Rosh HaShana is the Head of the Year. Its influence is felt throughout the year. Even more, the unity of Tishrei is expressed on Rosh HaShana.
SHOFAR – The Main Mitzvah of Rosh HaShana
One must hear it nine times, for the Torah uses the word teruah [a shofar sound] three times in reference to Rosh Hashanah and each teruah sound is preceded and followed by a tekiah sound.
Now, concerning the teruah to which the Torah refers, doubt has arisen, as to which sound is intended: whether it is a wailing tone, such as women cry among themselves when they lament; or a kind of sigh, such as one might repeatedly emit in a state of acute sorrow; or if it is a combination of both a sighing and a wailing tone. For such is the way of one who feels great sorrow and anxiety: he first sighs, and then laments.
Therefore, we sound all three of these shofar tones, and to differentiate between them we call the wailing sound teruah and the sighing sound shevarim, and the combination of the two, shevarim-teruah. In order to resolve all doubt as to the original teruah sound, we sound all three possibilities; each preceded and followed by the straight tekiah.
In order to fulfill the mitzvah from the Torah, one must blow a set of 10 notes to fulfill the different possibilities:
- Tekiah, Shevarim, Teruah, Tekiah
- Tekiah, Shevarim, Tekiah
- Tekiah, Teruah, Tekiah
Thus, each set has 30 notes. The custom is to repeat the set of 30 notes three times, plus add one more set of 10, to make a total of 100 notes to be blown on Rosh HaShana.
SUKKAH – The Main Mitzvah of Sukkos
A Sukkah is an outdoor structure in which we “live” during Sukkos, in the same way that we live in the house during the rest of the year. The Sukkah has walls, decorations, etc. The main aspect that defines the Sukkah is the “roof” סכך.
The Shofar and the Sukkah share a mathematical connection (unity of Tishrei)
What is that connection?
Hints: Notes of the Shofar: kind and amount “roof” of the Sukkah
