Tekiat Shofar and Sisera's Mother - post 1

דף לג, ב משנה סדר תקיעות שלש של שלש שלש שיעור תקיעה כשלש תרועות שיעור תרועה כשלש יבבות תקע בראשונה ומשך בשניה כשתים אין בידו אלא אחת מי שבירך ואחר כך נתמנה לו שופר תוקע ומריע ותוקע שלש פעמים כשם ששליח צבור חייב כך כל יחיד ויחיד חייב רבן גמליאל אומר שליח צבור מוציא את הרבים ידי חובתן:

דף לג, ב גמרא והתניא שיעור תקיעה כתרועה אמר אביי תנא דידן קא חשיב תקיעה דכולהו בבי ותרועות דכולהו בבי תנא ברא קא חשיב חד בבא ותו לא: שיעור תרועה כג' יבבות: והתניא שיעור תרועה כשלשה שברים אמר אביי בהא ודאי פליגי דכתיב (במדבר כט) יום תרועה יהיה לכם ומתרגמינן יום יבבא יהא לכון וכתיב באימיה דסיסרא (שופטים ה) בעד החלון נשקפה ותיבב אם סיסרא מר סבר גנוחי גנח ומר סבר ילולי יליל

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דף לד, א גמרא אתקין רבי אבהו בקסרי תקיעה שלשה שברים תרועה תקיעה מה נפשך אי ילולי יליל לעביד תקיעה תרועה ותקיעה ואי גנוחי גנח לעביד תקיעה שלשה שברים ותקיעה מספקא ליה אי גנוחי גנח אי ילולי יליל מתקיף לה רב עוירא ודלמא ילולי הוה וקא מפסיק שלשה שברים בין תרועה לתקיעה דהדר עביד תקיעה תרועה ותקיעה מתקיף לה רבינא ודלמא גנוחי הוה וקא מפסקא תרועה בין שברים לתקיעה דהדר עביד תש"ת אלא רבי אבהו מאי אתקין אי גנוחי גנח הא עבדיה אי ילולי יליל הא עבדיה מספקא ליה דלמא גנח ויליל אי הכי ליעבד נמי איפכא תקיעה תרועה שלשה שברים ותקיעה דלמא יליל וגנח סתמא דמילתא כי מתרע באיניש מילתא ברישא גנח והדר יליל

{Note: In my discussion here, I am using only a surface interpretation of this gemara, though there is plenty I could do using girsology (specifically the Rif), historical knowledge, and academic methods, which would yield a quite different reading. I will save that for a later post. This should have no major impact on the point of this post.}

Thus, it appears that the teruot were to be patterned after the cries or moans of Sisera's mother. That is, there is an apparent disagreement (and according to the gemara, indeed one) between the Mishna and the brayta on the definition of teruah - whether it is composed of teruot (=yevavot) or shevarim.

Abaye says בהא ודאי פליגי. That can be interpreted either as: while I, Abaye, harmonized the same Mishna and brayta as regards the correspondence between the lengths of tekia and teruah {ftnote: another source of great dispute and confusion, to which I may make another post to resolve}, in this second point of whether it is a shevarim or yevava, they most certainly do argue. Alternative, in the following point {בהא} is what they are certainly arguing about.

Either Abaye or the setama explain a basis for the argument, which is a dispute about what exactly Sisera's mother did. Did she sob, or did she moan?

Why are the actions of Sisera's mother relevant exactly? The answer is that there is a linguistic point to be made here. We need a definition of teruah, as either yevava {=what we call teruah} or shevarim. The Targum on the word teruah {in the phrase Yom Teruah} is yevava. Thus, whatever is a yevava in Aramaic is what we should blow. This is either going to be what the Mishna calls yevava {=what we call informally teruah}, or what the brayta calls shevarim.

To determine this, of course we do not use Mishnaic Hebrew, and thus immediately conclude that the Mishna is correct in identifying it as yevava, since the term yevava may have shifted. Rather, we look to Biblical Hebrew, and indeed, this arcane word occurs right where we would expect - in Biblical poetry, in the Song of Devorah. There, at least according to Abaye/the gemara's interpretation {and Jastrow agrees, by the way, though Rashi and the JPS translation do not -- subject for yet another post}, Sisera's mother cried or moaned as she waited for Sisera's return. Shofetim 5:28, with slight modification to the English translation:

