תקצ סדר הראוי לתקיעת שופר ובו כ"א סעיפים

The Proper Order for Blowing the Shofar

1. How many blasts is a person obligated to hear on Rosh Hashanah?

Nine: Teru'ah, Teru'ah, Teru'ah.

This is because the word "Teru'ah" is mentioned three times in the Torah: twice regarding Rosh Hashanah, and once regarding Yom Kippur of the Yovel year. And it was received by tradition that these are derived from one another. Therefore, it is as if all three mentions of Teru'ah are said for each of them.

And each Teru'ah must have a simple blast before it and a simple blast after it. These are what are called plain Tekios.

As it is written: "And you shall cause the shofar to sound a teru'ah." This implies that a simple sound must be made, and afterwards the Teru'ah. For the expression "and you shall cause to sound" implies making a simple sound.

And after the Teru'ah, it is written: "You shall cause the shofar to sound," etc. This implies that after the Teru'ah, a simple sound must also be made.

And so it is with every Teru'ah, whether of Yovel or of Rosh Hashanah, for they are derived from one another:

2. This "Teru'ah" mentioned in the Torah, we translate as "Yevava."

And it is written: "She looked out the window and wailed, the mother of Sisera."

This implies that Yevava is like the sound a person makes when crying and wailing.

And there is a doubt whether this Yevava is like the way of the sick, who lengthen their groans and make sound after sound, each somewhat extended. This is called "Genach."

Or, it is like a person who wails and laments, making very short, rapid sounds. This is called "Yelil."

Or, it is like both together, one after the other, the wailing after the groaning. For this is the way of one who cries: first he groans, then he wails.

And the Sages instituted, in order to fulfill all the doubts, to blow:

Tashrat three times, in case the Teru'ah is both groaning and wailing together.

Afterwards, Tashat three times, in case the Teru'ah is only groaning, and the wailings are an interruption between the Teru'ah and the following Tekiah. And the Torah said: a simple sound after it, without an intervening shofar sound that is not simple in between.

And afterwards, Tarat three times, in case the Teru'ah is only wailing, and the groaning in the order of Tashrat is an interruption between the Teru'ah and the preceding Tekiah:

3. If one made a condition regarding the last Tekiah of the three sets of Tashrat, that if the order of Tashrat is the main mitzvah, this Tekiah will count as the last Tekiah of Tashrat.

And if the sets of Tashat are the main mitzvah, and with them he fulfills his obligation, this Tekiah will count as the first Tekiah of Tashat—he does not need to blow again before the first Tashat. For in any case, he fulfills his obligation with this Tekiah.

And the same law applies if he made a condition regarding the last Tekiah of Tashat, that it will count as the first Tekiah of Tarat. [He fulfills his obligation with this Tekiah.]

But if he did not make such a condition, one Tekiah does not count for two sets—Tashrat and Tashat, nor for Tashat and Tarat. For mitzvos require intention, and if he intended this Tekiah to complete the order of Tashrat, it does not count for the beginning of Tashat.

For if Tashat is the main mitzvah, then when he intended this Tekiah to complete Tashrat, he did not blow it for the sake of the mitzvah at all. And so too for the Tekiah between Tashat and Tarat:

4. The minimum length of a Tekiah as stated in the Torah is the length of a Teru'ah as stated in the Torah.

And the length of a Teru'ah as stated in the Torah is like three yevavos.

Some say: that is, three simple sounds. And these are called Terumitin [and thus, one makes three Terumitin, and that is a Teru'ah].

And now that the Sages instituted to blow Tashrat, Tashat, and Tarat, in order to fulfill all the doubts regarding Teru'ah, one must lengthen the Tekiah of Tashrat to the length of the Teru'ah in the order of Tashrat.

That is: three medium shevarim, which are like three medium groans, and like three short wails. For all together, this is the Teru'ah of the order of Tashrat.

