by Rabbi Yair Hoffman in the zechus of a refuah shleimah for

yehudis bas yitta

What follows is a summary and overview of the laws of Shofar blowing compiled by Rabbi Shmuel Fink.  There are a number of Baalei Tekiyah and Baal Makrihs that could use this review.  There are also a number of people that are blowing for others in hospitals who could use this review as well.

This summary is not intended to be a comprehensive collection of all of the הלכות of תקיעת שופר.  The intent is only to provide a summary of the basic הלכות found in the משנה ברורה and, to a lesser degree, other similar sources that could be universally accepted and relied upon.  Any מנהג ,הלכה, or advice for which an authoritative source could not be found, was intentionally omitted.  This approach should enable every בעל תוקע and מקריא who is comfortable relying on the משנה ברורה to follow all of the הלכות listed in this summary.  For each הלכה, the exact source is cited, so that if there is any question, the source can be looked up and evaluated.  Of course, the actual הלכות that are followed in each Shul should be determined solely by the Rav of the Shul.

Before תקיעות

  1. Even though we don’t blow שופר on ערב ראש השנה, a בעל תוקע may practice on ערב ראש השנ ה in a closed room.1
  2. A בעל תוקע may practice on ראש השנה itself for that day, but it is אסור to practice after תקיעות on the first day for the second day.2 This is true because we only apply the principle that the two

3.לקולאand not  ,לחומרא  – קדושה אחתare  ראש השנהdays of

  1. When practicing on ראש השנה, a בעל תוקע should stipulate that he does not want to be יוצא the מצוה while practicing.4 This helps, even according to the opinion that מצות אין צריכות כוונה.5
  2. Any foreign object or material (i.e., dry blood6) on the inside of the שופר is considered a חציצה,7 and invalidates the sounds.
  3. Although on the outside of the שופר there is no problem of חציצה, there is a concern that anything stuck or attached to the outside of the שופר could alter – and thereby invalidate – the sounds. Such items should, therefore, be removed before ראש השנה.8  If something on the outside of the שופר changes the sound, the שופר is פסול.9
  4. בדיעבד, if the שופר was blown with something stuck or attached to the outside of the שופר and it cannot be determined whether this material changed the sound, it can be assumed that the sound was not modified and the קולות can be considered כשר.10

1            משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”א ס”ק כ”ד

2            משנה ברורה סימן תקצ”ו סק”ד

3            משנה ברורה סימן תק”ג סק”ד

4            משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ט ס”ק י” א

5            שער הציון סימן תרנ”א ס”ק כ”ט

6            שערי תשובה סימן תקפ”ד סק”ד

7            שלחן ערוך סימן תקפ”ו סעיף ט”ז

8            משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ו ס”ק ע”ב

9            שלחן ערוך סימן תקפ”ו סעיף ט”ז

10          שלחן ערוך הרב סימן תקפ”ו סעיף ט”ז

  1. Nowadays, since the שליח ציבור uses a מחזור, the שליח ציבור can be the בעל תוקע, even for the

11.חזרת הש”ץduring  תקיעות

  1. An אבל (within 12 months for a parent or 30 days for another relative) should not be appointed to be a בעל תוקע. If, however, he is the most fitting person that can be found or has already been blowing שופר in a מנין for a few years, he can do so even while he is in אבלות.12

ברכות   

  1. Before making the ברכו ת, the בעל תוקע should have in mind to be יוצ א the מצוה, himself, and to be מוציא everybody who is listening. If possible, he should say quietly to himself

13.בתקיעות אלו שאתקע לצא ת ולהוציא כל השומעים ידי חובת שמיעת קול שופר הריני מכוון

  1. לכתחילה, the בעל תוקע should not lean on anything while making the ברכות 14 or when blowing any of the קולות.15
  2. When blowing the שופר for a ציבור, the בעל תוקע should make the ברכו ת, even if he was already   יוצא  מצוהthe
  1. When saying the ב רכה of לשמוע קול שופר, the בעל תוקע should say the word “קול” a little more loudly and slowly.17
  2. אשכנזים make a שהחיינו before blowing שופר, on both the first and second day of ראש השנה. If possible, (when the first day of ראש השנה does not fall out on שבת) the בעל תוקע should wear a new article of clothing or have a new fruit on the second day and have in mind for the שהחיינו to go on the new clothing that he is wearing or the new fruit that he will eat later, as well.

