’t hear according to the order.
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Law 2 (Continued) — Heard Nine Tekiot from Nine People at Once
The Rambam’s Words
“If one heard nine tekiot from nine people at once, he didn’t fulfill even one.”
Plain Meaning
If nine people blow all at once, one doesn’t fulfill even one tekiah.
Novelties
a) Dispute of Rishonim:
Whether the Rambam means that all nine blow the same tekiah at once, or that each blows a different sound (one tekiah, one teruah, one shevarim). Most Rishonim say he means nine different tekiot.
b) Why doesn’t one fulfill?
Two reasonings: (a) one doesn’t hear any of them clearly; (b) the order is missing — the mitzvah must be “one after another,” an order in time (like a sandwich). When everything comes at once, the order of tekiah-teruah-tekiah is missing. The discussion leans toward the second reasoning — it must take time, i.e. after the tekiah must come the teruah, “one after another.”
c) Two people blow at once:
One can indeed hear clearly when two blow the same (like shofar and trumpets in the Temple, where “beloved” makes it valid). But here the invalidation is because the order is missing.
d) From different people one after another — valid:
One can hear tekiah from one person, teruah from a second, tekiah from a third — even the whole day — as long as it’s in order. What must be: order in time. What may not be: everything at once. From the same person is not invalidating.
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Law 2 (Continued) — And One Doesn’t Fulfill Until He Hears All Nine Tekiot
The Rambam’s Words
“And one doesn’t fulfill his obligation until he hears all nine tekiot, for they are all one mitzvah, therefore they invalidate one another.”
Plain Meaning
One must hear all nine sounds. They are one mitzvah, and each one invalidates the other.
Novelties
a) “Nine tekiot” doesn’t mean nine tekiot, but nine sounds in general — tekiot, teruot, shevarim together.
b) “One mitzvah” — one cannot say that one fulfilled a “half mitzvah.” One only fulfills when one finishes everything.
c) “They invalidate one another” — this is compared to other mitzvot like tefillin of the hand and of the head, where one doesn’t invalidate the other (if one has only one, one puts on one). But here — if one knows that one won’t be able to finish, it’s a question whether one may begin. One cannot say “I already fulfilled a part, now it’s only a doubtful Torah law” — nine means nine (not thirty), but all nine must be there.
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Law 3 — The Congregation is Obligated to Hear Tekiot According to the Order of the Blessings
The Rambam’s Words
“The congregation is obligated to hear tekiot according to the order of the blessings. How? The prayer leader says Avot, Gevurot, and Kedushah of the Name, and Malchuyot and blows three, and says Zichronot and blows three, and says Shofarot and blows three, and completes his prayer with Avodah and Hoda’ah and Birkat Kohanim.”
Plain Meaning
In congregation one must hear the tekiot within the Shemoneh Esrei, after each blessing of Malchuyot, Zichronot, Shofarot. The prayer leader says Avot, Gevurot, Kedushat Hashem, then Malchuyot with tekiot, Zichronot with tekiot, Shofarot with tekiot, and finishes with Avodah, Hoda’ah, Birkat Kohanim.
Novelties
a) “Three” means a set of three (tekiah-teruah-tekiah), not three individual sounds. The Rambam speaks here of the essential law (nine sounds), not the thirty that we make today.
b) The law is specific to congregation — the Rambam says clearly “the congregation is obligated,” and later he says that this is not on an individual.
c) “According to the order of the blessings” — this is not a separate law of blessings, but that the tekiot themselves must be heard in the order of the blessings.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Three Middle Blessings Invalidate One Another
The Rambam’s Words
“These three middle blessings of Rosh Hashanah and of Yom Kippur of the Jubilee, which are Malchuyot Zichronot and Shofarot, invalidate one another.”
Plain Meaning
Malchuyot, Zichronot, Shofarot invalidate one another — one must say all three. This applies both to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur of the Jubilee.
Novelty
The comparison to tekiot — just as the nine tekiot are one mitzvah and invalidate one another, so too the three blessings.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Ten Verses in Each Blessing
The Rambam’s Words
“And one must say in each of these blessings ten verses of the nature of the blessing — three from the Torah, three from the Book of Psalms, and three from the Prophets, and one from the Torah completes it. And if he completed with a Prophet — he fulfilled.”
“And if he said one verse from the Torah and one from the Writings and one from the Prophets — he fulfilled.”
“Even if he said ‘In Your Torah, Hashem our God, it is written saying’ with one verse from the Torah, and stopped — he doesn’t need to repeat.”
Plain Meaning
In each blessing (Malchuyot, Zichronot, Shofarot) one says ten verses: three from Torah, three from Psalms, three from Prophets, and the tenth again from Torah. Post facto, if one completed with a Prophet, one also fulfilled. The bare minimum is three verses (one from each category), and even one verse from Torah with the phrase “in Your Torah it is written saying” is sufficient post facto.
Novelties
a) Why end with Torah?
Two explanations: (a) to show that everything is part of Torah; (b) that Torah is the essence.
b) Beautiful parallel between verses and tekiot:
Both have a structure of three → nine → thirty. By tekiot: three sounds (tekiah-teruah-tekiah) which become nine (three sets), which become thirty (with all the doubts). By verses: three (minimum), nine (optimally), three times nine (for all three blessings). A clear order of tripled structures.
c) “In Your Torah it is written saying” — dispute of Rishonim:
In the Gemara it says “even if he said ‘in Your Torah it is written saying’ he fulfilled.” There were Rishonim who learned that one doesn’t even need to say any verse at all — only the phrase itself is enough. The Rambam didn’t learn this way — he adds that one must also say at least one verse from Torah.
d) Practical context:
This speaks of a time when one didn’t have a machzor, and the prayer leader had to remember verses by heart. From this one learns that the prayer leader had to be expert in Tanach.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Verses of Punishment
The Rambam’s Words
“And one doesn’t mention Zichronot and Malchuyot and Shofarot of punishment. Examples: Zichronot — ‘and He remembered that they are flesh’; Malchuyot — ‘with outpoured wrath I will rule over you’; Shofarot — ‘blow the shofar in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah’.”
Plain Meaning
Even when the verse brings out that the Almighty is King or remembers, if the context is punishment (punishment, war), one may not bring it.
Novelties
Punishment of nations one may indeed mention. Examples: Malchuyot — “Hashem reigns, let the earth tremble”; Shofarot — “and Hashem God will blow the shofar and go in the storms of Teiman” (punishment for nations).
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Law 3 (Continued) — Individual Remembrance
The Rambam’s Words
One doesn’t say individual remembrance even for good, such as “remember me, Hashem, with the favor of Your people” (King David) or “remember me, my God, for good” (Nehemiah).
Plain Meaning
Zichronot on Rosh Hashanah means that the Almighty should remember the Jewish people, the congregation.
Novelty
The reason: the prayers of Rosh Hashanah are prayers of the congregation for the congregation, not for oneself.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Pekidot vs. Zichronot
The Rambam’s Words
Zichronot must be specifically the language of remembrance, not such as “I have surely remembered you.”
Plain Meaning
This is a dispute of Tannaim, and one rules like Rabbi Yose that pekidot don’t count as zichronot, even though pekidah means substantively the same thing as zechirah.
Novelties
a) This is difficult to understand — why should the language make a difference when the matter is the same?
b) The distinction between “zecher” (language/designation) and “inyan” (meaning/significance): By zichronot one needs specifically the language of remembrance, but by malchuyot the matter itself is enough (the oneness of God) even without the language of kingship.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Malchuyot = Oneness of God
The Rambam’s Words
“Every one of these verses of Malchuyot, its matter is kingship, even though there is no mention of kingship in it. Examples: ‘Hear O Israel, Hashem our God, Hashem is One’; ‘You have been shown to know that Hashem is God, there is none besides Him’; ‘And you shall know today and take to your heart that Hashem is God in heaven above and on earth below, there is none else’.”
Plain Meaning
Verses of the oneness of God count as Malchuyot, even without the word “King.”
Novelties
a) Opinion 1 — Oneness = Kingship:
The oneness of God means the kingship of God because oneness means that the Almighty is the only King over the entire world. Not that in the sea there is one god and on land another — but He is the same King everywhere.
b) Opinion 2 — Kingship speaks toward people:
“There is no king without a nation.” Kingship is when people know and see that the Almighty is One. Therefore one brings verses where people know/hear/see the oneness: “Hear O Israel” (hearing), “You have been shown to know” (seeing/knowing), “And you shall know today” (knowing). The oneness itself (like “the spirit of God” before creation) is not kingship — only when people recognize it.
[Digression: the Rambam’s opinion on the oneness of God in Foundations of Torah Chapter 1]
The Rambam in Foundations of Torah Chapter 1 learns that the oneness of God means that the Almighty is “simple” — He has no parts, no change. The Rambam almost doesn’t hold that the oneness of God means primarily that there is no more than one god. The Rambam even says on the verse “in heaven above and on earth below” that one sees from it that the Almighty is not a
body, because a body cannot be in more than one place.
This poses a difficulty on the Rambam: According to his own opinion in Foundations of Torah, the oneness of God has nothing to do with kingship at all — it speaks of the Almighty’s simplicity. But here in the Laws of Shofar (and in the Gemara) one sees clearly that the oneness of God is counted as Malchuyot. Also, the Gemara calls the recitation of Shema “acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven” — not “acceptance of the oneness of God.” This is apparently a contradiction between the Rambam’s philosophical approach and the halachic reality.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Order of Tekiot in Congregation: Tekiot While Seated
The Rambam’s Words
“The widespread custom in the order of tekiot of Rosh Hashanah in congregation is thus: after they read from the Torah they return the scroll, all the people sit, and one stands and blesses ‘who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to hear the sound of the shofar’, all the people answer Amen, and he repeats and blesses Shehecheyanu, and all the people answer Amen, and he blows thirty tekiot.”
Plain Meaning
After the Torah reading of Shacharit one puts back the Torah scroll, one sits down, one makes blessings, and one blows thirty sounds (tashrat, tashat, tarat — each three times, comes out thirty). These are the “tekiot while seated.”