And in the order of Tashat: he does not need to lengthen his Tekios except to the length of three medium shevarim, which is the length of the Teru'ah in the order of Tashat.

And in the Tekios of the order of Tarat: he does not need to lengthen except to the length of three short wails, which is the length of the Teru'ah in the order of Tarat.

And if he wants to lengthen greatly in any Tekiah, he is permitted to lengthen as much as he wants. The only requirement for the Tekios is not to be less than the minimum length.

And so too for the Teru'ah, he may lengthen the Terumitin as much as he wants.

And so too for shevarim, if he adds to the three shevarim, there is no issue.

And this is not considered an interruption between the Teru'ah or the shevarim and the following Tekiah, since he makes all the shevarim or all the Terumitin in one breath.

Nevertheless, the custom is not to add to the three shevarim. But for Terumitin, he may make as many as he wants.

And some make at the end of the three shevarim a simple sound like a Tekiah, and so too at the end of the Terumitin. But this is not the custom:

5. One must be careful with the shevarim of the order of Tashrat not to lengthen any one of the three shevarim to the length of three medium shevarim and three wails, that is, Terumitin—which is the length of a Tekiah in the order of Tashrat. For if he lengthens one shever to this length, it is no longer considered a shever and is called a Tekiah.

And in the order of Tashat, where the length of a Tekiah is like three medium shevarim, he should not lengthen one shever to the length of three medium shevarim, so that it does not lose the status of a shever and become called a Tekiah.

And if he was not careful about this (and lengthened the shevarim more than their proper length), even after the fact he has not fulfilled his obligation (according to this opinion; however, according to the law below in section 6, he has fulfilled it, since according to the second opinion it is still considered a proper shever).

And ideally, it is good to be careful that even in the order of Tashrat, he should not lengthen one shever to the length of [three] Terumitin. For this is the length of a Tekiah in the order of Tarat. And if he lengthens to this length, it will be considered a Tekiah of Tarat, not a shever.

The Proper Order for Blowing the Shofar

6. Therefore, it is good to shorten each shever as much as possible. However, one should not shorten it too much, so that it still has the character of a groan and not that of a wail, meaning a teromitin.

And there are those who say that the measure of a yevava is three teromitin.

And the measure of a teruah is like three yevavos, which is nine teromitin.

And the measure of a tekiah is also like the measure of a teruah, which is nine teromitin.

And the measure of shevarim—that is, for us, who make three shevarim in tashrat and tashat—is certainly not less than the measure of a teruah, which is nine teromitin (wails), so it is also nine teromitin at the very least.

Therefore, one must lengthen each shever to no less than three teromitin, so that the three shevarim together are not less than nine teromitin, which is the measure of a teruah.

According to their words, one must lengthen the tekios of tashrat to no less than eighteen teromitin, which is the measure of the teruah in the order of tashrat, that is, three groans and three wails together, which are not less than eighteen teromitin.

And one may lengthen each shever up to just less than eighteen teromitin, since up to eighteen teromitin it does not have the status of a tekiah.

Nevertheless, initially (according to this opinion), one should not lengthen a single shever to the extent of nine teromitin, for this is the measure of a tekiah in the order of tarat, and thus it would have the status of a tekiah of tarat.

[It mentions tarat, which is explicit in the Torah, and the shevarim in tashat are in place of the Torah’s teruah, and the measure of teruah and shevarim are equal.]

But after the fact, one fulfills the obligation if one lengthened the shever of tashrat to less than eighteen teromitin, since in this order it still does not have the status of a tekiah.

And in the order of tashat, one must lengthen the tekios to the measure of nine teromitin, which is the measure of the teruah in this order.

And one should not lengthen a shever to the measure of nine teromitin. And if one did lengthen it, even after the fact, one does not fulfill the obligation, since it leaves the category of shever and enters the category of tekios of this order.