However, even if the בעל תוקע does not have new clothing or a new fruit, he should still make the שהחיינו

  1. Before making the ברכו ת, the בעל תוקע should hold the שופ ר in his right hand19 (a lefty should use his left hand) underneath a cover. The שופר should not be taken out until after the בעל תוקע finishes saying both ברכות.  In addition, the שופר should be covered whenever it is not being used.  For example, between the תקיעות דמעומד and during קדיש before the last set of קולות, the שופר should be covered.20
  2. It is אסור to speak from the time the ברכות are made until after the last תקיעה is blown.21 However, any speech that would be helpful for the תקיעות to be blown כהלכה or לצורך  התפילה is not considered a הפסק and is, therefore, not אסור.22

 

11          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ה ס”ק י”ד

12          מטה אפרים סימן תקפ”ה ס”ז

13          מטה אפרים סימן תקפ”ה ס”ג

14          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ה סק”א

15          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ה סק”ב

16          שער הציון סימן תקפ”ה ס”ק ט”ו

17          מטה אפרים סימן תקפ”ה ס”ג

18          משנה ברורה סימן ת”ר סק”ז

19          משנה ברורה סימן ר”ו ס”ק י”ח

20          כף החיים סימן תקפ”ה אות י”ד

21          חיי אדם כלל קמ”א הלכה ט ‘

22          רמ”א סימן תקצ “ב סעיף ג’

The שופר

  1. It is preferable for the בעל תוקע to place the שופר on the right side of his mouth.23 If, however, it is easier for him to blow on the left side, he may.24
  2. There cannot be anything between the שופ ר and the בעל תוקע’s lips.25
  3. The בעל תוקע should hold the שופ ר with his right hand.26
  4. The שופר may be switched in the middle without making a new ברכה. Even if the בעל תוקע did not have in mind to use the new שופ ר when he made the ברכה, as long as at least one קול was blown with the original שופר, he may use a second שופר.27  Nonetheless, the מנהג is to place all the שופרות that the בעל תוקע plans to use, or may use as a backup, on the בימה before the ברכות are made.28

 קולות

  1. לכתחילה, a breath should be taken between each קול.29 For example, when blowing a תש”ת, a breath should be taken between the first תקיעה and the שברים, and another breath between the שברים and the ending תקיעה.
  2. A קול can be very high pitched, very low pitched, or any other sound; because all sounds are כשר

30.תרועה, and שברים ,תקיעהfor a

  1. The שיעורים for the קולו ת are measured in כוחו ת .כוחות, also known as טרומיטין, are the shortest sounds a person can blow, like the individual sounds in a תרועה.31  (An explanation of how to convert כוחות to seconds is provided in the appendix.)

 תקיעה

  1. The minimum length of a תקיעה blown for a תשר”ת is 18 כוחות and a little more.32
  2. The minimum length of a תקיעה blown for a תש”ת is 9 כוחות and a little more.33
  3. The minimum length of a תקיעה blown for a תר” ת is 9 כוחות.34
  4. בדיעבד, it is enough if a תקיעה blown for a תשר” ת is 9 כוחות long. If it is shorter, you are not

35.יוצא

  1. בדיעבד, it is enough if a תקיעה blown for a תש”ת is 9 כוחות long. If it is shorter, you are not יוצא.36

23          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ה סק”ז

24          שער הציון סימן תקפ”ה ס”ק י”ט

25          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ו ס”ק ע”ה

26          מטה אפרים סימן תקפ”ה ס”ד

27          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ה סק”ד

28          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ה ס”ק י”ח

29          שלחן ערוך הרב סימן תק”צ ס”ט

30          שלחן ערוך סימן תקפ”ו סעיף ו ‘

31          שלחן ערוך סימן תק”צ סעיף ג ‘

32          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק ט”ו

33          שער הציון סימן תק”צ ס”ק י’

34          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק ט”ו

35          שער הציון סימן תק”צ ס”ק ד’

36          שער הציון סימן תק”צ ס”ק ד’

  1. בדיעבד, it is enough if a תקיעה blown for a תר”ת is 3 כוחות long. If it is shorter, you are not יוצא.37
  2. Although there is no problem with blowing a תקיעה longer than the minimum שיעור,38 there is no additional מצוה to do so.39

