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Translated and adapted from the writings of the Ari by Moshe-Yaakov Wisnefsky
It is explained in Kabbala and Chasidut that on
Rosh Hashanah the act of the creation of the world is in a sense
replayed. Although, since G-d made a covenant with Noah never again to destroy
the world, the world will certainly continue to exist from year to year, the
passage from old year to new year is still a critical nexus point. This is
because the nature of the created universe is being determined at this
time. The energy that powered the previous year is withdrawn and a new energy is
drawn down. Since the creative energy that powers the world is being withdrawn
to its source, there are no "rules", and everything is, in a sense, up for
grabs. Evil can assert that it deserves to receive the new life force of the
coming year, especially in view of the record of its so-called rightful
recipients during the previous year. Therefore, in order that the life force of
the new year be drawn down as it should, that is, channeled mainly into holiness
(and its champions in this world, the Jewish people), it is necessary to ensure
that G-d is "reminded," so to speak, of His original vision of Creation, in
which the Jewish people are His emissaries to make this world into His home.
The word "shofar" [ram's horn] may be analyzed
as follows. The shin- vav together with the 14 joints of the hand holding
the shofar are 320 sparks, which are awakened from "the candle of
darkness".
The word "shofar" is spelled shin-vav-pei-reish.
The numerical value of shin-vav is 300 + 6 =
306. The hand of the shofar-blower has 14 joints (3 in each of the 4
fingers and 2 in the thumb); 306 + 14 = 320. The number 320 is associated with
the attribute of severe judgment (din). The "candle of darkness" (butzina
d'kardinuta) is an appellation of the gevura of Atik Yomin. In the cascading development of the partzufim,
the higher partzuf always serves as the motivation or origin of the next
lower partzuf. In this case, Atik Yomin, the partzuf of
delight, motivates the partzuf of will, Arich Anpin. The way this
"motivation" works is that the seven lower sub- sefirot of the higher
partzuf enter and become vested within the lower partzuf. Chesed
of the higher partzuf becomes vested in chochma of the lower
partzuf; gevura of the higher partzuf becomes vested in the
bina of the lower partzuf, and so on. What is relevant here is that
the gevura of Atik Yomin becomes vested in the bina of
Arich Anpin. We thus see that bina is rooted in a higher gevura.
This is what gives bina its ability to act as the evaluating principle of
the intelligence, weighing the implications of the insight of chochma.
The [other two] letters, pei-reish, signify the
five states of gevura indicated by [the five final letters]
mem-nun-tzadik-pei-chaf, that are awakened from bina.
The numerical value of pei-reish is 80 + 200 =
280. This number is also the combined numerical value of the five letters in the
Hebrew alphabet that have final forms: mem (40) + nun (50) +
tzadik (90) + pei (80) + chaf (20) = 280. The five
final letters are also a phenomenon of gevura or din (severe
judgment), since they indicate a stop or limit of the flow of life-force or
meaning indicated by the other letters. As we have explained previously, the
five states of gevura that originate within bina are the source of
the five states of gevura of daat, which in turn inform the
gevura aspects of Zeir Anpin and Nukva.
We see from all this that the shofar is an
expression of the attributes of severity and judgment.
[...] On Rosh Hashanah, the inner dimension of
the lights of chesed-gevura- tiferet- malchut ascend into bina.  | | " The renewed inner light returns when the shofar is blown..." | | |
Chesed, gevura, and tiferet are the
three principle emotions, and thus signify the partzuf of Zeir Anpin;
malchut of course signifies the partzuf of Nukva. On
Rosh Hashanah, these two offspring of Imma withdraw back into the
womb where they originated, so to speak. The external dimension of the lights of
these partzufim remains in place in order for Creation to continue to
exist. The renewed inner light returns when the shofar is blown.
