Rosh Hashanah 33 – What notes to blow on the shofar

The order of the shofar sounds is as follows: first the long opening note (called tekiah), then three sets of three shortest notes possible (called teruah), and then another long note (tekiah).

There is also another note, a whimpering sound called “shevarim.” Three shevarim equal in length to a long sound, tekiah, and three groups for three short notes (teruah) also equal in length to the long sound. Others reverse the understanding of the broken notes, “shevarim” and “teruah.” Their disagreement is about which human emotion is this more similar to, moaning or sobbing.

If one played a long note, tekiah, two times longer than it should be – he has not gained anything since a note without interruption is still the same long note, so it is considered just one note. For example, suppose he played tekiah – teruah – tekiah and made the last note two times longer than the first. In that case, it is still not considered if he sounded the previous note in the first group and then started the second long note in the would-be second group.

Art: Blowing bubbles By Theophile Emmanuel Duverger