  שברים

  1. לכתחילה, each שבר (the individual sounds in a שברים) should be at least 3 כוחות long.40
  2. בדיעבד, you are יוצא if a שבר (one, two, or all three) was only 2 כוחות long.41
  3. לכתחילה, each שבר in a תש”ת should be less than 6 כוחות long.42
  4. בדיעבד, you are יוצא if a שבר (one, two, or all three) in a תש”ת was 6, 7, or 8 כוחו ת long.43
  5. לכתחילה, each שבר blown for a תשר” ת should be less than 9 כוחו ת long.44
  6. בדיעבד, you are יוצא if a שבר (one, two, or all three) blown for a תשר”ת was 17 כוחות or less.45
  7. In practice, it is best to be consistent and for every שבר to be only 3, 4, or 5 כוחות long. This is true for both a תש”ת and a תשר”ת because the length of every שברים should be roughly the same.46
  8. לכתחילה, when blowing a שברים, more than 3 שברי ם (individual sounds) should not be blown.47
  9. All 3 sounds of the שברים must be blown in one breath. Even בדיעבד, the שברי ם is not כש ר if this is not done.48

 תרועה

  1. לכתחילה, when blowing a תרועה, at least 9 טרומיטין (individual sounds) should be blown. בדיעבד, if between 3 and 8 טרומיטין were blown, you are יוצא.49
  2. There is no problem blowing a תרועה with more than 9 טרומיטין and, therefore, no need to try to stop after exactly 9.50
  3. The individual sounds of the תרועה, including the first and last sounds, should not be longer than the shortest sound the בעל תוקע can produce.51

37          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ג

38          שלחן ערוך סימן תק”צ סעיף ג ‘

39          אגלי טל מלאכת מעמר אות ד’ ס”ק י”א בהגה”ה

40          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ג

41          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ג

42          ביאור הלכה סימן תק”צ ד”ה וי”א

43          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ג

44          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק ט”ו

45          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ג

46          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ג

47          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”א

48          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק ט”ז

49          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ב

50          שלחן ערוך סימן תק”צ סעיף ג ‘

51          ל”א

תשר”ת

  1. It is a good idea to blow the שברים תרועה of תשר”ת before מוס ף (the תקיעות דמיושב) in נשימה אחת (without taking a breath between the שברים and the תרועה) and during חזרת הש”ץ (the תקיעות דמעומד) in שתי נשימות (with a breath between the שברים and the תרועה).52  If there is no established מנה ג to the contrary, this is the way the תשר” ת should be blown.53
  2. When blowing a שברים תרועה in נשימה אחת, there should be a very small break between the שברים and the תרועה. This break should be shorter than the amount of time necessary to take a breath.54
  3. When blowing a שברים תרועה in שתי נשימות, an actual breath should be taken between the

55.תרועהand  שברים

תקיעה גדול ה

  1. A תקיעה גדולה should be blown for the 100th קול. The length of a תקיעה גדולה is “longer than a regular תקיעה.“56
  2. If there is a מנהג to blow additional תקיעות גדולות, the בעל תוקע should be careful not to stretch these תקיעות out too long. The longer the קול is, the more likely it is that one or more of the following problems will occur:  1) The קול will become weaker and quieter and some people may not hear the end of the קול.  If this happens, these people are not יוצא, even though they heard the required שיעור of the תקיעה.57  2) If the קול is very long, people might erroneously begin saying the יהי רצון or היום הרת עול ם before the קול is finished and it is אסור for them to be saying anything during the תקיעו ת.58

Correcting Mistakes – General Guidelines

  1. If a mistake was made in the middle of a line (תקיעה שברים תרועה תקיעה, for example), there is no need to repeat any of the previous lines.59
  2. If the בעל תוקע made a mistake and accidentally blew the wrong קול, or even began blowing the wrong קול,60 he must go back to the beginning of the line and start again from the beginning of the line.61
  3. If the בעל תוקע attempted to blow a קול, but the sound did not come out as he desired, he can try again and does not have to restart from the beginning of the line.62

 

52          שער הציון סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ח

53          שלחן ערוך הרב סימן תק”צ ס”ט  54 משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק י”ח