7. Regarding the halachah, one should be stringent in matters of Torah law according to the latter opinion. That is, one should lengthen the tekios of tashrat to the measure of at least eighteen teromitin, and in the tekios of tashat and tarat to the measure of at least nine teromitin. And in every shever, one should lengthen it a little, to the extent of three teromitin.

And one should not lengthen it to nine teromitin, even in the order of tashrat.

[The measure of a tekiah in the order of tashrat is eighteen teromitin according to the second opinion. According to the first opinion, the tekiah in tashrat is three medium groans and three wails, which is more than nine teromitin. Thus, in this order, even if one lengthens to nine teromitin, it is still considered a shever.]

Nevertheless, as above in section 6, since in the order of tarat a shever of this length has the status of a tekiah, one should not make such a shever even in the order of tashrat. All the more so, one should not lengthen so in the order of tashat, for in the order of tashat, if the shever is nine teromitin, according to all opinions it is invalid even after the fact. Therefore, the Alter Rebbe writes, "even in the order of tashrat."

Now, according to the first opinion, in tashrat, one should not lengthen any one of the three shevarim to the measure of three medium shevarim and three wails. Seemingly, the measure of three medium shevarim and three wails is greater than nine wails. Therefore, the Alter Rebbe does not say to be stringent in Torah matters according to the first opinion, not to lengthen a shever to the measure of three medium shevarim and three wails, which is the measure of the tekiah in the order of tashrat according to the first opinion. On the contrary, we are more stringent in saying that one should not make a shever even as long as nine.

Perhaps a medium groan is two teromitin, since once it is more than one teromit, we have no other measure but to add another teromit, and so on.

Now, even according to the first opinion, in the order of tashat, one should not lengthen a single shever to the measure of three medium shevarim. Seemingly, why does the Alter Rebbe not say that in the order of tashrat, one should not lengthen a shever to the measure of three medium shevarim, which is less than nine teromitin (as is evident from the end of this section and above), which is the measure of a tekiah in the order of tashat? Why not be concerned for the first opinion in this?

It would seem that we do not need to be so concerned not to make a shever in the order of tashrat that would be a tekiah in the order of tashat only according to the first opinion. Moreover, now that we have the second opinion, it is impossible to be stringent and take into account the measures of the tekios in the other orders according to the first opinion. For according to the first opinion, one should not, even initially, make the tekiah in tashrat even to the measure of the tekiah in tarat, which is three teromitin, as explained above in section 6. This is impossible to be stringent about according to the second opinion, which requires that the shevarim be at least three teromitin. Since we cannot be stringent according to the first opinion not to make the tekiah of the order of tarat according to the first opinion, we are not concerned in the order of tashrat for the first opinion at all, and we do not need to be precise not to make the tekiah in the order of tashrat to the measure of the tekiah in the order of tashat according to the first opinion.

What we are stringent about is not to make a shever in the order of tashrat that would be considered a tekiah in the order of tashat and tarat according to the second opinion.

And in every teruah, one must make nine teromitin, as explained.

But after the fact, if one already blew and deviated from any of these—meaning, if one did not lengthen the tekios of tashrat to eighteen teromitin, but at least did according to the first opinion and lengthened the tekiah to the measure of three wails and three medium shevarim; or did not lengthen the tekios of the order of tashat or tarat to the measure of nine teromitin, but at least made in the order of tarat to the measure of three teromitin, and in the order of tashat to the measure of three medium groans; or did not lengthen each shever of the three shevarim of tashrat or tashat to the measure of three teromitin, but at least made them a medium groan, that is, more than a wail—one does not need to go back and blow again, since one may rely on the first opinion.

But if one deviated in two matters, in a way that according to both opinions one has not fulfilled the obligation, one must repeat the blowing.

