It's not just random notes! There's a whole mystical drama unfolding with each tekiyah, shevarim, and teruah. This teaching comes from the Sefer HaKanah, a Kabbalistic text. Imagine someone asking their teacher, their Rebbe, a really good question: “Why this particular sequence of blasts – tekiyah shevarim teruah tekiyah – and not something else?” The answer gets wild.
We're told a story involving LILITH, the primordial female demon, as the mother of Sisera (a biblical military commander). And SISERA himself? He's possessed by SAMAEL (the angel of death), often considered the angel of death. But wait, there's more! A serpentine being called TANIN'IVER stands between them, channeling power to Sisera. Talk about a cosmic lineup of evil!
So what did BARAK (the Israelite commander) do to defeat Sisera? According to this tradition, he blew a tekiyah followed by three shevarim. The text explains that the shevarim (broken sounds) evoked fear that descended upon the "crown," specifically Hod (splendor), Pachad (fear), and Atarah (crown) – all sefirot (the divine emanations), or divine attributes, on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
Why no teruah (wailing) before the shevarim (groaning)? Because, the text says, "there is never wailing before groaning."—groaning often precedes an outburst of wailing. It makes sense. This order is crucial to the spiritual effect. The three shevarim contain three sounds, and they take hold of the "wailing" which is associated with the attribute of Din (judgment), which is then broken up into shards, and then comes the tekiyah.
The result? "Immediately, the power of SAMAEL, TANIN'IVER, and LILITH are interrupted!" Apparently, other evil forces rushed in to help Sisera, but they were all humiliated. Sisera's "shade" (meaning, perhaps, his negative influence) was removed, and he was delivered into Barak's hands because Barak had "brought close" (karev, spelled backwards is Barak) all ten sefirot and unified them, sweetening the harshness of Din (judgment).
But here’s the thing: what if the judgment came down through the shevarim? Or only through the teruah? To cover all bases, we blow tekiyah shevarim teruah tekiyah, tekiyah shevarim tekiyah, and tekiyah teruah tekiyah. Three times each. These correspond to the sefirot of Pachad, Hod, and Atarah.
This is why, during the Musaf (additional) service on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), when we add the special blessings of Malchuyot (kingship), Zichronot (remembrances), and Shofarot (shofar blasts), we're extra careful to include all these combinations. It’s like turning in every direction to sweeten the judgment, similar to shaking the lulav and etrog on Sukkot (the Festival of Tabernacles). The text suggests that Malchuyot corresponds to Atarah, Zichronot to Pachad, and Shofarot to Hod. And note that on public fast days, we recite Zichronot and Shofarot, but not Malchuyot—further cementing the association of Malchuyot with the attribute of compassion (Rachamim).
However, the text cautions us: don't just change these blasts willy-nilly! Rabbi Avahu was afraid of the number fourteen (possibly representing an attribute of Din), and since his name (אבהו) has a gematria (numerical value) of 14, he was careful not to interrupt or alter the established order.
The text then offers a deeper Kabbalistic reason for blowing the shofar during the Musaf service while standing: it’s a secret connected to the "congregation of Israel," the gate through which we enter to the King (God). The shofar blasts open the heavenly gates and, get this, distract SATAN! By making him think he's in trouble, we prevent him from prosecuting humanity before God. So, don't think there are any "extra blasts" – every single one is needed!
The text concludes with some intriguing connections to other mitzvot (commandments). For example, it touches on the mitzvah of tzitzit (fringes) and the idea of uniting the "sons with the mother," possibly referring to elevating Binah (understanding) to Chochmah (wisdom) and Keter (crown). It even touches on the laws of men appearing before God in the Temple, and how women are exempt from certain time-bound commandments because their performance might "damage above."
It ends with a warning: "We should warn the women with a warning of punishment, that they should not do like the matter of do not destroy to go up." The meaning is unclear, but it highlights the importance of observing the divine decrees with precision and reverence.
So, next time you hear the shofar blasts, remember this incredible story. It's not just a call to repentance; it's a cosmic battle against the forces of evil, a reunification of the divine attributes, and a profound expression of our connection to the King of the Universe.