55          שלחן ערוך ה רב סימן תק”צ ס”ח

56          משנה ברורה סימן תקצ”ו סק”א

57          משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ז ס”ק ט”ז

58          ערוך השלחן סימן תקפ”ה ס”ד

59          שלחן ערוך סימן תק”צ סעיף ט ‘

60          שער הציון סימן תק”צ ס”ק ל”ב

61          שלחן ערוך סימן תק”צ סעיף ח ‘

62          ל”ד

  1. If the בעל תוקע inserted an extra קול that is כשר (a שברים, a תרועה, or a שברים תרועה), even if it was a repetition of the קול that was supposed to be blown63, he cannot continue and blow the ending תקיעה. Instead, he must go back to the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה.64
  2. Although it is true that when an extra קול that is כשר is inserted, you must go back to the beginning of the line; if when blowing a תשר”ת, a שברים without the תרועה or vice versa was inserted, it is not necessary to go back to the beginning of the line.65
  3. If a קול (specifically a שברי ם, a תרועה, or a שברים תרוע ה) that was only כשר בדיעבד is being reblown in order to be יוצא לכתחילה, the individual קול cannot be blown again by itself. The  בעל תוקע must go back and start again from the beginning of the line.66
  4. If it wasn’t determined that the בעל תוקע should go back until after he blew the ending תקיעה for the line, that תקיעה counts as the beginning תקיעה of the line and he can continue from there.67
  5. If it was decided that there is a need to repeat a קול after lines with other קולות were already blown, the line that is being reblown can be repeated even if many lines were blown in between.68
  6. Care must be taken to ensure that two מנינים are sufficiently distant from each other, so that neither מנין hears the שופר being blown in the other מנין in the middle of their own blowing. If קולות can be heard from another לכתחילה ,מנין the שופר should not be blown until they finish all of their blowing.  This way, nobody will hear other קולות in between the קולות he is יוצא with.  This is necessary even if everyone will have specific intention not to be יוצא with the קולות from the other מנין.69
  7. If a mistake was made during the תקיעות דמיושב, the קול must be repeated and you should not rely on the תקיעות דמעומד. Likewise, if a mistake was made during the תקיעות דמעומד, the קול must be repeated and you should not rely on the fact that the קול was already blown in the תקיעות דמיושב.  If, however, the mistake was made in the last 40 קולות and the קו ל is כשר בדיעבד, it is not necessary to repeat the קול for the purpose of being יוצא לכתחילה, and you certainly don’t have to go back to the beginning of the line.70

