Sukkah, Daf Nun Gimmel, Part 5
Introduction
Today’s section is a mishnah. The commentary is from Mishnah Yomit.
Since the previous mishnah mentioned the extra shofar blasts that were sounded during Sukkot, today s mishnah discusses how many shofar blasts were sounded on other occasions in the Temple. As we shall see, more shofar blasts were blown on the eve of Shabbat during Sukkot than at any other time during the year.
1) משנה. אין פוחתין מעשרים ואחת תקיעות במקדש, ואין מוסיפין על ארבעים ושמנה.
2) בכל יום היו שם עשרים ואחת תקיעות במקדש: שלש לפתיחת שערים, ותשע לתמיד של שחר, ותשע לתמיד של בין הערבים.
3) ובמוספין היו מוסיפין עוד תשע.
4) ובערב שבת היו מוסיפין שש: שלש להבטיל את העם ממלאכה, ושלש להבדיל בין קדש לחול.
5) ערב שבת שבתוך החג היו שם ארבעים ושמנה: שלש לפתיחת שערים, שלש לשער העליון, ושלש לשער התחתון, ושלש למילוי המים, ושלש על גבי מזבח, תשע לתמיד של שחר, ותשע לתמיד של בין הערבים, ותשע למוספין, שלש להבטיל את העם מן המלאכה, ושלש להבדיל בין קודש לחול.
1) They never have less than twenty-one blasts in the Temple, and never more than forty-eight.
2) Every day there were twenty-one blasts in the Temple, three at the opening of the gates, nine at the morning tamid sacrifice, and nine at the evening tamid sacrifice.
3) At the musafim (additional sacrifices) they would add another nine.
4) And on the eve of Shabbat they would add another six, three as a sign to the people to stop working and three to mark a distinction between the holy and the profane.
5) On the eve of Shabbat in the intermediate days of the [Sukkoth] festival, there were [therefore] forty-eight blasts: three at the opening of the gates, three at the upper gate, three at the lower gate, three at the water-drawing, three at the altar, nine at the daily morning sacrifice, nine at the daily evening sacrifice, nine at the additional sacrifices, three as a sign to the people to cease from work, and three to mark a distinction between the holy and the profane.
Section one: This is an introduction to the rest of the mishnah. We should remember that each tekiah (unbroken sound) and each teruah (staccato sound) counts as one blast. The blasts always come in sets of three, first a tekiah, then a teruah and then another tekiah. Sometimes this order is repeated and sometimes it is performed three times.
Section two: On normal days there were twenty-one blasts. There were three blasts in the morning to announce the opening of the Temple gates, and then nine blasts at each of the two daily sacrifices, the morning tamid and the afternoon tamid.
Section three: On the festivals and on Shabbat there were an extra nine blasts for the musaf offerings. The Talmud explains that no matter how many musaf offerings were offered on that day, nine and only nine blasts were sounded. Thus even on Shabbat during the festival, when there were musaf offerings for Shabbat and for the festival, there were still only nine.
Section four: On the eve of Shabbat there were six other blasts, whose function was not connected to sacrifices or to Temple procedures but rather to Shabbat. There were three blasts that let people know that Shabbat was approaching and that they needed to stop working. And then there were another three blasts to let people know that Shabbat had begun. Interestingly, there was a stone from the ruins of the Temple found in Jerusalem that had written on it "bet hatekiah lehav " which means "the house of blasting to distinguish." Probably, the reference is to the practice in this very mishnah. This stone was once part of the section in the Temple where they blew shofar blasts to distinguish between kodesh (Shabbat) and hol (non-Shabbat). To this day in Jerusalem and in a few other cities in Israel as well they sound a warning to let people know that Shabbat has begun.
It turns out therefore, that on the eve of Shabbat during Pesah or on Shavuot, there would be thirty-six blasts 21 for the normal occasions, 9 for musaf, and 6 for the eve of Shabbat.