...I said to him, "Rebbe, my master, if so, why do they not require tekiyah shevarim teruach tekiyah? ( ק = tekiyah, ש = shevarim, ר = teruach, so קשר''ק = tekiyah shevarim truach tekiya. ) And there, they were uncertain." He said to me, "My son, I will teach you a great matter. You should know, that the mother of Sisra is Lilit the Wicked. And Sisra is possessed (may also be held/grabbed) by Samael, and Tanin'iver stands between Samael and Lilit. He gives to that name of Sisra. What did Barak do? He made a tekiyah and three shevarim. That is the fear that descended on the crown by way of the shevarim, which dwells on Hod, and from there on the crown which are Pachad, Hod, and Atarah. And afterwords, from the wailing of the crown, woe, woe in the world! And it must be (lit. against your will), there is never wailing (teruah) before groaning (shevarim). And three of them (groanings, three of them because shevarim is composed of three sounds) are placed in the middle, and they also took the wailing which is the attribute of Din the broad(also rough/wide) which returned from the shard of wailing (teruah, the sound of which is broken up into shards) and then did a tekiyah and that is tekiyah shevarim teruah tekiyah. And immediately (lit. at hand), the power of Samael, Tanin'iver, and Lilit are interrupted, and came with them outer powers to help Sisra, to no purpose and count and all of them will be humiliated. And they remove the shade (meaning unclear) of Sisra from upon him, and it is given into the hands of Barak because he brought close all ten (sefirot) and unified them. (ב ר ק -> ק ר ב backwards, ק ר ב "means "come close) And he sweetened the Din and in his name, so did he do. And in any case, there is what to sweeten the judgement from every side, between the two tekiyahs? Perhaps the judgement came down through the shevarim and wailing? One should also do tekiyah shevarim (groaning) tekiyah. Perhaps the judgement came down only through groaning, and it will turn out that that pathway is not sweetened. And we should also do tekiyah teruah (wailing) tekiyah, because perhaps the Din came down the way of wailing and was not sweetened. Therefore, one should do all of this three times, correspending to Pachad, Hod, and Atarah. And in the prayer that adds additional blessings (that is, Musaf adding on Malchuyos, Zichronos, and Shofaros on Rosh Hashanah) one should be careful to do Tekiyah-Shevarim-Teruah-Tekiyah, Tekiyah-Shevarim-Tekiyah, Tekiyah-Teruah-Tekiyah, for the Malchuyos, and the same for Zichronos and the same for Shofaros. (This indicates that each of the three additional blessings for Rosh Hashanah Musaf is for one of the three aspects, Pachad, Hod, and Atarah. I am not certain which is which, but I believe that Malchuyos is Atarah, Shofaros is Hod, and Zichronos is Pachad. This is because Malchuyos, meaning kingship, would be most associated with Atarah. Zichronos being Pachad checks out because Hod is of the same concept as Din/Gevurah, which is of judgement, and Zichronos is of judgment. The parallel breaks a bit here, as one might think that Shofaros would be associated with compassion, but that would actually associate it with Atarah because that is on the same line as tiferet/rachamim. However, its association with the kinder right line at least somewhat holds (even though it is on the left - for some reason, Netzach and Hod are associated with the left and right respectively, even though they are *on* the right and left in that order). Note that we say zichronos and shofaros on major public fast days, **but not malchuyos**, which further cements malchuyos being associated with the same line as rachamim (recall the above, that we sit in judgement and use the silver shofar of Din on such days, and so Rachamim/Atarah/Malchuyos is absent). Because the matter of malchuyos, zichronos, and shofaros is similar to turning to every direction to sweeten the judgement (like lulav and esrog on Sukkos). In truth, it would appear that you should not change these blasts (Heb. tekiyos), because of Rabbi Avahu the great, he was afraid of the fourteen(? Educated guess but could be completely wrong), which is the attribute of Din. Behold! It is the hand of Hashem. Therefore, since his (Abahu's) name is the Gematria of 14 (א ב ה ו = 1 + 2 + 5 + 6 = 14), he would be careful not to interrupt with their fixing (change from fixing to better translation when possible) and then hand to hand would not be clean, and Rabbi Yochanan had many merits (Heb., or Aramaic as the case may be, slightly unclear). And he thought that everyone else was like him. And that which they blow teruah (Heb. has verb form of "teruah"), and they blow tekiyah and teruah when they are standing - that is, the prayer of musaf which is hinted at in Sod (the Kabbalah), If you do not blow when sitting, which is hinted in the congregation of Israel (meaning unclear), that is, the gate which they entered to the king. Therefore, with the tekiyah blasts, we also need to enter with this, as it says, "With this, Aharon will enter the inner sanctuary." And because the tekiyos of the sitting part (when we blow the shofar not during Musaf) are the opening of the (heavenly) gates, the Satan is grabbed from there against his will, trembling and not trembling. And when the guardian(/doorkeeper) attached with the king, he has no fixing. Certainly, when his attribute (Heb. middah. Kabbalistic term generally but I think it is being used literally here.) is to interrupt the power from within him. He is busy with his things, and he is not learning prosecution. (That is, by using the shofar to trick the Satan into believing that he is in trouble, we distract him from creating a case to prosecute humanity that he would bring to HKB, and therefore prevent disaster from befalling us at his hand.) And therefore, do not make a mistake and say, "There is here extra blasts", for everything is needed. It makes sense that the additions with tzitzis that is attached and tied, it is a mitzvah to you, the king, to unite the sons with the mother, and she is included in the spirituality of Chochmah and Keter (is this talking about lifting up Binah to Chochmah and Keter?), He will give too many pregnancies of the mitzvos of the king (Heb. *really* unclear, could also be too many sins of the mitzvos of the king, but frankly neither makes much sense). See, my child, all the mitzvos that have a set time, and that women are therefore exempt from doing, we therefore do not make them do them, for that is the decree of the king, because their doing these things damages above. Behold! "All your males shall appear." (Part of Devarim 16:16, which is in full: Three times a year—on the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Pesach), on the Feast of Weeks (Shavuos), and on the Feast of Booths(Sukkos) —all your males shall appear before your God יהוה in the place that [God] will choose. They shall not appear before יהוה empty-handed.), and that appearance is the appearance before the face of the king with the queen, and the abscondence of the Din from there (I think this refers to the breaking of the vessel of Din?) The Writer (the one who wrote the Torah, that is, HKB) if you go up and see, the damage is because the Din goes up. And similarly by the shofar, judgement does not appease judgement. Similarly, by circumcision, a matter of pasulah (disqualification), as Rabbi Yochanan said: "And see earlier in the laws of circumcision and its secrets." And said to him, "My master! If so, we should warn the women with a warning of punishment, that they should not do like the matter of do not destroy to go up (Heb. unclear).
