Mishneh Torah, Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav 3-5

Sugya Map

• Core Issue: Defining the shiur (measure) of the teru’ah and the mechanics of the teki’ah sequences required for the mitzvah of Shofar.
• Primary Sources: Rosh Hashanah 33b–34a (The nature of teru’ah and shevarim); Mishneh Torah, Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav 3:1–5.
• Nafka Mina: Whether the teru’ah is a distinct, solitary sound or a hybrid of sighing (shevarim) and sobbing (teru’ah), and how the uncertainty surrounding this definition dictates the 30-blast structure.

Text Snapshot

• Mishneh Torah, Shofar 3:1: "כמה תקיעות חייב אדם לשמוע בראש השנה? תשע... והתורה אמרה יום תרועה יהיה לכם, תרועה אחת... ומפי השמועה למדנו שכל תרועות של חדש השביעי אחד הן."
• Nuance: The Rambam’s reliance on “Mipi ha-shemu’ah” (oral tradition) emphasizes that the structural complexity of the blasts is not merely a Rabbinic invention to satisfy doubt, but an authentic interpretation of the unity of the "seventh month" (Rosh Hashanah and Yovel).

Readings

1. The Maggid Mishneh (R. Vidal of Tolosa)

The Maggid Mishneh focuses on the Rambam’s assertion in 3:3 that shevarim and teru’ah in the first series are two separate blasts. His chiddush is procedural: he derives from the Rambam that if the shevarim and teru’ah are separate, one may—technically—take a breath between them without violating the requirement of a continuous teru’ah. This highlights a tension between the shiur of the mitzvah and the shiur of the breath.

2. The Ra’avad (R. Abraham ben David)

The Ra’avad offers a fierce critique of the Rambam’s interpretation of the Mishnah regarding the length of the teki’ah. The Mishnah (33b) states the teki’ah is three teru’ot. The Rambam interprets this proportionally (each teru’ah equals three sobs). The Ra’avad insists on an independent measure: the teki’ah is three teru’ot, and each teru’ah is three sobs—making the teki’ah equal to nine small sounds. His chiddush is that the teki’ah is not merely a frame for the teru’ah but a blast possessing an intrinsic, quantifiable duration that must be strictly maintained regardless of the teru’ah variation.

Friction: The Kushya and Terutz

The Kushya: The Rambam rules (3:3) that if one extends a teki’ah all day, it remains a single teki’ah. Yet, the Jerusalem Talmud (RH 3:3) rejects this "extended blast" entirely, arguing that a teki’ah blown with the intent of spanning two sequences is invalid. Why does the Rambam override the Yerushalmi?

The Terutz: The Rambam treats the teki’ah as a halachic “kol” (sound) defined by its nature, not merely by the user's intent. If the sound produced is a teki’ah, it satisfies the Torah’s requirement for a peshutah (simple blast). The Rambam prioritizes the ma’aseh (the act of the sound) over the kavanah (the intent of the blower). Alternatively, the Rambam views the "doubling" of the teki’ah as a mechanical failure of the mitzvah sequence, but he remains permissive of the validity of the sound itself, provided the blower then resets and performs the required sequence correctly. He is essentially separating the validity of the blast from the completeness of the series.

Intertext

• Leviticus 25:9: The Yovel connection. The Rambam’s cross-reference here is vital—it anchors the Rosh Hashanah blast in the same legal category as the blowing of the Shofar on Yom Kippur of the Yovel. This establishes a "unity of sound" across the seventh month.
• SA Orach Chayim 590:6: The Shulchan Aruch codifies the Rambam’s rejection of the "extended teki’ah," but the Rama notes the Ashkenazic minhag to defer to the Yerushalmi’s stringency. This illustrates a classic Lomdus split: the Rambam seeks to define the essence of the blast, while the Ashkenazic tradition seeks to preserve the integrity of the sequence.

Psak/Practice

In contemporary practice, the "Rambam’s 30 blasts" are the standard, but we perform them in the pattern of Tekiah-Shevarim-Teruah-Tekiah (the Yishuv and Amidah blasts). The psak follows the Mishnah Berurah (590:20), which demands that one follow the minhag of the local community. If no custom exists, one adopts the stringent view—essentially hedging against the Rambam’s own logical framework by including all variations in every series. The meta-psak heuristic here is safek d’oraita l’chumra (doubt in Torah law requires stringency), which effectively transformed the Rambam’s "30 blasts for doubt" into a "30 blasts for certainty."

Takeaway

The Rambam transforms a historical uncertainty—the definition of teru’ah—into a ritualized masterpiece of legal inclusivity. By "fulfilling all possibilities," he turns the shofar service not into a search for the "correct" sound, but into a comprehensive performance of the soul's entire repertoire of distress.