The Proper Order for Blowing the Shofar

8. For example, if he did not lengthen his tekiyos according to the measure explained in the last opinion, or he lengthened one of the shevarim more than the measure explained in the first opinion—meaning, in the order of tashrat, he extended one of the three shevarim to the length of three medium shevarim and three yevavos, that is, terumitin, even if he did not extend it to eighteen terumitin; and in the order of tashet, he extended one shever to the length of three medium shevarim, even if he did not extend it to the length of nine terumitin—according to the first opinion, this shever is invalid. Or, if he did not lengthen one of the shevarim to the measure explained in the last opinion, that is, three terumitin, and in one of the shevarim he lengthened it more than the measure explained in the first opinion, he must go back and blow again, as is the law for one who errs in his tekiyos, as will be explained. He cannot combine the sounds of both opinions, since they contradict each other.

9. The yevavos of the teru’os (in the order of terat), as well as the three shevarim that are in place of a teru’ah in the order of tashet, must be done in a single breath. If he did not do them in a single breath, he has not fulfilled his obligation, for the Torah said “one teru’ah,” not a teru’ah divided into two. But the three shevarim and the teru’ah of tashrat, even though together they are in place of the one teru’ah mentioned in the Torah—perhaps it is both the groaning and the wailing, one after the other—still, it is not necessary to do them in a single breath, since it is not the way of a person to groan and wail in one breath, but rather he pauses between them for a breath. Therefore, the one blowing should also pause for a breath in between. Nevertheless, he should not pause more than the time needed for a single breath. He should not wait to blow the teru’ah until the reader recites the word “teru’ah” before him, but should blow immediately after the shevarim, right after taking a single breath.

10. Some say that even though it is not the way of a person to groan and wail in one breath, nevertheless, since our blowing of shevarim and teru’ah is due to doubt—perhaps this is the “teru’ah” mentioned in the Torah—we should not pause, for the Torah said “one teru’ah,” not a teru’ah divided into two. Therefore, if he did them in two breaths, he has not fulfilled his obligation, but should do them in one breath. Nevertheless, he should pause slightly between them so that they are distinguished as two sounds. The custom in these countries follows the first opinion, and the custom should not be changed because of the dispute. But in a place where there is no established custom, one should arrange that the tekiyos of meyushav be done in one breath, so that the blessing recited over them is valid according to all opinions, for even according to the first opinion, some say that if he did them in one breath, he has fulfilled his obligation, just as one who blows terat or tashet in one breath is valid, as will be explained. But for the tekiyos of me’umad, over which no blessing is recited, he should do them in two breaths, to take into account the opinion that according to the first view, if he did them in one breath, he has not fulfilled his obligation. If one blew terat or tashet in one breath, and paused slightly between them so that they are distinguished as three sounds, he has fulfilled his obligation. Some say he has not fulfilled his obligation and must go back and blow all three sounds, for the first tekiyah did not have a pause and an end, and the last tekiyah did not have a beginning, since he did everything in one breath. Even though the main law follows the first opinion, nevertheless, one should be concerned for the last opinion and go back and blow all three sounds.

11. If he drew out and extended the last tekiyah of one set—meaning, one order of tashrat, or tashet, or terat—to the length of two tekiyos, intending that this tekiyah count for both the last tekiyah of this set and the first tekiyah of the next set, it only counts for one tekiyah, that is, the last tekiyah of this set. For every tekiyah must have a beginning and an end, and if this tekiyah is divided into two as the blower intended, then the last tekiyah has no beginning and the first has no end. Therefore, we do not follow his intention, but consider this as one long tekiyah, and it counts only for the last tekiyah of this set.

12. Some disagree and say that everything follows his intention, and since he intended it to count for two tekiyos, we consider it as two tekiyos, and both are invalid for the reason explained. Therefore, it does not count even for one tekiyah, and he must go back and blow the first tekiyah of this set and complete from there onward in order, as is the law for one who erred in the middle of a set and returns to the beginning, as will be explained. The law follows the first opinion, but it is good to be concerned for the last opinion.