Novelties
a) “They return the scroll” — one puts back the Torah scroll in the ark. This is different from the custom today, where one leaves the Torah on the bimah until after the tekiot. The custom today is based on the idea that one needs the merit of the Torah. But it’s possible that “they return the scroll” means only one puts it down on the bimah (not in the ark), but apparently it means putting it back.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Tekiot While Standing (According to the Order of the Blessings)
The Rambam’s Words
After the tekiot while seated (thirty sounds), one says Kaddish, one stands and prays Musaf. After the fourth blessing (Malchuyot) — one blows tashrat. After Zichronot — tashat. After Shofarot — tarat. And one finishes the prayer.
Plain Meaning
By tekiot while standing (Shemoneh Esrei) one blows only one set of each doubt — one by Malchuyot, one by Zichronot, one by Shofarot — instead of all three by each blessing.
Novelties
a) The Rambam’s custom vs. Rabbeinu Tam:
According to the Rambam one blows by Shemoneh Esrei only three sets (ten sounds — because tashrat itself is four sounds plus two tekiot = six, tashat = three, tarat = three, together twelve, but the Rambam’s total is forty sounds: thirty while seated + ten while standing). According to Rabbeinu Tam, which our custom follows, one blows all three doubts by each blessing — sixty sounds.
b) Two novelties in the Rambam’s approach:
(a) The custom to blow twice — seated and standing — is added as a custom; for the essential law one only needs to blow by Shemoneh Esrei. The Rambam gives no reason why one blows while seated.
(b) By standing one shortens, because one already fulfilled the doubt.
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Law 3 (Continued) — The Same Tokea, Interruption Between Seated and Standing
The Rambam’s Words
“The one who blew when they are seated is the one who blows according to the order of the blessings when they are standing… and he doesn’t speak between the tekiot while seated and the tekiot of the order. And if he spoke between them, even though he transgressed, he doesn’t repeat and bless.”
Plain Meaning
The same tokea should blow both — seated and standing. He should not speak between them. If he did speak, he doesn’t need to make a new blessing.
Novelties
a) Reason why the same tokea:
The Rambam brings in the name of Rabbi Aharon ben Nachum the principle “one who begins a mitzvah, we tell him to complete it.” It is suggested that this is perhaps also a practical enactment — like by a Kohen going up first — in order to avoid dispute about whom one gives the honor.
b) Reason for not speaking (interruption):
The prohibition of interruption is only on the tokea himself, not on the congregation. The reason is apparently because he made a blessing on blowing the shofar, and one wants the blessing to apply also to the tekiot while standing. This is perhaps also a reason why the same person must blow both — because another perhaps spoke in between and didn’t make a blessing.
c) Why no new blessing if one spoke:
Two possible reasons: (a) it’s not such a great interruption; (b) he cannot say again “who sanctified us with His commandments” because he already fulfilled the mitzvah with the first tekiot — it would be a blessing in vain.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Why Only One Set by Each Blessing (While Standing)
The Rambam’s Words
“By law it would be fitting to blow on each and every blessing three times as one blows when they are seated, but since they already fulfilled the doubt with the tekiot while seated, we don’t burden the congregation to repeat them all according to the order of the blessings, but it is sufficient for them with one bava on each blessing so that they hear tekiot according to the order of blessings.”
Plain Meaning
From the law it would be fitting to blow all three doubts by each blessing, but because one already fulfilled the doubt through tekiot while seated, one doesn’t burden the congregation, and one blows only one set by each blessing.
Novelties
a) “We don’t burden the congregation” as a halachic principle:
The Rambam uses the principle of we don’t burden the congregation as a strong halachic reason to shorten. One can effect salvations not only through more tekiot, but also through the principle of not burdening the congregation.
b) Difficulty on the Rambam’s logic:
If one says that one wants tekiot according to the order of the blessings, one should want the entire order — also with all the doubts — by the blessings, because that is the essential place. And the essential mitzvah is by Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot. Therefore, the custom became that one shortens by standing because one already fulfilled.
c) Rabbeinu Tam’s enactment:
Rabbeinu Tam enacted that one should indeed blow all three doubts by each blessing (ten sounds by each blessing). The earlier custom was like the Rambam, and Rabbeinu Tam changed it.
[Digression: tekiot by silent Shemoneh Esrei]: Nusach Sefard / Chassidim blow also by silent Shemoneh Esrei, which brings the total to ninety, plus another ten by Kaddish = one hundred. Lithuanians don’t blow by silent Shemoneh Esrei, but forty more by Kaddish in order to reach one hundred. The law of tekiot while standing / according to the order of blessings speaks only of the repetition, not of silent Shemoneh Esrei, and the source of blowing by silent Shemoneh Esrei is not clear.
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Law 3 (Continued) — Individual vs. Congregation
The Rambam’s Words
“All these matters are in congregation, but an individual whether he heard according to the order of the blessings or not according to the order, whether standing or seated, he fulfilled.”
Plain Meaning
The entire order of tekiot according to the order of the blessings is only a law in congregation. An individual only needs to hear enough tekiot to fulfill the doubt, without any order.
Novelties
Tekiot according to the order of the blessings is a law in the order of prayer in the synagogue — it’s not a law in the individual’s mitzvah of shofar. The individual does need to say Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot, but he doesn’t need to blow according to the order. There isn’t even a custom that the individual should blow according to the order — it’s not at all relevant.
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Law 4 — Tekiot Don’t Invalidate Blessings, Blessings Don’t Invalidate Tekiot
The Rambam’s Words
“The tekiot don’t invalidate the blessings, and the blessings don’t invalidate the tekiot.”
Plain Meaning
They are not dependent one on the other. If one doesn’t have someone to say Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot, one should nevertheless blow all the tekiot, and vice versa.
Novelty
One might have thought that because one blows three sets corresponding to Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot, they invalidate one another. The novelty is that no — “what you have yes, do yes.”
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Law 4 (Continued) — Two Towns, Doubtful Tekiot vs. Certain Blessings
The Rambam’s Words
“In two towns, in one he knows certainly that there is someone there who will bless for them the nine blessings and there is no tokea there, and in the second it’s doubtful whether there is a tokea there or not — he goes to the second, for the tekiot are from the words of Torah and the blessings are from the words of the Scribes.”
Plain Meaning
Even a doubtful Torah law (tekiot) is stronger than a certain rabbinic law (blessings of Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot).
Novelties
a) Doubtful Torah law vs. certain rabbinic law:
The Rambam rules that doubtful tekiot (from the Torah) overrides certain blessings (rabbinic). This is interesting according to the Rambam’s opinion that doubtful Torah law being stringent is only rabbinic — it comes out that both are rabbinic (doubtful Torah law = rabbinic, blessings = rabbinic), and therefore the Rambam says that the doubtful Torah law is stronger. The answer: “it’s still rooted in Torah law” — the root of the doubt is a Torah obligation, which gives it a higher status even when the obligation to be stringent is only rabbinic. The later authorities ask this as a difficulty.
[Digression: Sages nullify tekiot]: The Sages sometimes nullified tekiot (like when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat), which can look like rabbinic is more important than Torah law. The answer: that was because of a concern for danger (carrying in the public domain), not because blessings are more important than tekiot.
📝 Full Transcript
Chapter 3 of the Laws of Shofar — How Many Blasts Must a Person Hear
Introduction to the Chapter
Good. We are learning the holy Torah, specifically the section of the Torah that Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) wrote, his work called Mishneh Torah. And in it there is a book called Sefer Zemanim (Book of Times), and in it there are laws called Laws of Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav. And now we are learning from these laws of shofar the third and final chapter. And we are here in 5786 (2026) on the hemisphere called America. Good.
Chapter 3 of the Laws of Shofar. We have already learned, the first chapter was about the instrument of the shofar, the second chapter was about the obligation — who is obligated and when one is obligated, and at length about Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbat. Here we will learn about the quality of the blowing, what kind of blasts the person holding the shofar produces. We already learned about the shofar and about the person. Now we speak about the actual blasts. What does one blow? And how much does one blow. He begins with how much.
Law 1 — How Many Blasts Must a Person Hear
The Language of the Rambam: Nine Blasts
The Rambam says: “How many blasts must a person hear on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah?” We learned that the mitzvah of blowing the shofar is hearing the sound of the shofar. How many blasts must one hear? How many blowings?
The answer to this is… It’s interesting, he calls them tekiot (blasts). The sound that happens from tekiah. Tekiah means putting it in the mouth and blowing. It’s already called tekiot, it’s already become a noun. I don’t know, we already spoke about this in the first chapter. Could we perhaps have said nine teruot? What is the general term? The Rambam says the mitzvah is to hear the sound of teruah, the sound of the shofar, some such language? Here he says nine tekiot. I don’t know. I don’t know, all the blasts are called letakoa (to blow), a whole series. Very good. So it seems that it’s more of a general term. Tekiah is more of a general term than teruah. Yes, he says that the sound is called tekiah, it’s interesting. The sound is a product of the tekiah. I don’t know, tekiah is the blowing. I don’t know, the sound that comes out from the blowing. Okay.
How many sounds must a person hear, lishmoah (to hear), on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah? The answer is nine blasts. Very good.
The Calculation of Nine: Three Teruot with Tekiah Before and After
How do we know? I could have thought one is enough. But he says, the Sages determined that the number is nine. Why? He says as follows: “For it is stated regarding it teruah in Yovel (Jubilee) and on Rosh Hashanah”. We count together how many times the word teruah appears between Yovel and Rosh Hashanah together, it’s three times. That means, once it appears by Yovel, “and on the day of the shofar you shall pass the shofar.” It appears once by Rosh Hashanah and twice by Yovel. The opposite, once by Yovel and twice by Rosh Hashanah. Are you sure? That’s what it seems. “And you shall pass the shofar teruah on the tenth of the month,” and by Rosh Hashanah it says “zichron teruah” in Emor, and “yom teruah” in Re’eh. Yes, so the opposite, with the plain shofar by Yovel we counted another one.
