פירוש על ראש השנה 4:9

סדר תקיעות שלש – one for Malkhuyot, one for Zikhronot and one for Shofarot.

Introduction The final mishnah of Rosh Hashanah deals with the order of the shofar blasts. In the commentary on this mishnah I will note some of the ways in which the halakhah has developed over the centuries.

של שלש שלש – Tekiah/Teruah/Tekiah for each ne, for it is stated that there are two Teruot in the Bible on Rosh Hashanah, and one Teruah on the Yom Kippur of the Jubilee [year], as we derive "שביעי" "שביעי" in an analogy (see the Bartenura to Mishnah Rosh Hashanah, Chapter 3, Mishnah 5 – which compares Leviticus 23:24 and Leviticus 25:9), to give what is stated with this one (Leviticus 23:24) with that one (Leviticus 25:9). And the Teruah that is mentioned on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee [year] we assign it to Rosh Hashanah, hence we find that on Rosh Hashanah there are three Teruot – and the two Teruot that are mentioned in [the Biblical text of Leviticus 23:24) for Rosh Hashanah we assign them to Yom Kippur, hence it is found that there are three Teruot on Yom Kippur. And every Teruah [sound], there is a simple [Tekiah] before it and a simple [Tekiah] after it, as it is taught in a Baraita: From where do we learn that we have a simple [Tekiah] before it? We are taught (Leviticus 25:9): “Then you shall sound the horn loud [תרועה] ….” And from where [do we learn] that there is a simple [Tekiah] after it? We are taught (Leviticus 25:9): “…you shall have the horn sounded [throughout your land].” Hence there is a causing of the sound to pass over a certain space/a proclamation (see Talmud Rosh Hashanah 34a) at the beginning and at the end with a Teruah in-between them. And the language of a simple העברה/proclamation implies that there is a causing of the sound to pass over a certain space/a proclamation after the simple [Tekiah]. Hence for the three Teruot of Rosh Hashanah, there are six Tekiot, and hence you have three sets of three each.

The order of the blasts: three sets of three each. There are nine core blasts of the shofar during the Mussaf Amidah three during each section, malkhuyot, zikhronot and shofarot. Each set consists of one tekiah, one teruah, followed by another tekiah. A set therefore consists of a teruah, preceded by and followed by a tekiah.

שעור תקיעה – the measure of all the Tekiot which are six Tekiot [total].

The length of a teki’ah is equal to three teru'ahs, and the length of a teru'ah is equal to three yevavot. A tekiah is a longer blast than a teruah and a teruah is a longer blast that a yevavah, which is a short staccato blast. In the Talmud there is a doubt about whether a teruah consists of a few medium length notes or a greater number of staccato notes. Today we call the few medium length notes “shevarim” and we call the shorter notes “teruah.” Since it is unclear which we should do, we do both (Jews love to compromise). We also do one set that is “shevarim-teruah” because a teruah may include both the shevarim and the teruah. This doubt concerning the doubt about how the blasts are to be done is the main way in which the original nine blasts have been expanded. The service also includes sets of shofar blasts that are not done throughout Mussaf.

כשלש תרועות – hence it is found that the measurement of one Tekiah is like one-half a Teruah.

If one prolonged the first teki'ah so that it went directly into the second, it counts only as one. At the end of one set of blasts is a tekiah. There is also a tekiah at the beginning of another set. If the shofar blower starts a tekiah at the end of one set and continues to blow long enough that it could have counted for the tekiah at the beginning of the next set, then it only counts as one tekiah. Each shofar blast must be integral and a doubly long blast counts only as one.

שעור תרועה כג' יבבות – three sounds in general of all of them. And there are those who explain that each trembling/staccato is three powers of all of them, hence, it is found that the measure of a Teruah is nine powers of all of them, and it is logical.