This is in order to sweeten all the aspects of severe
judgment in the mouth of the one blowing the shofar and in the breath
issuing from his mouth that enters into the shofar. This breath collides
with the seven [aspects of] breath present in bina, and thus produces 260
lights, [this number being] 7 times the numerical value of the word for "breath"
[in Hebrew, "hevel", spelled hei-veit-lamed, 37, plus the kolel].
7 x 37 = 259, adding 1 for the word itself gives 260.
"Bina," says the Zohar, "is the heart,
and through it the heart understands." Although understanding is obviously a
facet of the intellect, the intellect will produce - if all is functioning well
- an emotional response, and thus bina may be seen as the origin of the
emotions. Emotions are felt in the heart, and therefore the Zohar calls
bina the heart.
The arousal of the emotions, which is physically
manifest as the warming of the heart, produces "breath," i.e., the beginnings or
raw material of expression. This breath may ultimately be expressed as words
(when the breath is acted upon and "processed" by the five organs of speech in
the mouth - which themselves manifest the five states of gevura of
bina), or as a scream, a sigh, or a kiss. In any case, the "seven aspects of
breath" of bina are the seven proto-emotions as they exist within bina.
[...] The first set of blasts is
tekia-shevarim-terua-tekia. The first blast is the straight tekia.
One should have in mind [during this blast] that the numerical value of the
[root of the] word "tekia" [spelled taf-kuf-ayin, 570] is [the
same as that of the word for "ten", ("eser", spelled ayin-shin-reish),
and that the numerical value of the rest of the letters ( yud-hei) is 15,]
and that 10 times 15 equals 150.
15 is the numerical value of the divine name "Y-ah"
(spelled yud-hei). Since this name is associated with a sefira
of the intellect, it is considered completely iterated in its ten sub-sefirot,
giving 10 x 15 = 150.
In other words, intend to elicit the 150 lights from
Abba, who is associated with the name Y-ah, to Zeir
Anpin, and from him to Nukva.
[...] In the three blasts of the shevarim, have
in mind that they express the states of severe judgment situated in the throat.
As we have explained previously, the throat is the
narrow passageway from the intellect (the head) to the emotions (the torso). The
transformation from intellect to emotion is a contraction of the original light
or consciousness of the intellect. This process is "dangerous" in that the
emotions can be sidetracked along the way into all other sorts of contexts.
These dangers are the states of din situated in the throat. Although the
Arizal does not mention it here, these states of din are generally
identified with the three ministers of Pharaoh (the butcher, the baker, and the
butler), who are associated with the esophagus, the trachea, and the jugular
vein. Pharaoh himself is associated with the neck, since the word for "neck" (in
Hebrew, "oref") is spelled with the same letters as is the word "Pharaoh".
Pharaoh (and Egypt in general) signify the constricted state of intellectual
bondage, in which the intellect is prevent from giving birth to emotions (this
is why the Egyptians threw the Jewish babies into the Nile).
[...] These three blasts then expand into the nine
blasts of the terua. Intend through these [latter] to sweeten these
states of judgment [manifested by the shevarim] by means of the chesed
situated in the throat. Specifically, the [throat is the origin of the] guttural
letters alef-chet-ayin-hei, whose combined numerical value is 84. This
number is 2 times 42, the number of letters in the two names Havayah
spelled out with the letter yud.
Again, since we are at the level of intellect, the
three states of gevura expand into their full iteration of 3 x 3 = 9.The
letters of the Hebrew alphabet are divided in terms of their origin in the mouth
into the dentals, labials, gutturals, palatals, and linguals (Sefer Yetzira
2:3).
The numerical value of the name Havayah when
spelled out with the letter yud is 72, as we have explained previously.
Spelling out this name in two iterations requires 42 letters (4 for the name
itself, 10 for the first iteration, and 28 for the second iteration).