And, okay, we’re holding at three, how do we get to nine? He says the calculation of nine is as follows: With each teruah, every time it says teruah, teruah is a certain kind of blast, it’s a certain kind of thing that we’ll say later what this thing called teruah is. And we know a principle, so the Sages knew a principle — it’s interesting, he doesn’t say about this “from oral tradition” or “from” — so the Sages knew that teruah comes with a plain blast before it and a plain blast after it. A teruah is something that is a sandwich, you don’t eat it alone. It’s something that you blow between two tekiot. The Gemara does have a source for this. I think “from oral tradition” goes… I don’t know the whole thing.
Discussion: What Does “Mipi Hashmuah Lamdu” Mean
Okay, “mipi hashmuah lamdu” (they learned from oral tradition), the Sages “mipi hashmuah” received a halachah leMoshe miSinai (law given to Moses at Sinai), that we compare… It says on all the holidays of the seventh month it says… What is the language? There is some verse that unites all the holidays of the seventh month. No, there is no such verse. Everything is in the seventh month. There is a verse that is… It’s simply everything in the seventh month, and we learn that… Forget it. Cross it out. We learn that all the teruot of the seventh month go together. I don’t know if there is a verse.
Also in general, when the Rambam says “mipi hashmuah,” does he mean to say that when you ask me, he wouldn’t have agreed that this is the plain meaning of the verse, but the tradition says that we should learn the verse this way. That’s what “mipi hashmuah lamdu” means. Is there “mipi hashmuah” where we heard the law is so? “Mipi hashmuah lamdu” means that it’s a halachah leMoshe miSinai. Yes, I’m saying there are two levels in this. There is “mipi hashmuah” that, as the Rambam says, it’s received that the law of this mitzvah, the laws of the mitzvah are so, but when he brings a source, do you mean to say that there is indeed a source, but the source is not such a good source, that it’s not simply the plain meaning of the verse, but the tradition says that this is how we should learn the verse. Because that’s what mipi hashmuah lamdu means.
Does mipi hashmuah lamdu mean that it’s a halachah leMoshe miSinai? No, mipi hashmuah lamdu shekol (that all), not mipi hashmuah lamdu that we must make three teruot. Mipi hashmuah lamdu shekol teruot, that we put together all the languages of teruot, one by Yovel and two from Rosh Hashanah, but the tekiot of Rosh Hashanah are obligatory by Yovel, and the tekiot of Yovel are obligatory by Rosh Hashanah, so it’s a total of three, which is a total of nine. That mipi hashmuah lamdu that all the tekiot of the seventh month, of the two holidays in the seventh month when we blow shofar, Rosh Hashanah and Yovel, are one, have one law, whether on Rosh Hashanah or on Yom Kippur of Yovel. It comes out that by both we need three, and since each teruah comes with a before and after, there must be a total of nine blasts. Nine blasts we blow on each of the two.
How? We said that there are three teruot, and each teruah is a tekiah before it. So it’s tekiah teruah tekiah, tekiah teruah tekiah, tekiah teruah tekiah, tekiah teruah tekiah, tekiah teruah tekiah. Very good.
Law 2 — The Doubt About the Teruah
The Language of the Rambam: We Had a Doubt About It
Very good, we’re holding at nine. How do we get to the numbers that we remember that on Rosh Hashanah there are very many blasts? The Rambam takes us further. It’s interesting, the Rambam shows us here how the law comes from something that we would have thought was one. Zichron teruah (remembrance of teruah), they make a teruah, one. We’re already holding at nine. So, how do we get further?
The Rambam says as follows: This teruah stated in the Torah, we had a doubt about it. A doubt occurred. Another question, how does a doubt occur? Every year we blow on Rosh Hashanah, we look at what we did the previous year. The Rambam says, because of the length of years and the many exiles. The Rambam, we already saw the Rambam’s introduction, that the Rambam holds that everything that doesn’t have such clarity in the Torah, we can’t blame the Torah, we must blame the exiles, the length of years. Okay.
There was, Jews came to another city, they didn’t remember what was done in previous years. It was a difficult year, we went through a difficult year. And there is no poor person… We know that any year that they don’t blow for him at its beginning, troubles happen at its end. So, the year that had troubles, perhaps a year before that already was, the troubles already began before Rosh Hashanah. So, we didn’t remember. And no person knows how, we didn’t remember how the teruah that is written in the Torah is, how does one do it.
The Three Doubts: Wailing, Sighing, or Both Together
What were the two doubts? The Gemara says, the two doubts about how the teruah is. Should I speak about the refutation of Rav Asi? Let’s say the language of the Rambam.
The Rambam says as follows: One side was that the wailing that women wail when they lament at the time they cry, perhaps it’s a certain crying. There are two kinds of crying. There is when one begins to cry, one cries very strongly, very closely, one has cried oneself into the other. Women are the ones who have the job to cry loudly, as we learned in the laws of Chol HaMoed, they are the wailers. So how does one cry? Teruah is similar to crying. The sound of teruah is similar to the sound of crying.
The wailing the women make, and the sighing one makes restrainedly, it doesn’t suit him to show his pain, he must show the great intellectual man. He only gives such a groan, he allows himself a groan. And the groan is one time after another when his heart worries about a great matter, when he worries about a great thing.
He goes… He won’t go on to say what the difference between the two is. Except there was another third approach. There were two approaches. The parable makers… Right. Do you mean teruah is the wailing, and the sighing is the shevarim? Yes, so says the Rambam. Or both together, or one approach was that the sighing and wailing that customarily comes after it, they are called tekiah. Perhaps both, teruah means both. Both together. Both together. Why? For such is the way of one who worries, one who worries, one who cries from his pain.
Discussion: Doeg — What Does It Mean
Interesting, he calls it doeg, because… And his reason is the matter here is worry, worrying about the sins. It’s not a mourner, yes? Women you think more, not one who worries. I think that doeg means worrying. I think, I think that perhaps worrying can indeed mean more like being tearful. I think that worrying always means worry, I think they always say worry, worrying. One who is in pain, which is after what the teruah can mean. Or is it a kind of crying that teruah, let’s give it a play.
Discussion: What is Shevarim and What is Teruah
No, one minute, in the next piece. Teruah is… No, that’s shevarim. No, three. One minute, first we need to bring the women, that you went straight to the shofar. The Gemara begins with the women. The women cry out with the sound of wailing. The women make shevarim, yes? No, teruah. The women make three long. No, sighing means shevarim. Shevarim is three short, and the teruah is the teruah. Okay. Or both together, sighing and wailing, that we can call shevarim-teruah. That is, and why does this make sense both?
Okay, there is such an order that a person when he is sad, he makes a whole order. First he makes… Then he begins to cry… Wah! That’s approximately the… The Sages had a tradition that the teruah is similar to some crying, some state of crying. We want to know which crying.
Therefore We Do Everything — Three Sets of Blasts
Therefore, in order to fulfill all sides, we do everything, both sighing and wailing, we do both. So we need to mention here… And seemingly, one minute, we’re holding now. So as we know now that with each teruah there is a before and after. We would now be holding… Yes, but according to the side that it’s only wailing, we don’t want to do sighing and wailing. Therefore we come to a set of wailing alone, a set of sighing alone, and a set of sighing and wailing. Because the first two didn’t agree.
Discussion: Why Can’t We Do Shevarim-Teruah and Fulfill Both Opinions
It’s not simple that if we fulfill both, they held that perhaps not. As this is an interruption. That is, that we can think that we do both together and fulfill. The answer is that no, that the first two hold that it must be so, we cannot interrupt in between. That is an interruption. So says the Maggid Mishneh. From here we see that an interruption between the sounds is invalidating. Although we will later learn that an interruption is not invalidating, if one heard nine blasts over six hours of the day he fulfilled, this is specifically if he doesn’t interrupt in between with another wrong one. So it seems.
Note: The Rambam’s Opinion That We Actually Forgot
The Rambam says further, and this wailing is… I need to tell the story of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, and it’s very important, that what the Rambam says, the Rambam seems literally that we forgot due to the length of exile, this was precise, and we simply forgot what teruah means. It’s a bit crazy, because we blow shofar every year. It’s truly a bit crazy.
And not only what’s a bit crazy, it’s a problem. Because you remember that the Rambam said, not only did the Rambam say that there is exile, the Rambam also said that everything that is a halachah leMoshe miSinai is not subject to dispute. The Rambam argued that disputes that exist among the Jewish people in halacha are not because we forgot things. The Rambam was very upset, very worried that we should say that we forgot. If we say forgot, the heretic can say, the Sadducee can say, everyone will say, okay, I also have an interpretation.
So the Rambam is very emphatic that the essential form of the mitzvot which is halachah leMoshe miSinai, there is no dispute in this, there is no forgetting in this. Where is there dispute? Only in later matters which are new questions, or matters that depend on reasoning. There we forgot the reasoning, we didn’t know a good reasoning but not forgetting. Here is clearly a place, the Rambam says that we forgot. He says clearly that we forgot.
Rav Hai Gaon’s Answer
Indeed regarding this problem there was Rav Hai Gaon who was asked this question approximately. He said, that it’s not true that we forgot, rather from the Torah one fulfills either way, and it’s not invalidating, it’s not really a doubt, rather Rav Abuhu, from whom comes the thing that we should do all three, he already made an order. That is, it was always, from Moses our teacher there were communities, there were people who did this way, there were those who did that way, always those who did this way, all certainly fulfilled, it’s not invalidating from the basic law, the difference. But the Sages wanted it to be equal, all Jews should do the same, we shouldn’t say why does he do this way, does he do that way, so they made an enactment.
But it doesn’t seem so from the Rambam, the Rambam does seem that it’s a simple doubt, and we must do everything. It’s not clear, doubtful, a doubt. And we don’t know how it is. But it could be that the Rambam would agree that any of them is good, because it will fall upon it the name teruah. Then we wouldn’t have needed to make a mitzvah, it’s worthwhile as a beautification.
What the Rambam says is simply the plain meaning, what Rav Hai Gaon says is a great novelty, and not a simple interpretation of the Gemara. And it doesn’t stand. The Rambam does stand explicitly.
