Tekia, Teruah - Part II

All difficulties and deficiencies within Creation emanate from boundaries and tzimtzum (constriction). The simple light of God is complete and lacking nothing, but the appearance of creations that are separate created room for blemishes. When a creation is bounded, and then strays out of bounds, it is problematic. Evil is defined as stepping out of bounds, which creates difficulties for the one who has stepped out, and all those around him. If a person plays just one note on an instrument it is never wrong. A note can only be wrong when it is in the middle of a song and the wrong note is played. Because the note is not harmonious with the surrounding notes, the entire composition is ruined. The same is true of our actions. There is no such thing as a wrong action in a vacuum, it is always the context which defines our acts. It is the fact that there are multitudes within creation that creates room for deficiencies. These multitudes are symbolized by the Teruah, the Schechinah.

The Tikkun is achieved by returning to the source of Oneness prior to the existence of distinctions and multiplicity. We begin with a Tekiah, move to multiplicity with the Teruah, and then return once again to Unity with yet another Tekiah, the return to the source. Rosh Hashana is called יום תרועה, a day of Teruah because our focus today is on taking the Teruah and returning it to its source. This is why the Seforim explain that Rosh Hashana is the day of fixing the Schechina by returning it to its upper place in the light of Hashem which is unblemished. By doing so the Schechina rises above any damage caused by sins and other deficiencies of Creation, and it returns home undamaged and perfect. The Teruah is equal to the Tekia with no difference at all. This is why Halacha states that they must be of equal length to show the Schechina returning to its source unblemished. 

The relationship between the Teruah and Tekia is akin to the relationship between the infinite and the finite, between unbounded light, and Creation with boundaries. But the fundamental sound is identical, only the breaks are new, not the sound. This teaches us that within the finite, in a world of boundaries, is found the infinite light. It is the simple sound, from which the Teruah and the entire panoply of sounds, is heard as an echo of the infinite light.

ח"ת ע"ה