13. Even though, ideally, it is forbidden to speak from the beginning of the tekiyos of meyushav until the end of the tekiyos of me’umad, as will be explained in Siman 592 (section 7), nevertheless, if the blower spoke, even if he interrupted for several hours with conversation, even between tekiyah and teru’ah, or between teru’ah and tekiyah, or between one set and another, or between one order and another, he does not need to go back and blow again. Even if he interrupted between the sounds of one set with other sounds—for example, after blowing or after making a teru’ah, he engaged in other tekiyos or teru’os, and interrupted with them between the teru’ah of that set and the tekiyos before and after it—it does not matter, for since he did not intend those sounds as a mitzvah, but merely as an incidental act, they are not considered an interruption between the teru’ah and the simple sound before and after it.

The Proper Order for Blowing the Shofar

13. Similarly, one who hears the blasts: if he heard the blasts with interruptions, meaning that he paused in between for a long time with a sicha, he has fulfilled his obligation.

This is provided that, in the middle of the set, he did not hear a shofar sound that is not valid in that place.

That is, between the teruah of the set and the simple blast before or after it, he did not hear a shofar sound that is not a simple blast for the sake of the mitzvah. This is as explained regarding the one who blows.

14. Similarly, it is not necessary to hear all the blasts from one person. Even if he heard them from several people—one tekiyah from this one, a teruah from that one, and a tekiyah from another, and so on for all the blasts—he has fulfilled his obligation.

But if he heard a tekiyah, teruah, and tekiyah from three people who all blew at once—this one a tekiyah, that one a teruah, and the other a tekiyah—he has not fulfilled his obligation.

This is because there is not a simple blast before and after, since they all blew at the same time.

But if each of the three blew a tekiyah, teruah, and tekiyah, even though all the sounds come out at once, and two sounds that come out at once cannot both be heard, as explained in Siman 141,

Nevertheless, with the shofar, since it is precious to the listener, because it is only once a year, he pays attention and hears even several sounds.

Therefore, even if some blew with trumpets and some with a shofar, they have fulfilled their obligation, for due to its preciousness, he paid attention to the shofar to hear its sound.

15. If a blower is in the order of tashrat, and after blowing two shevarim, before finishing the third shever, he made a mistake and began to blow a teruah—

Whether he finished the teruah that he began by mistake, or whether he remembered in the middle and did not finish it, he should go back and blow three shevarim and a teruah, and complete from there onward in order.

But he does not need to go back and blow the first tekiyah of this set, which he already blew before the mistake.

Even though he interrupted with two shevarim and a teruah, which he blew by mistake between the first tekiyah of this set and the shevarim and teruah of this set, it does not matter. Since the shevarim and teruah that he blew by mistake are of the same type as the shevarim and teruah that he needs to blow in this set, this is not considered an interruption.

What is this similar to? To a blower who begins to blow a teruah and the sound does not come out well, so he stops and starts again to blow a teruah. The short sound that is heard from the shofar is not considered an interruption between the teruah and the simple blast before it, since it is of the same type as the teruah that he needs to blow.

16. When does this apply? In the order of tashrat.

But if he is in the order of tashet, whether he began to blow a teruah after finishing the shevarim, or began to blow a teruah before finishing the shevarim—even if he had only done one shever—or even if he began to blow a teruah before blowing even one shever, he must go back and blow also the first tekiyah of this set.

Since this teruah is not of the same type as the shevarim that he needs to blow in this set, it is therefore considered an interruption between the shevarim and the simple blast before them.

And even in the order of tashrat, they only said that he does not need to go back and blow the first tekiyah when he did not pause for breath between finishing the two shevarim and starting the teruah that he blew by mistake.

But if he paused for breath between them, he must go back and blow also the first tekiyah of this set.

Since he paused for breath between the shevarim and the teruah, the two are not considered as one tekiyah, and the teruah does not join at all with the shevarim.