How to Answer the Rambam’s Contradiction
Ah, what the Rambam says that we forgot, we must say that he means to say that when we say that this is how the mitzvah is we didn’t forget, but it happens that we forgot, and then the Sanhedrin says we forgot. Ah, practically, how did we forget? I don’t know, it’s a question on the reality. The length of years and the many exiles. Do you know what the many exiles were? There were periods when we couldn’t blow shofar. Ah, could be also.
The Source for “Wailing” — Targum Onkelos and Sisera’s Mother
Speaker 2: Okay, now you’ll show me. So the wailing…
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: Yes, because wailing is… So now you can learn the meaning of words. Look in the Gemara or in the Mishnayot and the poskim the languages, you’ll know what this is. Wailing… wailing is that we call…
Speaker 1: I didn’t say why does he say it with yelalah at all? Because on this the Gemara says that the Targum of teruah says the Targum yabava. And how do you check where yabava appears? It also says the Targum by when Sisera’s mother cries. Ah, the verse “vateyabev em Sisera.” You see that yabava is a type of crying. Now we want to know what kind of crying from a mother? On this comes the doubt how the crying looks.
Discussion: What Does “Yelalah” Mean Practically?
The Rambam, “vehayelalah she’anu korin teruah, veha’anachah zo she’anu korin otah sheloshah shevarim”. Yelalah is what we know as nine short [sounds], we’ll soon see about nine. Let’s not get ahead of the Rambam.
Very good, so, says the Rambam, it now comes out like this. You wouldn’t [do] nine, you understand, because that means seemingly, if the point is something a yelalah… No, if the yelalah is just a sound like a yelalah. I don’t know, make a teruah is a sound like a yelalah. Okay.
Speaker 2: No, you understand, it’s not simple, I don’t know how it is… yelalah, but I understand, it means what, it’s one big sound.
Speaker 1: But intellectually, it goes up and down. So a teruah, it’s something that goes up and down, that’s how I understand it. Not clear.
Speaker 2: I think it has to do with the length of the groans.
Speaker 1: No, that’s not a yelalah. Yelalah means a scream. I know what yelalah is. Yelalah means a person cries, there’s often the… he breaks off. That’s the anachah. That’s exactly the precise genichah that you’re talking about. Yelalah is what women do. You can look on the internet how the Arab women scream, you’ll see exactly what he means. They still have the tradition of mekonenos. I don’t know, it goes like this…
Speaker 2: Yes. Okay.
Halacha 1 (Continued) — The Order of Tekios
The Rambam’s Words
Speaker 1: Says the Rambam further, “nimtza seder hatekios kach hu”. It comes out, after we know that there comes a tekiah and after that come the three types of teruos, it comes out like this: “mevarech”, one makes the blessing. “vetoke tekiah”, first one begins with a tekiah, as we know that one begins with tekiah, because teruah – before it comes tekiah. “ve’achareha” one does “sheloshah shevarim”, according to the approach that it’s both.
Why Do We Begin with Tashrat?
One begins with the approach that it’s both. So it seems this is the best approach, because this way one fulfills [the obligation]. There should be an approach to say that this is the best, that one fulfills everything. Why is this the first? We don’t do this, right? What do we do? We do, yes. Actually we do, actually we do. I don’t know why the order. Actually interesting, why? Why does this go first?
Speaker 2: No no. Yes. Why do we begin with shrat? I don’t know. Okay. Yes. Okay.
Speaker 1: It could be that the Chachamim held that that opinion is the strongest or what? I don’t know. That’s both, like a person cries both together. Or with this one fulfills all opinions with that, according to that approach.
The Entire Order
“sheloshah shevarim achareha teruah, ve’achareha” one blows again “tekiah, vechozer kaseder hazeh sheloshah pe’amim”. One does this order three times. Why? Because we learned in the Mishnah that it says teruah three times. So now one is concerned that this is the teruah, that it needs to be the shevarim and the teruah, and this one does three times.
And afterwards one is concerned about the approach that the teruah is only shevarim, so “toke tekiah, ve’achareha sheloshah shevarim achareha tekiah”, one does this three times. And afterwards teruah and afterwards tekiah, one does three times. So it comes out that one begins right away with thirty in order to remove oneself from the doubt. One does each one of the three approaches with the entire… with all the laws of the before and after and three. Okay.
Halacha 2 — The Measure of Teruah, Shevarim, and Tekiah
The Rambam’s Words
Speaker 1: Now the Rambam will say how the teruah looks, how long they last. And there are also several opinions about this that are learned in the Gemara, and the Raavad argues. Let’s first learn the Rambam. The Rambam says, shiur teruah, the length of a teruah is kishtei tekios, as long as two tekios last.
“Shiur Teruah” — One Teruah or All Three?
So a teruah is longer than a tekiah? Not clear. There are those who say shiur teruah means all three teruos in one set. Look right away at the Maggid Mishneh and others, this was difficult. What’s the problem? They have a problem with saying that a teruah is as long as two tekios. Why? The Rambam says so, what can I do that the Rambam said it?
No, the Rambam says shiur teruah, he means the shiur teruah, the measure that one makes the three teruos is… teruah isn’t three, again, teruah is a teruah. Shiur sheloshah shevarim is kishtei tekios, and that takes as long as two tekios. And also sheloshah shevarim takes as long as two tekios. The same thing, exactly.
Tekiah Is Short According to the Rambam
So it comes out that a tekiah is not so long, so one must say, simple understanding in the Rambam. You can try to do it, you’ll see, I don’t know. A tekiah is not so long, I do it. Take a watch.
Speaker 2: Yes, but that I do it is not a proof of anything. It’s everything that one needs to do, not how people do it. Maybe we’ll see if it’s actually correct. That’s how the women cried nothing, I don’t know. Maybe then anshei hamartzes? I don’t know, I don’t know how to cry.
Discussion: What’s the Problem with the Rambam’s Opinion?
Speaker 1: What’s the problem? What’s the problem with the Rambam’s opinion? That by a tekiah is half as long as a teruah? In other words, in each order, in each tekiah shevarim or tekiah teruah, whatever, tekiah teruah tekiah, the tekiah – the middle one is twice as long as one of the outer ones, or it’s equal, right? Is that the meaning of the Rambam?
Speaker 2: Yes.
By Tashrat — The Middle Sound Is Like Four Tekios
Speaker 1: So when it’s shevarim teruah, there it’s like four tekios. He doesn’t say, I don’t know. So it comes out?
Speaker 2: Yes. Why? Because teruah is kishtei tekios, and shevarim is like two tekios. So when it’s shevarim teruah, it’s like four tekios. You mean like four tekios? On the contrary, you mean to say… yes, what does it say here you’re saying? It must be two, each one should be as long as two tekios. Okay, okay.
Speaker 1: But it’s not clear, because he didn’t say how long the tekiah is. So I don’t know… It means like this, a person may make longer tekios than this. He means, the minimum, a teruah must be as long as two short tekios, like two minimum tekios.
Speaker 2: Yes, because the Rambam will later say that it may be long.
Speaker 1: The Rambam doesn’t say how long a tekiah is. So I don’t know. But he will, the next piece will be implied like this.
Halacha 2 (Continued) — A Long Tekiah Only Counts as One
The Rambam’s Words
He says like this: harei shetaka veyaria, he made tekiah teruah, and afterwards taka tekiah arukah umeshukhah kishnayim barishonah. The tekiah that he made after teruah was very long. One doesn’t say that with this he has already fulfilled two tekios, because it was long enough, that you would say the first half of it was the tekiah after the teruah, and the second is for the tekiah before the next teruah. One doesn’t say so. einah cheshuvah shetei tekios, and afterwards he can blow teruah and go to the next tekiah. It doesn’t work like that, ela afilu mashach bah kol sha’ah, einah ela tekiah achas, that means it’s one tekiah.
A Tekiah Ends When One Stops, Not When the Measure Is Complete
It only ends when it stops. It doesn’t end when it has gone through enough of the measure. So here you see from this Rambam that tekiah can be long. Very good. But the question is whether it can be short. How short can it be?
Halacha 2 (Continued) — Dispute Between Rambam and Raavad Regarding the Measure of Tekiah
Speaker 1: It must be that he says how short tekiah [can be].
Speaker 2: I guess. Yes.
Speaker 1: So, but how does the measure begin? He doesn’t say any actual amount of time. So, it could be that something that sounds like a clear tekiah, I don’t know. But maybe on the contrary, something, how long you make the tekiah, that long you also need to make half what is as long as the tekiah.
No, he doesn’t say that it depends on each baal tokea, what is a sound according to him. He doesn’t say the opposite either. He wants to tell you some measure. But he doesn’t say any measure at all. The only thing he says is relative. Right.
Speaker 2: And the Gemara says something tarmidin, but the Rambam himself seems…
Speaker 1: Tarmidin doesn’t appear in the Gemara.
Speaker 2: I remember, the Rambam doesn’t say anything.
Speaker 1: The Rambam is basically only helping that it will be nothing because anything is, unfortunately. But what the halacha is, he doesn’t bring.
Dispute Between Rambam and Raavad
So the Raavad, in the chiluk, it’s a very important dispute. Here one says the opinion of Rashi, basically three opinions. But the Raavad disagrees.
Speaker 2: What does the Raavad say?
Speaker 1: What does the Raavad say?
Speaker 2: But what does the Raavad say? Moshe and the Raavad.
Speaker 1: Amar Avraham, kol zeh shebash hame’atik hu.
Speaker 2: Me’atik means he [means] the Rambam or literally the copyist?
Speaker 1: That it’s not true, that shiur tekiah isn’t stated, shiur teruah isn’t like two tekios, rather each tekiah is like three teruos, and a teruah is like three shevarim. So a teruah is like a shevarim.
Speaker 2: Yes, a shevarim is always a set of three.
Speaker 1: Three shevarim is shorter, right. A teruah and a shevarim are the same length, and a tekiah is three times as long as that. So this is the opinion of the Raavad.