63          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק ל”ב

64          שלחן ערוך סימן תק”צ סעיף ח ‘

65          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק  כ” ח

66          חיי אדם כלל קמ”ב הלכה י”ב

67          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק ל”ה

68          משנה ברורה סימן תק”צ ס”ק ל”ה

69          ביאור הלכה סימן תק”צ ד”ה במתעסק

70          ל”ה

Correcting Mistakes – Common Cases

  1. If the בעל תוקע made a mistake and accidentally blew the wrong קול, he must go back to the beginning of the line. Therefore, if, for example, instead of blowing a שברים in a תש”ת, the  בעל תוקע accidentally blew a שברים תרועה, he must go back to the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה.  This is true even if only part of the תרועה was blown.
  2. If the בעל תוקע made a mistake and accidentally blew the wrong קול, or even the right קול the wrong way, he must go back to the beginning of the line and start again from the beginning of the line. For example, if when blowing the last תקיעה for the third line of תשר” ת during the תקיעות דמיושב, the בעל תוקע miscalculated and thought he was up to the first תקיעה of the first line of תש”ת and, therefore, blew a short תקיעה that was too short for a תשר” ת, he must go back to the beginning of the third line of תשר” ת and repeat the entire line.
  3. If while trying to get the correct sound out of the שופ ר, the בעל תוקע blew some separate, disjointed sounds that did not come out right, he does not have to go back to the beginning of the line and can continue as soon as he gets the correct sound to come out of the שופר. This is true as long as the בעל תוקע did not blow three sounds within one breath that sounded like a שברים or תרועה.  If, however, while trying to get the correct sound out of the שופ ר, the בעל תוקע produced three sounds within one breath that sounded like a שברים or תרועה, he must go back to the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה.
  4. If the בעל תוקע was not satisfied with a שברים, a תרועה, or a שברים תרועה that was כש ר and, although it is not necessary, he would like reblow the קול. In order to repeat the קול, he would have to go back to the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה.
  5. If while blowing a שברים תרועה the בעל תוקע blew the שברים portion and then had difficulty blowing the תרועה and needs to reblow the קול, the שברים תרועה can be reblown without repeating the תקיעה, as long as three individual sounds of the תרועה were not blown. If, however, at least three טרומיטין were blown, he must go back to the beginning of the line and reblow the first תקיעה before blowing the שברים תרועה over again.
  6. If a קול that was only כשר בדיעבד is being reblown in order to be יוצא לכתחילה, the בעל תוקע must go back and start again from the beginning of the line. Therefore, if when attempting to blow a תרועה the בעל תוקע was only able to blow 3 (or any number between 3 and 8) טרומיטין and then he took a breath, in order to reblow the תרועה to its לכתחילה length of at least 9 טרומיטין, he would have to go back to the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה.
  7. If when blowing a שברים תרועה, the בעל תוקע accidentally blew the קו ל in שתי נשימות when it should have been blown in נשימה אחת or vice versa, he accidentally blew the קול in נשימה אחת when it should have been blown in שתי נשימות; because a קול that was כשר בדיעבד is being reblown in order to be יוצא לכתחילה, the בעל תוקע would have to go back and start again from the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה before reblowing the קו ל as he had originally intended.
  8. If when blowing a שברים, one שבר or two were only 2 כוחות long and one or two sounds of the שברים were 3 (or 4 or 5) כוחות long, the קול is כשר בדיעבד. In order to reblow the קול to be  יוצא לכתחילה, with each sound at least 3 כוחו ת long, the בעל תוקע would have to go back to the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה.  The same הלכה would be true if all 3 sounds of the שברי ם were less than 3 כוחות long.
  9. If the ending תקיעה of a line was blown too short to be כשר לכתחילה, (either because the בעל תוקע was having difficulty continuing the קול or because the בעל תוקע estimated incorrectly that the תקיעה was long enough and stopped) even if it was long enough to be כשר בדיעבד, it can be reblown without going back to the beginning of the line.  This is true because, unlike a שברים or תרועה, if the תקיעה was כשר, the new תקיעה is being blown after the line (after the ending תקיעה was blown) and is not interrupting.  If it was not כשר, the new תקיעה being blown now is the first תקיעה that is כש ר and not the repetition of a קול that is כשר.  The previous קו ל was merely an attempt at a תקיעה that did not work out and does not interrupt the line.
  10. If after blowing a complete line, such as תקיעה שברים תקיעה, it was decided that there was a problem with the שברים, the line must be repeated from the beginning, but the תקיעה that was just blown as the ending תקיעה for the line can instead be considered as the beginning תקיעה of the line that is being reblown, and it is now only necessary to repeat the שברים and the תקיעה.

After תקיעות

  1. After תקיעת שופר it is אסור to blow the שופר without reason, just as it would be on any other יום טוב.71  Nonetheless, the שופ ר is not מוקצה.72  On שבת, however, the שופר is מוקצה.73
  2. It is מותר to blow additional קולות if there is a ספק whether someone was יוצא or even in order to be יוצא in accordance with other שיטות, according to whom you have not been יוצא.74

Note: While it is true that we may try to be יוצא the מצוה of תקיעת שופר in a manner that is “לכתחילה”, even after a mistake was made and it becomes necessary to repeat קולות, the cases in which you are יוצא בדיעבד are, nonetheless, important to know and understand for the following reasons:

  1. a) During the last 40 קולו ת there is no need to repeat these קולות.
  2. b) If a קול that was כשר בדיעבד is going to be repeated, the בעל תוקע must start again from the beginning of the line and repeat the first תקיעה. This is not necessarily the case if the קול was not considered כשר at all.
  3. c) If the בעל תוקע is having a lot of difficulty producing קולות that are כשר לכתחילה, there may be a need to rely on the הלכה בדיעבד.

Questions and comments can be sent to [email protected].

71          רמ”א סימן תקצ”ו סעיף א ‘

72          משנה ברורה סימן תקצ”ו סק”ג

73          רמ”א סימן תקפ”ח סעיף ה’

74          חיי אדם כלל קמ”ב הלכה י”ג

Appendix

Although, as mentioned above, the goal of this summary is to provide only the הלכות that are found in the משנה ברור ה or contemporary or earlier ספרים, in order to make it more practical and useful, this appendix contains some guidelines for converting the שיעורים given by the משנה ברורה into measurements that can be timed on a watch.

