How to Get Meaning from the Shofar

(2) Over the passage of the years and throughout the many exiles, doubt has been raised concerning the teru'ah which the Torah mentions, to the extent that we do not know what it1Rosh Hashanah 34a explains that our custom of blowing the shofar was instituted by Rabbi Abahu in Caesaria approximately one hundred years after the destruction of the second Temple. In this halachah, the Rambam explains the reason for Rabbi Abahu's action.
The Rambam's statements are accepted by Rabbenu Asher, Rabbenu Nissim, and most other authorities. Nevertheless, it is significant that Rav Hai Gaon, one of the major authorities who preceded the Rambam, offers a different explanation for Rabbi Abahu's actions.
Rav Hai Gaon maintains that it is impossible that a doubt existed among the Jewish people concerning such an important manner as sounding the shofar. Since the shofar was sounded each year, surely the tradition could have been maintained. Hence, he explains that all the different manners of sounding the shofar were acceptable and that Rabbi Abahu's contribution was the establishment of a uniform custom that included all the different practices common among the Jewish people. By mentioning the "many years" and "exiles," the Rambam addresses himself to the question raised by Rav Hai Gaon. is:
Does it resemble the wailing with which the women cry2thus, it would be short, staccato sounds like sobs when they moan,3The word teru'ah is translated into Aramaic as yevavah (moan), as in Judges 5:28: "Sisra's mother gazed out the window and moaned through the lattice." or4does a teru'ah resemble... the sighs5i.e., longer sounds which a person who is distressed about a major matter will release repeatedly?6Since before a person cries, he sighs (Rosh Hashanah 33b). Perhaps a combination of the two7sighing and the crying which will follow it - is called teru'ah, because a distressed person will sigh and then cry. Therefore, we fulfill all [these possibilities]. - as explained in detail in the following halachah.
The commentaries have emphasized the homiletic aspects of these halachot. On Rosh Hashanah, a Jew must concentrate on the coronation of God as King of the world. He may feel internal distress when he meditates on how his daily behavior does not reflect the proper relation between a subject and his king. Ultimately, this may motivate him to sigh and even to cry. - sighing and the crying which will follow it - is called teru'ah, because a distressed person will sigh and then cry? Therefore, we fulfill all [these possibilities].