The opinion of the Raavad is that not that a tekiah is half as long as a teruah, rather a tekiah is as long as a teruah. The same length. Right?
Speaker 2: In other words, according to the Rambam there are short tekios, or can be short tekios perhaps, one may make longer, but according to the Raavad tekios must be longer.
Speaker 1: According to the Raavad a tekiah is twice as long as according to the Rambam’s opinion. The Rambam holds that both tekios together are as long as one teruah in the middle. The Raavad holds no, that one tekiah is as long as a teruah. Right?
Speaker 2: And what is Rashi’s opinion?
Speaker 1: What does it say here below?
So that’s not a problem, because the Rambam, one can certainly be stringent like the Raavad, because the Rambam doesn’t say that one must make shorter, right? So seemingly, if one makes longer one is certainly fulfilling, as the Rambam says clearly that it’s still called the same tekiah. Right, so as you fixed, one sees that there isn’t any maximum measure for tekios, rather there’s a minimum measure. Therefore it’s… it’s… it’s…
What Is a Teruah? — The Rambam’s Silence
Now, the question is but what is a teruah? That’s another question. What is a teruah? The Rambam didn’t say how long a teruah or a shevarim. That’s not stated at all. Right?
On teruah one can hear that once one knows that it must be… the Rambam didn’t say that teruah is nine pieces.
Speaker 2: No, from where did you get the idea of nine?
Speaker 1: Shevarim it does say yes that three?
Speaker 2: Three shevarims.
Speaker 1: One makes three shevarim. Teruah? He doesn’t say what a teruah is. Teruah is a bunch of short sounds, he doesn’t say how many. The Rambam doesn’t even say that, by the way.
Speaker 2: What does the Rambam say a teruah is?
Speaker 1: Yes, but the genichah… time… no. The genichah, anachah, yelalah, is yelalah shemillin. And the Rambam doesn’t say at all what a teruah is.
Speaker 2: But, it’s the same as a tekiah.
Speaker 1: Again. Tekiah is a straight sound, and tekiah is simple, and yelalah is a yelalah. What is a yelalah? I have no idea. The Rambam doesn’t say what a yelalah is. Right? It doesn’t say in the Rambam what a yelalah is, at least. It could be that he means at all that a teruah one makes like woo woo woo, not like we make teruah with many small pieces. I don’t know. Do you understand like this? There are those who hold like this as I remember.
Yes, the Rambam was here as if a bit stuck, because in his times one couldn’t yet include a recording with the book, yes? You can’t explain how you’re explaining it. He can make a diagram, show how long it should be, but he can say a minute, two minutes, I don’t know, something. He doesn’t say anything, he only says… in truth, the Rambam is simply copying what’s in the Gemara, he doesn’t say more.
The Term “Tarmitos” — From the Yerushalmi
The question is what does tarmitos mean? Does that mean any sound? Any blower?
Speaker 2: In the Rambam it says tarmitos?
Speaker 1: The Rav brought, isn’t it a term from a Gemara?
Speaker 2: Yes. How does tarmitos appear?
Speaker 1: “Vedai ein machloket min hadin vechami shiurei, kidtanya echad hamakia teruah ve’echad hamakia tarmita.”
In my opinion tarmita doesn’t appear in the Gemara, but I don’t remember.
Speaker 2: Okay, can we check it? It’s a Gemara away.
Speaker 1: Yes. The Maggid Mishneh says that teruah is nine small sounds.
Speaker 2: Where does he say it?
Speaker 1: That’s what he says. It doesn’t say here further.
Speaker 2: What does he look at in the… I don’t know whom.
Speaker 1: It’s in the Gemara that they cite.
Speaker 2: Okay, we’ll look here like this.
The Rambam’s Interpretation in the Mishnah
Speaker 1: The point is basically like this: In the Mishnah it says, do you want to say briefly in brief? In the Mishnah it says that tekiah is three teruos, and teruah is three yevavos. That’s how the language of the Mishnah appears. Okay? So far the Mishnah.
How does the Rambam interpret the Mishnah? Shiur tekiah kishlosh teruos, in other words, that all tekios are as long as all teruos. Not one tekiah is three pieces of teruos, rather as long as three teruos. In other words, the Rambam learned that there are three… not that it’s that long. The Rambam learned that the Mishnah, an interesting interpretation of the Mishnah, that all three tekios of one order are as long as all the teruos in them. It comes out that one tekiah is half as long as a teruah. What then is the Rambam’s interpretation of the measure of tekios. Tekiah kishlosh teruos.
One can hear, because the tekiah is there to serve the teruah, yes? The tekiah is there because there needs to be before and after. It’s the sandwich. The bread is as big as the egg in the middle, yes? It’s like that. Yes, the logic of the Rambam perhaps makes sense, but I’m saying that this is his interpretation in the Mishnah, is a bit of a strange interpretation.
In the Gemara it asks that there’s a contradiction, in another place it says that shiur tekiah kiteruah, not kishlosh teruos. The Gemara says the answer, that our Mishnah speaks of all the bavos. So the Rambam interpreted that all the tekios of one bava is like everything. It comes out according to the Rambam it’s strange. You can say like the Rambam actually wrote in his book, not that three tekios is like six tekios, like three teruos, rather one tekiah is like two tekios, like one teruah. It’s basically the same thing. Why does the Mishnah say it in such a strange way? Not clear according to the Rambam.
Dispute of Tannaim: Yevavos and Shevarim
And afterwards in the Gemara it says that there’s another dispute. There are those who say that teruah is three shevarim, and in our Mishnah it says three yevavos. So the Gemara said that this is actually a dispute, that yevavah is not the same thing as a shevarim, rather one held teruah and one held shevarim. That means, in the Mishnah it says three yevavos which means shevarim, and sorry, teruah, and in the Braisa it says the shevarim.
Tarmutin — Two Interpretations
And now, the term “tarmutin” is a term from the Yerushalmi. Now you see that the Binyan Olam explains that the Raavad says it as if, the Tanna says, he means to say how the Yerushalmi explains it. Yes, okay. That teruah, there’s one who says that it’s tarmuta, and one who says that it’s three short [sounds]. That’s the shevarim essentially. On teruah it says tarmuta.
What does tarmuta mean? So like this, he says, very good, he brings from the… I’ll tell you the interpretation of Rabbi Rabinowitz, as I thought, that he brings that the Menachem Mendel came to Eretz Yisrael, and he heard that they don’t blow at all in Ashkenaz, all Jews today at least, blow teruah with short sounds. Tu-tu-tu. What does that have to do with yiluli shemilin anashim? Not clear.
Continuation: Opinions on the Measure of Teruah and Shevarim
He says that actually terumta doesn’t mean that, terumta means something like a long sound that goes up and down. Wa-wa-wa, something like that… I guess they couldn’t do that, so they did the closest thing to it, which was chopped up. So, in Yemen to this very day they make such a kind of teruah, it’s more like a siren, like… You remember that they found the manuscript of Rav Saadiah Gaon where he makes a diagram, he shows how to make music, yes, waves. So this is a dispute in the Yerushalmi, and this is shevarim teruah. It seems that the Rambam understands it this way. So he argues.
Others understood differently, that a shever is the measure of three termittin. Termittin, that’s what we learn, the majority, in Shulchan Aruch it’s ruled this way, that a shever is a minimum sound. Termita is like a minimum sound, a new interpretation of the word termita, a different interpretation means t’. And shevarim is the sum of them, three. And a teruah, each one is that long, something like that kind of process. We need to look better at why it comes out that teruah is like three shevarim, which means nine sounds. I don’t know.
Speaker 2: The opposite, you mean nine, yes?
Speaker 1: I don’t know. Because it says the measure of teruah is like three shevarim, that’s what it says, right? The Rambam also says this essentially, yes? Even the Rambam says that the measure of three shevarim is like a teruah, it comes out that if by shevarim there are three termittin, then a teruah is nine. But it’s not with three three, it’s nine at once, that’s what we do.
This is basically the point. These are the two opinions that stand here. There are more opinions in Rashi and in Tosafot, and more opinions that you sit and interpret in the Gemara. It’s interesting, literally three lines of Gemara, and it comes out four five different ways of the two opinions.
Continuation: Opinions on the Measure of Teruah and Shevarim
Speaker 1: It comes out that if shevarim is three termittin, then teruah is nine. But it’s not with three three, it’s nine at once. That’s what we do. This is basically the point. These are the two opinions that stand here.
There are more opinions in Rashi and in Tosafot, and more opinions that sit and interpret the Gemara. It’s interesting, literally three lines of Gemara, and it comes out fifteen different ways of how to make the tekiot.
Digression: Forgetting of Torah and the Multiplicity of Opinions
And this is a proof of forgetting of Torah, that not only grasshoppers, not only we don’t know what a teruah is, we don’t even know the Gemara, we barely know what the Rambam had. Forgetting of Torah doesn’t mean when the Torah becomes shorter, it can mean when the Torah becomes longer. It always becomes longer from the forgetting, always. Because we don’t know, there becomes a dispute. One begins to make thirty sounds, but we don’t know which ones to make.
I think it’s enough to learn for this, but whoever wants to learn more in depth can learn the Gemara. Someone who wants to know what to do should go to shul and do what the upright Jews do. The upright Jews do like the opinion of the Ra’avad, more or less. There are those who are stringent also with the opinion of Rashi which comes out shorter tekiot. Not now the discussion. Enough.
Digression: Investigation into the Condition Between Tashrat and Tashat
Okay, let’s continue in the Rambam?
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: Good, a bit. Where. There’s an interesting investigation here from below, that people argue that if one can… sorry, one can’t, we just learned. But if one tekiah is… if there’s a doubt, he asks like this, no, tekiah can be long, but simply there’s a doubt, whether it’s tashrat or tashat. He turns a question, when you make the last tekiah of tashrat, why do you need to make another tekiah afterwards for tashat? You could say, if tashrat is not valid, then that’s a tekiah, the beginning tekiah of the next order. Why does one need to make, do you understand the question? If it’s a doubt, there is a doubt, right? We blow three in order to fulfill the doubt, right? The last tekiah of tashrat, right? So if tashrat is a valid tekiah, it was the last one, and we don’t need to do anything more, right? If that one is invalid, then what do I need to have the tekiah before? I can say that the tekiah is the beginning, and the next doubt.