One who has blessed [recited the Amidah] and then a shofar is given to him, he sounds a teki'ah teru'ah teki'ah three times. As we stated above, the shofar blasts are integrated into the Amidah. However, the obligation to blow the shofar is independent of the obligation to recite the Mussaf prayer. Therefore, if one does not have a shofar while reciting the Amidah, and then gets one later on, he should blow the shofar even though he has already recited the Amidah.

ומשך בשניה – The Tekiah that comes after the Teruah stretches like two, in order to fulfill [his religious obligation] of the two that he had to do one after another, a simple [Tekiah] that comes after [the Teruah] of Malkhuyot, and the simple [Tekiah] that comes after [the Teruah] of Zikhronot.

Just as the shaliah tzibbur is obligated, so every single individual is obligated. Rabban Gamaliel says: the shaliah tzibbur (communal prayer causes the whole congregation to fulfill their obligation. The final section contains an extremely important debate concerning the function of the shaliach tzibbur, literally translated as “the agent of the community.” According to the first opinion, every person is individually obligated to recite the entire Amidah. The Talmud comments that according to this opinion, the function of the shaliach tzibbur is to fulfill the obligation for a person who doesn’t know how to recite the Amidah. One who knows how to recite the Amidah cannot have his obligation fulfilled on his behalf by the shaliah tzibbur. According to Rabban Gamaliel the shaliach tzibbur’s recitation of the Amidah fulfills the obligation of the entire community. The question then must be asked why should the other members of the community even bother reciting the Amidah? The answer given is that while the rest of the community recites the Amidah, the shaliah tzibbur has time to prepare to recite the Amidah. Congratulations! We have finished Rosh Hashanah. It is a tradition at this point to thank God for helping us finish learning the tractate and to commit ourselves to going back and relearning it, so that we may not forget it and so that its lessons will stay with us for all of our lives. Mishnah Rosh Hashanah had two main sections, one about the sanctification of the new month, Rosh Hodesh, and the other about Rosh Hashanah itself. The Jewish calendar and its connection to the moon should remain an important way in which we connect ourselves to the cycles of nature, to the waxing and the waning of the new moon. In modern times, women have reclaimed Rosh Hodesh as a woman’s holiday. I hope that learning this mishnah has aided in these celebrations and as a reminder to everyone that Rosh Hodesh is not just the recitation of Hallel but is a monthly renewal of our calendar. Rosh Hashanah remains one of the central holidays in the Jewish calendar. I hope that by learning the Mishnah we can help return to the holidays roots which are a reminder of God’s kingship and God’s salvation. And again, as always, congratulations on learning another tractate of Mishnah. We are getting close to having finished half of the Mishnah. May you have the strength and time to keep on learning more! Tomorrow we begin Taanit.

אין בידו אלא אחת – to interrupt one Tekiah for two, we don’t interrupt.

מי שברך – He who prayed the Musaf nad made nine blessings.

כשם ששליח ציבור חייב – whether [speaking of] the blessings of Rosh Hashanah or whether the prayers of the entire year, one does not fulfill his [religious] obligation other tahan with a prayer that a person recites on his own. Hence, each individual person who is expert and knows how to pray does not fulfill his [religious] obligation other than through his own prayer, whether on Rosh Hashanah or on the rest of the days of the year. And the emissary of the congregation does not go down before the Ark other than to fulfill [the religious obligation] of those [people] who are not expert.

שליח ציבור מוציא את הרבים ידי חובתן – Whether one is expert or whether one is not expert, whether [speaking] about the blessings of Rosh Hashanah whether the prayers of the entire year [the emissary of the congregation fulfills the religious obligation of the group]. And why does the community pray silently, in order that the emissary of the congregation can arrange his prayer. But the Halakha is like the Sages regarding the blessings of he entire year, where the emissary of the congregation does not fulfill [the religious obligation] on whomever is not expert [in reciting the prayers]. But regarding the blessings of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and of the Jubilee year, which have nine long blessings and not everyone is expert in them, the Halakha is according to Rabban Gamaliel, for such as he fulfills [the religious obligations] of those who are not expert, so too, he fulfills [the religious obligations] of those who are expert in their prayers.