These [two names Havayah] are the two drops of
42-letters situated in bina, that is, in the throat, and they are names
Havayah spelled out with the letter yud. | | " The breath of the lungs...rises to the throat in search of expression..." | | |
As we said, the breath of the lungs, warmed by the
heart (related to bina), rises to the throat in search of expression. As
we have explained previously, each of the four spellings-out of the name
Havayah is associated with a specific partzuf, and this one is
associated with chochma, i.e., the initial insight on which the analysis
of bina operates. The presence of bina in the throat is thus the
presence of the insight of chochma at the core of bina. This
presence of original insight acts to mollify (i.e., sweeten) the severity of the
bina-process and allows it to remain inspired by the recollection of the
original insight. This is a manifestation of chesed, which is also
indicated by the fact that 72, the numerical value of this name (in its first
iteration), is also the numerical value of the word "chesed" (spelled
chet-samech-dalet, 8 + 60 + 4).
Finally, in the last tekia [of this series],
intend to combine all these elements together. The [states of severity] first
appeared as three [in the shevarim], and were then expanded into nine [in
the terua], and are now united into one simple blast [indicating that
they have become sweetened.
Just as the first tekia is the sweetening light
of Abba/chochma, the original insight.
In describing the next two sets of blasts,
tekia-shevarim-tekia and tekia-terua-tekia, the Arizal states that
the intentions for the tekias that frame each set at the beginning and
end are the same as described above, i.e., eliciting the light of Abba
into Zeir Anpin and thence to Nukva. The middle blasts (shevarim
and terua) also indicate various aspects of severe judgement, differing
based on the numerical values of the number of beats in each as reflected in the
various Divine Names possessing equivalent numerical values. Specifically, the
shevarim indicate the "hard severe judgments" while the terua
blasts indicate the "soft severe judgments," presumably because they are more
"pulverized" than the shevarim.
| | " In the set of 30 blasts there are 270 short beats...the numerical value of the word for "evil"..." | | |
In any case, it is clear that the overall idea is to
sweeten the judgements of the middle blasts by the simple straightforward blast
of the tekia. In Chassidut, it is explained that the tekia
indicates the "primal scream" of the soul expressing its ineffable yearning and
absolute desire for G-d in His essence. The shevarim and terua
blasts reflect the brokenhearted crying that results when the revelation of the
tekia-consciousness focuses then on the individual's actual behavior in
the here and now.
[...] All three sets - tekia-shevarim-terua-tekia,
tekia-shevarim-tekia, and tekia-terua-tekia - are blown three
times, giving a total of 30 blasts.
The tekia is sounded for 9 beats, the
shevarim are sounded for 3 beats each, making 9 beats, and the 9 blasts of
the terua are each 1 beat long, again giving 9 beats. Thus:
In the set of 30 blasts there are 270 short beats.
Now, 270 is the numerical value of the word for "evil"
(in Hebrew, "ra", spelled reish-ayin).
The entire set of thirty blasts is sounded three
times: (1) before Musaf, (2) during the silent recitation of Musaf,
and (3) during the repetition of Musaf, totaling 90 blasts. In addition,
the three sets are again blown - once each, i.e. 10 blasts - during the
Kadish after Musaf. The grand total is thus 100 blasts.
[During the 270 beats of the 30 blasts before Musaf]
intend annihilate the evil inclination toward idol worship. During the 270 beats
of the 30 blasts of the silent Musaf, intend to annihilate the evil
inclination toward sexual aberration. During the 270 beats of the 30 blasts of
the repetition of Musaf, intend to annihilate the evil inclination toward
murder. During the final ten blasts after the prayers, during the Kadish,
intend to annihilate the evil inclination towards slander.
Normally, if a person is faced with the choice of
committing a sin or being killed, he may commit the sin in order to save his
life. There are three exceptions to this, however: idol worship, major sexual
offenses, and murder. Although one is not required to lay down his life rather
than speak slander, we are nonetheless taught that slander is such a heinous
crime that it is considered as grave as these three cardinal sins.
[Shaar HaKavanot, Rosh Hashanah 9]
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