Tekiah before it and after it must accompany the middle teruah, it’s like I said it’s a sandwich. So if you had it in mind for the previous one, it’s not a tekiah before it. He brings that there are those who say that one can make a condition. If one makes a condition it will actually work, but then it’s not the normal order. It’s simple that it’s taken.
If you make a condition by afikoman, the Avnei Nezer can also make here…
Speaker 2: No, it removes the doubt of one sound, it just makes it a bit shorter. It will remove the doubt of three sounds from each…
Speaker 1: Yes, make three fewer tekiot, he will only need to make 27 sounds, it removes from 30.
Okay. Enough, I said three times further.
Law 5: If One Heard One Tekiah at One Time
Speaker 1: If one heard one tekiah at one time… What happens in such a case? A person heard a tekiah early, an hour later he heard another tekiah. Even if he waited the entire day, they combine and he fulfills his obligation. This means, that one must hear nine doesn’t mean that one must hear it all at once, rather one must hear nine during the time. Even if there are interruptions between them, it doesn’t matter.
But the Rambam says a condition in this, this is only when the interruption is in time, but if the interruption is in something else that comes in, another tekiah, then yes there is a problem. Provided that he hears each set of them. Set means the order. Interestingly he calls it a set. A set is a gate, yes, three sets.
Speaker 2: Perhaps there are very many sets? Sets?
Speaker 1: No. In order. It means not that he should hear a teruah after two tekiot, because… the mitzvah of tekiah teruah is that there should be a tekiah before it and after it. So if you heard a tekiah, and half an hour later a teruah, and an hour later a tekiah, it’s also good, because there is tekiah before it and after it. But if you hear teruah and afterwards you hear two tekiot, we don’t say that automatically one is placed before and one after, because you didn’t hear according to the order. If it says tekiot and afterwards and teruah, then one has not fulfilled.
Discussion: Why Isn’t Time an Interruption?
Why actually? Time itself is not an interruption, but another thing not of the matter is an interruption. By davening we also have it this way. Or another thing, or like a… or if one makes a… is already in the middle of davening, yes there is a measure of time to lie by all his action. There are times when it does disturb yes, but here it doesn’t disturb. But it’s not just that it doesn’t disturb, it’s also… as if it will be the wrong order, it’s not just that it’s an interruption, it’s the wrong order. Right?
Law 6: If One Heard Nine Tekiot from Nine People at Once
Speaker 1: The Rambam continues: If one heard nine tekiot from nine people at once, he has not fulfilled even one. This that okay, a new law. If one hears nine tekiot from nine different people, one has not fulfilled even through one, because one disturbs the other. It’s not clear here whether we’re talking about if nine people blow the same tekiah, or he means to say one blows a tekiah, one blows a teruah, one blows shevarim. Most Rishonim say that he hears nine different tekiot.
Discussion: May More Than One Person Blow?
Speaker 2: Right, means more than one person may blow shofar at one time, because we had… they had from the Shulchan Aruch which was implied this way. They had explicitly, because one blows in the Temple shofar and trumpets, and it says that because it’s beloved it’s not a problem, and here apparently we’re talking about that the person wants to save a lot of time, and he will make nine sounds. Put in a person, you will make tekiah, you will make shevarim, you will make teruah, everything is for one time, it’s Purim.
Speaker 1: Or because there’s a law that it must be in order. The tekiah, shevarim, teruah. But if one hears tekiah from this one and tekiah from a third one, one after the other, it doesn’t have to be from the same person. It can be one says tekiah, one makes teruah, and the third makes the tekiah, it’s also tekiah even with interruptions, even the entire day. It shouldn’t be either it shouldn’t be the same time, or it shouldn’t be the same person. What it must be is that it must take time. It’s very important, it must take time. One can’t make everything at once.
Speaker 2: Yes. I don’t know if the word take time. The word is everything at once, you don’t hear it clearly.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, it must take time. Because the order is that after the tekiah, one after the other, that’s the inference.
Speaker 2: After the tekiah must come. Means this is nine tekiot, the reason why it’s invalid is because one doesn’t hear any of them clearly.
Speaker 1: No, because we did mention, one can hear clearly, because the shofar is something that one can hear clearly.
Speaker 2: No, one can hear when one does the same thing at once.
Speaker 1: No, we don’t agree. We hold that everything must be in order. Think about it, how it’s a sandwich. There’s an order, an order, an order in time. This, this, this.
Speaker 2: Can’t you make everything twice?
Speaker 1: It’s not a matter of hearing all three sounds, there is a process of how it goes. The only thing you can ask is perhaps all orders, perhaps you’re right, but you can make three people at once, and each one does a different opinion. So then we’ll say like you, that you can’t mix not, you don’t know.
Let’s try. Each one will blow, we’ll see. They only brought one shofar.
And One Does Not Fulfill Until He Hears All Nine Tekiot
Speaker 1: Okay, the Rambam continues, “And one does not fulfill his obligation until he hears all nine tekiot.” We discussed that it must be nine, not tekiot, nine total of tekiot teruot, yes? Nine tekiot blown indeed. One is not fulfilled until one has heard all of them. Why? “Because they are all one mitzvah.” It’s one mitzvah. It’s not like, okay, he already fulfilled half of the mitzvah, one needs to complete half. No, you are fulfilled when you have finished. “Therefore one prevents the other.” This means, unlike perhaps other mitzvot, like… I don’t remember all the species. There are mitzvot, one prevents the other, tefillin of the hand, tefillin of the head, one prevents the other. If one has only one, he does one. Here not. As if if you know that you won’t be able otherwise, you will… you won’t be allowed to begin. I don’t know if allowed, do you understand what I mean?
Speaker 2: No, one could perhaps say this, that we don’t say that you have fulfilled already, now it will only be a biblical doubt, and by Torah law you have already fulfilled, because according to the side that it’s enough obligations, you have already fulfilled.
Speaker 1: No means no, not thirty. Doubt, one must actually do all three, that’s another topic. He means to say that one must do all nine, it’s all one mitzvah, it’s all part of one mitzvah. Each one of them is a condition in the mitzvah.
Law 7: The Congregation Is Obligated to Hear Tekiot According to the Order of Blessings
Speaker 1: With this the Rambam finished saying what tekiah teruah is. Now he’s going to say how one does it according to the order of the day of Rosh Hashanah. Okay.
The Rambam says, “The congregation is obligated to hear…” He’s going to say clearly later that this thing is not on the individual. Congregation, that is the Jews who daven together Rosh Hashanah, “are obligated to hear tekiot according to the order of blessings. How?” There’s another law in the tekiot. The tekiot is simply to blow, but in public one can’t simply blow, one must see it with the blessings, yes? According to an order.
Speaker 2: Soon we’ll see, yes, it’s with the blessings.
Speaker 1: Yes, how. It’s not another law of blessings, one must hear the tekiot. The tekiot that one hears, one must hear according to the order of blessings. Later one can see that we conduct ourselves to make extra tekiot, it’s extra, but this is the main law.
How? The prayer leader says Avot, we’re talking about congregation, this davens together, the prayer leader davens aloud, Avot, Gevurot, and Kedushah of the Name, and Malchuyot, the first of the special prayers of Rosh Hashanah. And after Malchuyot one blows three, one blows a set of three. And says Zichronot and blows three. Three means he nine, yes? Three… soon we’ll see. Here he’s talking about the main law. Let’s say one only needs nine, right? And says Zichronot and blows three, and afterwards one says Zichronot, and afterwards one says Shofarot, and after each one of them one makes tekiah. And afterwards one finishes and says Avodah and Hoda’ah and Birkat Kohanim, and one finishes the Shemoneh Esrei.
Law 8: Three Middle Blessings — Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot
Speaker 1: Now the Rambam is going to say what the Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot themselves are. The Rambam says, These three middle blessings of Rosh Hashanah and of Yom Kippur of the Jubilee — there are two times when one makes Malchuyot Zichronot Shofarot, either Rosh Hashanah, or Yom Kippur of the Jubilee, as we already learned that the Yom Kippur of the Jubilee is similar to Rosh Hashanah. Which are Malchuyot Zichronot and Shofarot, one prevents the other, one cannot fulfill only Malchuyot or only, one must it’s like the nine tekiot together, yes.
Ten Verses in Each Blessing
And how does the Shemoneh Esrei work? The Rambam says, And one must say in each blessing of them ten verses related to the blessing. There must be ten verses related to the blessing, that are connected to the blessing, that are connected to the topic of Malchuyot, and so on.
What are the ten verses? Three verses from the Torah, three from the book of Psalms, and three from the Prophets, that’s nine. And what is the tenth? One finishes again with Torah, and one from the Torah completes it. There’s a concept that after Prophets one should return again to Torah. And this thing is ideally. And if he completed with a Prophet he also fulfilled, it’s only ideal that one should finish with Torah.
What is the concept that one should finish with Torah? To show that everything is part of the Torah, or that the Torah is the main thing.
The Rambam says, ideally there should be three from each. And if he said one verse from the Torah and one from Writings and one from the Prophets he fulfilled. It’s interesting that the number plays very nicely with the number of the tekiot. The tekiot is also three, ideally nine.
Law 8 (Continuation) — Ideally and Post Facto in the Number of Verses
And this thing is ideally, because even if he finishes with a Prophet he also fulfilled, it’s only ideal that one should finish with Torah. What is the concept that one should finish with Torah? To show that everything is part of the Torah, or that the Torah is the main thing?
The Rambam says, ideally there should be three from each. And if he said one verse from the Torah and one from the Writings and one from the Prophets, he also fulfilled. It’s interesting that the number has very, plays very nicely with the number of the tekiot. The tekiot is also three, ideally nine. Although one doesn’t blow one for each verse, but I said by the tekiot also that ideally three, I mean ideally nine, and post facto three. Also the verses are ideally nine, because as the Rambam is going to say later that one makes three times each. But tekiot must be ideally, that means from the main law, nine.