This is similar to one who blew a teruah alone, without shevarim, before blowing the three shevarim in the order of tashrat; he must go back and blow the first tekiyah of this set, since he interrupted with this teruah between the shevarim and the simple blast before them. For this teruah is not of the same type as the shevarim that he needs to blow in this set.

And even though it is of the same type as the teruah that he needs to blow in this set, this does not help at all, since he has not yet blown the shevarim of this set.

17. Similarly, if after blowing three shevarim, whether in the order of tashrat or tashet, he paused for breath and then blew other shevarim—even if he only blew one shever—

And similarly, if after finishing the teruah, that is, three tru’mitin, according to the first opinion explained above, he paused for breath and then blew a teruah—even if he did not finish the teruah—he must go back and blow also the first tekiyah of this set, and complete from there onward in order.

Since he interrupted with extra shevarim or an extra teruah, between the shevarim or between the teruah and the simple blast after them, if he goes back and blows the shevarim or the teruah and completes from there onward in order, the extra shevarim or extra teruah that he already blew will be an interruption between the valid shevarim or teruah of this set and the simple blast before them.

Because they are not of the same type as the shevarim or teruah that he needs to blow in this set, since he does not need them at all, as he has already blown them.

18. In every case where it was explained that he must go back and blow also the first tekiyah of the set, if he did not realize the mistake until after he blew the last tekiyah of the set, that last tekiyah counts for him in place of the first tekiyah, and he completes from there onward in order.

If he did not realize until he is already in another set, or even in another order—for example, he made a mistake in the order of tashrat and did not realize until he was in the order of tashet or tarat—he completes the entire order in which he realized, and afterwards blows one set of tashrat.

The Proper Order for Blowing the Shofar

19. Even if one interrupted in the middle of the order of Tashrat during the tekiyos of Tashat, it does not matter. For the Torah was only particular that there should not be an interruption between the teruah and the plain sound before it or after it. But if one interrupts between one set and another, even with a shofar sound that is not fit for that order, it does not matter.

In every case that has been explained, that if one made a mistake, he must go back and blow the first tekiyah of that set in which he erred—there is no difference between the tekiyos while standing and the tekiyos while sitting. In each of them, he must go back, as has been explained.

And even in a place where all thirty sounds are blown during the tekiyos while standing, we do not say that if the blower made a mistake during the tekiyos while sitting, we will rely on the tekiyos while standing and he will not need to go back.

For since he recited a blessing over these tekiyos, he must perform them properly, so that his blessing will not be in vain.

But if he made a mistake in the tekiyos after the prayer, it does not matter, since they are only a custom.

20. If one blew from the wide end of the shofar, he has not fulfilled his obligation. And there is a hint to this: "From the narrow place I called..." etc.

21. After the blowing, the shaliach tzibbur begins: "Ashrei ha'am yod'ei teruah..." etc.

And some have the custom to say until: "Terom karneinu."

Afterwards, he begins: "Ashrei yoshvei..." etc.

After that, the Sefer Torah is returned to its place.

[The measure of a tekiyah is like the measure of a teruah. And that a teruah is three sobs—this is according to all opinions and there is no disagreement about this.

However, we find two opinions regarding what constitutes a sob.

The first opinion is that each sob is one tromit. And since for a teruah we make three sobs, for a teruah we make three tromitin. Thus, the measure of the teruah—that is, the length of time it takes to make the teruah—is the measure of three tromitin. And since the measure of a tekiyah is like that of a teruah, it follows that the length of the tekiyah is at least three tromitin.

The second opinion holds that each sob is three tromitin, and since for a teruah we make three sobs, for a teruah we make a total of nine tromitin. Thus, the measure of the teruah—that is, the length of time it takes to make the teruah—is the measure of nine tromitin. And since the measure of a tekiyah is like that of a teruah, it follows that the length of the tekiyah is at least nine tromitin.

This is according to their view, that the tekiyos are in the order of Terat.

And the Alter Rebbe brings what follows from their words for us, that we do, in addition to Terat, also Tashrat and Tashat.]