Converting כוחות to Seconds

I have timed myself blowing a תרועה (using a computer and software designed to measure sound waves) numerous times.  I have consistently found that I blow between 7 and 8 טרומיטין per second.  This means each כו ח is between 125 and 145 milliseconds.  A slower תרועה would be 6 or maybe even 5 טרומיטין per second, in which case a כוח could be as long 200 milliseconds.  Of course, it is possible to blow a faster תרועה.  If there are 9 טרומיטין per second, the length of a כוח would be as little as 110 milliseconds.  This would be considered a very fast תרועה.

The Number of Seconds for תקיעו ת

Based on the above, we can determine the minimum length of a תקיעה for a תש”ת and תר”ת to be between 1 and 2 seconds.  To be on the safe side, these תקיעות should be at least 2 seconds long.  For a תשר”ת, the minimum length of a תקיעה is 3 to 4 seconds.  Once again, to be on the safe side, these תקיעות should be at least 4 seconds long.

There is some discussion whether the length of a תקיעה depends on the individual בעל תוקע or on an average, as it does for the שיעור of a כזית.  Either way, requiring at least 2 seconds for a תש”ת and תר”ת, and 4 seconds for a תשר”ת makes sense, especially if you don’t want to measure fractions of a second.  The table below illustrates this idea.

Number of כוחות per second       Length of a כוח in milliseconds               Length of a תקיעה for a תר”ת in

seconds (9

(כוחות   Length of תקיעה for a תש”ת in

seconds (a

little more than

(כוחו ת 9            Length of תקיעה for a

in  תשר”ת

seconds (a little more

than 18

(כוחות

Slow      5            200        1.8         2.0         3.8

5.5         182        1.6         1.8         3.5

Normal 6            167        1.5         1.7         3.2

6.5         154        1.4         1.6         3.0

7            143        1.3         1.5         2.8

7.5         133        1.2         1.4         2.6

8            125        1.1         1.3         2.5

Fast       8.5         118        1.1         1.3         2.3

9            111        1.0         1.2         2.2

After coming to this conclusion based on my own measurements and calculations, I saw these exact שיעורים (2 and 4 seconds) brought down and attributed to Rav Moshe Feinstein זצ” ל in a ספ ר called זכרון רפאל משה.  Many Rabbanim require longer שיעורים, which is fine, but 2 and 4 seconds can safely be used if the Shul Rav does not require longer שיעורים.  In the yeshiva where I blow, for example, we use שיעורים from Rav Shraga Feivel Cohen, author of the בדי השלחן.  I am required to blow תקיעות of 4 seconds for תש”ת and תר”ת and 5 seconds for תשר” ת.  It is important when using the 2 and 4 second שיעורים, to make sure that you have 2 (or 4) full seconds from the beginning of the תקיעה until the end.

The Number of Seconds for שברים

In order to make sure that each individual sound of the שברים is at least 3 כוחות long, an effort should be made to make sure that each שב ר is at least half a second.  Given the fact that 3 כוחות is a minimum, and 4 or 5 כוחות would also be לכתחילה, as well as the consideration that the שיעור may depend on the speed of the average בעל תוקע, this seems to be a safe number to work with.  The table below demonstrates this point.

# of כוחות/second    Length of a כוח in ms    Min lngth of שבר in ms

(כוחות 3)

Slow      5            200        600

5.5         182        545

Normal 6            167        500

6.5         154        462

7            143        429

7.5         133        400

8            125        375

Fast       8.5         118        353

9            111        333

 

Obviously, it is impossible to time each sound to be the exact right number of milliseconds.  In the case of a שבר, it’s better for the קול to be a little longer than it is for it to be a little shorter.  The goal should be, therefore, for each שבר to be between a half and two thirds of a second.  The number of seconds brought down by the דרשו משנה ברורה in the name of the חוט שני by Rav Nissim Karelitz confirms the half-second שיעור for each individual שב ר.

Rav Shimon Boxer suggests in שופרא דשופ ר that the simplest way to practice blowing a שברים that is the correct length, and get used to the correct length, is to blow 3 consecutive שברים (9 individual sounds) without a break between them.  If each of the 9 sounds appear to be the same length and all 9 sounds take 5 seconds, each שב ר should be approximately half a second long.  Once again, if the timing can’t be perfect, a little longer is better than a little shorter.

As reported by VINnews