Speaker 2: Ah, you mean the three that become nine? Three that are nine that are thirty, yes.
It’s tripled, yes, one sees the order.
The Rambam says, And if he said one verse from the Torah and one from the Writings and one from the Prophets, he fulfilled. The Rambam tells us a new thing, that this is what the Rambam says. This means, ideally one must say ten verses, three, three, and one. If one said only one from the Torah and one from the Writings, he fulfilled, that means only three verses. The absolute minimum is that there should be one verse only from the Torah.
“In Your Torah It Is Written Saying” – Dispute of Rishonim
Even if he said “In Your Torah Hashem our God it is written saying” and he added to this the verse from the Torah, the verse of Malchuyot, and interrupted, he does not need to repeat. If he already interrupted, he went away, he doesn’t need to go back to make a new Shemoneh Esrei. If someone didn’t remember, he forgot, he didn’t have any verse. The interruption has already occurred. If he’s still in the middle of being engaged in prayer, he should do it beautifully, but it shouldn’t be the entire Shemoneh Esrei.
Speaker 2: It can be this way, it’s very good. If he’s still in the middle, he should say three differently, because it says he fulfilled. The best is to say nine, but this…
It’s interesting the levels, what the meaning of it is.
Chunk 4 Translation
It’s also interesting why he includes the phrase “b’Toratecha katuv leimor” (in Your Torah it is written saying). Why doesn’t he just say that it was said without the “b’Toratecha katuv leimor”? Because in the Gemara it says so, there’s a dispute in the Gemara. In the Gemara it says “even if he said ‘b’Toratecha katuv leimor’ he has fulfilled his obligation.” There were Rishonim who learned that this means he doesn’t even need to say any verse, he only needs to say “as it is written in the holy Torah.” But the Rambam didn’t learn it that way. The Rambam added to the language of the Gemara that he also needs to say one verse from the Torah. But there are those who learn that even less than that, even not saying a verse.
Speaker 2: There’s such a thing as “al da’at hatzadikim” (with the knowledge of the righteous). Whatever is written in the Torah. It’s written in the Torah! The Almighty knows what’s written in the Torah, you don’t need to tell Him.
No, whatever it is…
Speaker 2: No, apparently today there’s a machzor, all the verses are written, it’s not a problem.
It seems that here we’re talking about when there’s no machzor, the prayer leader stands, and he tries to remember a verse. He doesn’t remember, he only remembers one. From this we learn that the prayer leader needs to be expert in Tanach. I mean, back then, those who didn’t have any siddurim. Now the siddur is expert in Tanach, already.
Verses of Calamity
The Rambam says further, which verses does one say? The Rambam says, one doesn’t say any verses of calamity, one only says verses of blessing, “and one doesn’t mention remembrances and kingships and shofar blasts of calamity.” The Rambam goes on to bring examples of verses of calamity. Remembrances, for example, interestingly, he begins with remembrances, “and He remembered that they are flesh.” Or kingships, for example “with outpoured wrath I will rule over you.” It’s true, even though it brings out that the Almighty is King, that the Almighty remembers everything, but it’s remembering calamity, or a King, it’s true it says “I will rule over you,” but it’s “with outpoured wrath I will rule over you,” it’s not good. Or shofar blasts, “blow the shofar in Giv’ah, the trumpet in Ramah,” what? There it speaks of… a war is coming.
Speaker 2: A war is coming.
A war is coming. That is, sometimes one blows the shofar because a war is coming. So the verse speaks of a prophecy that something bad is coming.
Individual Remembrance
Another thing that one shouldn’t say according to the Rambam, when one says remembrances one means remembrances that the Almighty remembers all of Israel, not individual remembrance, even for good, for example, “remember me, Hashem, with the favor of Your people” which King David requests for himself, or “remember me, my God, for good” from Nehemiah, because remembrances means one should remember the community. The community, communal prayer. The prayers on Rosh Hashanah don’t request for oneself alone. It’s not the prayers of the community, it’s for the community.
Remembrances vs. Recollections
The Rambam says, remembrances must have the language of remembrance. Even though for example with kingships it’s the same thing as saying the unity of Hashem is also good. No, I say, but here, the language of remembrance must specifically be the language of remembrance, not for example “I have surely remembered you.” Recollections, there’s a dispute among the Tannaim, but we rule according to the opinion of Rabbi Yose, if I remember, that recollections doesn’t count. Even though it means the same thing, recollection means remembrance.
Speaker 2: Yes, just like in Hallel when we say “remember us, recall us,” it means…
I don’t know why exactly, this is difficult for me to understand. But not for kingships we see ourselves yes, there are enough terms that are similar to kingship, the unity of Hashem is there. For them it’s the same as the kingship of Hashem, but recollections is not the same as remembrances, I don’t know exactly what the matter is.
Calamities of the Nations of the World
They said that one may not mention calamities, but this means one may not mention calamities of Jews. But calamities of gentiles, and he may mention, one may mention calamities of the nations of the world, for example “Hashem reigns, let the earth tremble,” or with remembrances one can say “remember, Hashem, for David all his affliction,” or with shofar blasts one can say “and Hashem God will blow the shofar and go in the storms of the south,” which seems to mean to punish the gentiles. This one can say.
Kingships = Unity of Hashem
The Rambam says another thing: in kingships it’s not specifically the language of “king,” but also the language of the unity of Hashem is the same thing. Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad, and we indeed say it. Or “you have been shown to know that Hashem is God, there is none else besides Him,” or “and you shall know today and take to your heart that Hashem is God in heaven above and on the earth below, there is none else.” All these things speak of the unity of Hashem. The unity of Hashem and the kingship of Hashem seem to be a similar topic. The simple translation of unity means that the Almighty is the only King over the entire world, that’s the translation. He says, each of these verses, kingship is its subject, the subject is the kingship of Hashem, even though there is no mention of kingship. “Mention” means to say the language, even though the language of kingship isn’t written. The difference between “mention” means here the terminology, the language, and “subject” means the meaning. The meaning is kingship.
Discussion: What is the Connection Between Unity and Kingship?
But all three don’t just say that the Almighty is one, but that people know that the Almighty is one. That’s the word of kingship.
Speaker 2: No, no, I don’t agree. What is this “Shema Yisrael,” “you have been shown,” “and you shall know today”? Not so.
I mean that the fact that people know the unity of Hashem, that is kingship.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, I don’t agree. The unity of Hashem means the kingship of Hashem. The kingship of Hashem and the unity of Hashem are the same thing. The unity of Hashem doesn’t mean that there’s only one God, because he brought…
No, I don’t agree. But it’s not correct. That’s not correct. Unity, the oneness of Hashem, as it says in the Gemara, “accept upon yourself the yoke in the four directions of the heavens.” It means that you know that the Almighty runs all things. The language “in heaven above,” or “Hashem is one,” means that there’s only one God who runs all of heaven and the world. That’s called kingship. So what does kingship mean?
I say, that the unity of Hashem, “the spirit of God,” from before the creation of the world, is not the word. The word is, that people know the unity of Hashem.
Speaker 2: Not people know. Not people know. The unity of Hashem means that the Almighty is God of all the world. That’s the translation of the unity of Hashem. Not that on the dry land there’s one God and in the sea there’s a second God. That wouldn’t be unity. And unity means that He is the same King over the entire world.
To me it seems from the implication that the Rambam is not speaking. We are both Acharonim, we’re not going to fight.
Speaker 2: Okay, you hold that way, I hold differently. I say the examples that the Gemara brought.
It’s not true, the Gemara doesn’t say that. It’s when His kingship is revealed. I don’t know what is Shema Yisrael, you have been shown to know, and you shall know today. All three have a matter of hearing, knowing, seeing.
Speaker 2: It’s not true. “And all flesh shall see together,” “and Hashem will be King.” What does it mean?
Where the verses have the language of kingship, that’s what he means to say. Here it says that the Almighty is a King, and even if it only says that the Almighty is the only one, but the only one and the King mean the same thing.
We need to stop. So, I went out for a second.
Digression: The Rambam’s Approach to the Unity of Hashem in Foundations of the Torah
So, I don’t know why I’m so certain. What I meant, what I think is this: the Rambam, in what I remember in Foundations of the Torah chapter 1, the Rambam learned that the unity of Hashem means that the Almighty is simple. The Rambam almost doesn’t interpret that the unity of Hashem means that there’s no more than one God. He says that the unity of Hashem means that the Almighty is one, that He has no change, He has no parts. And the Rambam even says on this verse “in heaven above and on the earth below,” one sees that the Almighty is not a body, because a body cannot be in more than one place. Do you remember such language?
So, the Gemara goes against this Rambam. The Gemara says that kingship has to do with unity. According to the Rambam, kingship doesn’t come in at all to the topic of the unity of Hashem.
So, until I said the explanation that kingship speaks toward people, kingship is “there’s no king without a nation,” kingship is that people see such a kingship, “and all flesh shall see together” on these kinds of things, that the Almighty is King. Therefore one brings more verses where people know that the Almighty is one. You think a bit more that unity means something outside of kingship, therefore you say that the kingship is the knowledge of the unity.
But it could be a simple explanation that the Gemara learned, is that kingship, on the contrary, the unity of Hashem, which means that there’s only one God? It means the kingship of Hashem, because it means, as we learn, the Gemara’s translation of “one,” is that one crowns the Almighty over the entire world.
Speaker 2: But the Gemara calls the recitation of Shema “acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven,” we don’t call it “acceptance of the oneness of Hashem.” Do you understand? It seems that…
But that’s the point. It’s apparently a question on the Rambam’s own explanation, and the Rambam doesn’t agree with every Gemara, but it’s apparently the point is the Rambam’s explanation of unity in chapter 1, apparently.
Okay, let’s go further.
The Order of Shofar Blasts in Public – The Common Custom
So apparently here there’s also something similar to what we saw in the laws of Passover. Until now we’ve learned the laws, here the laws of the shofar blasts, here the custom, yes, the custom, and also this is for the entire order. Now he’s going to put everything together at once how the cycle looks.