כח בְּעַד {ר} הַחַלּוֹן נִשְׁקְפָה וַתְּיַבֵּב אֵם סִיסְרָא, בְּעַד הָאֶשְׁנָב: {ס} מַדּוּעַ, בֹּשֵׁשׁ רִכְבּוֹ {ר} לָבוֹא-- {ס} מַדּוּעַ אֶחֱרוּ, פַּעֲמֵי מַרְכְּבוֹתָיו. {ס}

28 Through the window she looked forth, and cried out, the mother of Sisera, through the lattice: 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

The assumption is that vatteyabbebh is of the same root as yevava, and they mean the same thing. Thus, whatever Sisera's mother did here is what is called yevava in Biblical Hebrew and Targumic Aramaic, and since the Targum defined teruah as this, that is the definition of teruah. Whether she sobbed or moaned will lead either to different definitions of teruah and thus different practice.

What I want to stress here is that this is purely a linguistic connection. There is not some special significance to the cries of the mother of a rasha that we are trying to match, as I've seen too many homiletic divrei Torah attempt.

The Aruch also mentions a custom to blow 100 blasts = tarat tashat tashrat each three times while seated {for a total of 30}, another during the Shemoneh Esrei on the seder of Malchuyot, Zichronot, Shofarot of the chazarat haShatz, for a total of 60. The additional 40 were thirty during the silent Shemoneh Esrei and 10 at the end. To cite a secondary source:

h) 100 - The ARUCH himself does not count just 60 Teki'os. He mentions that the custom is to blow 100 Teki'os altogether, corresponding to the 100 wails that Sisera's mother wailed for him when he did not return from the war with the Jews. (He apparently had a Midrashic source for these 100 wails.) It is from the Yevava (cry) of the mother of Sisera that we learn what a Teru'ah is (33b). The extra 40 sounds were blown as follows: 30 during the silent Shemoneh Esreh, and another 10 at the end of the Tefilah, before leaving the synagogue.

Others apparently connect it to the 101 letters in Sisera's mother's lament, but I am not sure how they reckon these 101 letters.

The Meshech Chochma has another take on the 100 blasts, which does not have to do with Sisera's mother. From the same secondary source:

The MESHECH CHOCHMAH (Parshas Tazria) cites another allegorical source for blowing one hundred blasts. The Midrash (Vayikra Raba 27:7) says that when a woman gives birth, she wails and cries out one hundred times. 99 of those cries are out of the conviction that she is going to die, and the final, 100'th cry is out of the realization that she is going to live after all. Similarly, we blow one hundred Teki'os on Rosh Hashanah. 99 are blown out of our fear of the judgment of the day, but with the one- hundredth we demonstrate our confidence that we will emerge from our judgment blessed with life.

Though I would point out that what are described there in Vayikra Rabba are pe'iyot, not yevavot. Which is good, I suppose, given that we are counting blasts, including tekiot, in the 100.

In terms of the Aruch, I would suggest that this midrash is after-the-fact-rationalization of the existing custom that developed. That is, the point of Sisera's mother was just a linguistic connection and nothing more. Further, within the gemara itself, this is a connection to yevava, but not to tekiot as well! Further, what is the basis of the midrash that she cried 100 cries? And if we say that it is the 101 letters, there are 101, not 100 -- assuming we can identify which letters are intended.

Indeed, until the Aruch it would seem that this wasn't the custom. E.g. Rabbi Yochanan, and the brayta, that if one blew 9 blasts at 9 different hours he fulfilled. Rabbi Abahu instituted tashrat, and either he or others much later {depending a bit on girsology -- another post} instituted tarat and tashat, for a total of 30. And even counting those of sitting and of standing, one would have a total of 60.

Rif, who is a bit earlier than Aruch, stated that they blow 30 while sitting, as above, plus while standing, one set {rather than three sets of tarat tashat tashrat each} during each of Malchuyot, Zichronot, and Shofarot. The reason they do not do all tarat tashat tashrat during each Malchuyot, Zichronot, and Shofarot is because of tircha detzubura, because they already fulfilled while seated, and because this is just for the purpose of doing it al haSeder. Rif writes that this was the custom in the entire world and in the two yeshivot, so it would seem that this custom of the Aruch was relatively recent.

I would suggest that they first instituted the custom by having 30 while seated, 30 for the silent Shemoneh Esrei, and 30 for the chazarat haShatz. Then, one set of each as a nice conclusion of davening. Then, this came up as a midrashic basis ex post facto, to justify existing custom.

Thus, I would still maintain that the connection to Sisera's mother is purely linguistic.