The Rambam says thus: The common custom in the order of shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah in public is as follows. After they read from the Torah they return the scroll, it translates, after Shacharit there’s Torah reading, one puts back the scroll, and then all the people sit. One may sit, or we call it the shofar blasts while seated. One sits down.
Speaker 2: And also we leave the Torah outside until after the shofar blasts. The Rambam already puts back the Torah.
Ah, like a proper scroll. We specifically need to leave the Torah, because we need the merit of the Torah, and I have simply such a thing.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Yes, one sits down. It could actually be that when one puts it down on the bimah it’s called returning the scroll. Returning doesn’t have to mean taking it back to the ark. Apparently one must mean yes, one puts it back.
Shofar Blasts While Seated
All the people sit, and one stands and blesses, Blessed are You Hashem our God King of the universe who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to hear the sound of the shofar. All the people answer Amen. And he repeats, afterwards he says the blessing of Shehecheyanu, and all the people answer Amen. And he blows thirty blasts that we mentioned. Why thirty? He said about them they said that there’s a doubt which one, and each one comes with three, comes out to thirty. Tashrat in order, the whole thing. And with this one has finished apparently all the shofar blasts while seated, because one has already fulfilled all the doubts.
Shofar Blasts While Standing
And he says Kaddish and they stand and pray the Musaf prayer, and after the prayer leader finishes the fourth blessing which is Kingships, one begins again to blow what we call the shofar blasts while standing, the shofar blasts of the Shemoneh Esrei. He blows one tekiah, afterwards three shevarim.
Laws 3-4: The Order of Shofar Blasts While Seated and While Standing
Speaker 1:
According to the Rambam, and the Rambam is going to explain himself in a minute, it’s no. It’s no. It’s no. Only ten, because tashrat is ten. In other words, the Rambam first of all added the custom that one blows twice, first while seated and then while standing. It’s a new set. That means extra, according to the basic law one only needs to blow during the Shemoneh Esrei, but there’s some custom that one also blows before that the entire set. Not clear why. The Rambam doesn’t say why, anyway.
And secondly, this is the Rambam’s custom. The Rambam’s custom is that during the Shemoneh Esrei one doesn’t blow all three of each, one blows one of each doubt. One for Kingships, one for Remembrances, one for Shofar Blasts. And the Rambam is going to justify it in a minute. Let’s first learn another two or three Rambams.
Law 11: The Same Blower and the Law of Interruption
Speaker 1:
The one who blew when they were sitting, the same person, the Rambam says there’s a requirement that the same person should do both. Why exactly? I don’t know. Is the custom like this or is there some law in this? Let’s see. The one who blew when they were sitting is the one who blows in the order of the blessings when they are standing.
He says, it says “one who begins a mitzvah, we tell him to complete it,” so says the Rambam in the name of Aharon ben Nech. Not always does one conduct oneself this way, perhaps practically, a topic, but it’s as if he has a right, perhaps it’s like a privilege, that there shouldn’t be in this any… soon he’ll speak about interruption in a minute. It says that the Kohen should always go up first, so there shouldn’t be a dispute about who gets the first aliyah. Perhaps something of that sort.
And he doesn’t speak between the shofar blasts while seated and the shofar blasts of the order. One doesn’t speak between the two things. Who doesn’t speak? Not the one blowing. The entire congregation, no problem, may speak. And he, the one who is the blower, should not interrupt. Apparently because he made the blessing.
Ah, it could be this is the reason why the same person does it, because another person hasn’t yet prepared himself and he has spoken, he didn’t make the blessings, and the blessing should apply to all things. I don’t know, because the blessing applies to the main mitzvah, to the first… someone who has already done it the first time. Yes, but we want it to also apply to the next one, because we want the shofar blasts in the order of the blessings.
And if he spoke between them, even though he transgressed, he transgressed the custom, the matter of not speaking, he doesn’t repeat the blessing. He doesn’t need to make a new blessing. Why not? Because it’s not such a great interruption. I don’t know why.
Speaker 2:
No, he doesn’t have permission again. He can’t say “who has sanctified us with His commandments,” he has already fulfilled his obligation.
Speaker 1:
I hear. Okay. Already.
Law 12: The Reason for Shortening the Shofar Blasts While Standing
Speaker 1:
The Rambam says, By law it should be that he blow on each and every blessing three times. It would be fitting that after each of the three blessings of Kingships, Remembrances and Shofar Blasts one should blow three times of each set, three times teruah, three times shevarim, in the manner that he blew when they were sitting.
But why did I say that one only does each one three times, that is only a total of three and not a total of nine? But since they already went out from doubt with the shofar blasts while seated, with the shofar blasts while seated one has already fulfilled, one has already gone out from every doubt, we don’t burden the community to repeat all of them in the order of the blessings, that each one should blow again the entire order of blessings. Rather it is sufficient for them with one set for each blessing, so that they hear shofar blasts in the order of blessings.
The new shofar blasts are not the main mitzvah, the main mitzvah one has already gone out from doubt, it’s only so that there should be an order of blessings. The order of blessings is enough that each one is one. Interesting.
The Rambam says, “and all these matters” — this is the law according to Rabbeinu Tam, we do conduct ourselves to do ten sounds for each blessing, and this is what Rabbeinu Tam instituted. It seems that always the old custom was like the Rambam.
Although it’s interesting, because according to the basic law one certainly should yes. In the time of the Mishnah one certainly blew yes. If you say that you want it to be an order of blessings, you want the whole thing to be an order of blessings, also with the matter of I haven’t gone out from doubt. Right? And the main thing is the… the main thing is the… the main thing is the… what is in the Kingships, Remembrances, Shofar Blasts. Right?
But the custom became that one shortens, because one has already fulfilled earlier. “And we don’t burden the community” is a strong law. Yes. It comes out that according to the Rambam one only makes forty sounds. According to Rabbeinu Tam one makes sixty.
The same, just as one can bring about salvations with the mitzvah of many shofar blasts, one can still bring about salvations with the mitzvah of not burdening the community. That’s simply a rabbi in a synagogue, so you know. We go according to Rabbeinu Tam. The congregation complains the more shofar blasts.
Digression: Shofar Blasts During the Silent Shemoneh Esrei
Speaker 1:
We, the Sephardic custom, the Chassidim even make shofar blasts during the silent Shemoneh Esrei, which is also something interesting. Comes out to ninety. Yes, and then one makes another ten, so that it should be a hundred.
The Lithuanians need to make forty more during Kaddish, because they don’t make during the silent Shemoneh Esrei. Ah, they don’t want to interrupt, they’re afraid of interrupting? There isn’t, I don’t know why. The law, one needs to look. The law of shofar blasts… yes, I’m not talking about interruption. No, I say it’s an interesting thing.
The law of shofar blasts while standing, of the order of blessings, speaks of the repetition of the prayer leader, not of the silent Shemoneh Esrei. I don’t know from where comes this thing of blowing during the silent Shemoneh Esrei, but one needs to look, there’s some custom.
Law 12 (continued): Individual vs. Community
Speaker 1:
The Rambam says, “all these matters are in public, but an individual whether he heard in the order of blessings or not in order, whether standing or sitting, he has fulfilled,” he only needs to hear enough to go out from doubt. He doesn’t need to do, this in the order of blessings is a law in the order of prayer, which is the order of the synagogue, it’s not any law for the individual.
Why is this the custom? It appears that the Malchiyos, Zichronos, Shofros the individual should indeed also say. But the tekiah al seder habracha – there isn’t even a custom that the individual should blow al haseder. It’s not an issue at all. The topic of tekios al haseder is only when you need the congregation. It’s the form of prayer in the synagogue.
Halacha 13: Tekios Don’t Prevent Brachos, Brachos Don’t Prevent Tekios
Speaker 1:
The Rambam says, “Hatekios einan meakevos es habrachos, vehabrachos einan meakevos es hatekios.” One is not dependent on the other. If you only have, there isn’t a, let’s say, a talmid chacham who remembers the order of Malchiyos Zichronos Shofros, one should blow all the tekios anyway. You might have thought that one blows three tekios corresponding to Malchiyos Zichronos Shofros, so the novelty is that no. This is somewhat the interesting… what you do have, do indeed.
Two Towns: Doubtful Tekios vs. Certain Brachos
Speaker 1:
He says, and he explains, bishtei ayaros, be’achas yodea bevadai sheyesh sham mi sheyevarech lahem tesha brachos ve’ein sham tokea, uveshniya safek yesh sham tokea safek ein sham, holech leshniya, shehatekios midivrei Torah vehabrachos midivrei sofrim.
It’s interesting. That means, even to the point of doubt, even if it’s a doubtful tekios and a certain brachos, the doubtful Torah law is stronger than the… a doubtful Torah law is stronger than the certain rabbinic law. Even according to the Rambam who holds that doubtful Torah law is only from the Torah to be stringent. We say that they are indeed equal, both are rabbinic. But this is a doubt of a Torah law. The root of it is from the Torah.
Discussion: Doubtful Torah Law vs. Certain Rabbinic Law
Speaker 1:
Interesting, because what when one can think, we know that the Sages because of their decrees cancelled tekios. What do you mean that the Rabbis are more important than the Torah law? They are very important, but not because of a concern of danger. Not that the brachos should be worth more… It’s interesting that doubtful Torah law is… the Rambam holds that doubtful Torah law is rabbinic, that’s what he meant to say. It comes out that both are rabbinic, and you’re already asking indeed the Acharonim’s wisdom. An interesting question.
Speaker 2:
It’s still a root from the Torah. Yes, it’s because of the Torah. It should be that with Torah law one doesn’t need to be stringent.
Speaker 1:
Okay, it’s still a topic.
Conclusion
Speaker 1:
Okay. Until here I’ve taught shofar, one already knows what is shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Approximately, yes. Those who don’t know, should go one one one to a sage, they’ve learned. But not to remain on Shabbos, but rather that one must go to the sage. Those who don’t know don’t know, one can go before Rosh Hashanah to a sage and learn. Yes, fine, wonderful. So, yasher koach.