What is the meaning of the various blasts of the shofar?

The shofar is a wake-up call. It should stir us to mend our ways and do teshuvah. As Maimonides explained in the Mishneh Torah, the shofar calls out: "Wake up sleepers from your slumber! Examine your ways and repent and remember your Creator" ("Laws of Repentance" 3:4)

Thus, we should look for an explanation of the shofar blasts that relates to the theme of spiritual awakening.
This simple call relates to the soul's inner source of holiness.

Three Levels
The initial blast of the shofar is a long clear sound called a tekiyah. This simple call relates to the soul's inner source of holiness, our innate closeness to God. This inner essence is rooted in a sublime realm that is "infinitely good and infinitely long" and is thus musically represented by the long, clear tekiyah blast.

However, this lofty resource of holiness is not meant to remain secreted within the soul. Spiritual awakening means that this inner holiness should find an external expression through our character traits and actions. Therefore, the long tekiyah blast is followed by a series of shorter blasts called shevarim. The fragmented sounds of the shevarim correspond to the process of the inner soul expressing itself in individual personality traits. Unlike the broad strokes of abstract concepts, the enlightened spirit's glimpses of Divine ideals, character traits are more defined and specific - kindness and generosity, integrity and moral fortitude, and so on. Thus, the shevarim consist of a series of broken blasts, shorter than the clear tekiyah.

Yet, we are not content with only refining our character traits. Our spiritual awakening should also elevate our actions and deeds. Therefore the shevarim are followed by even shorter blasts, the staccato beat sounds called teruah. Since actions are even more detailed - specific behaviors that express the traits of kindness, integrity, etc. - they are audially represented by the rapid trill of the teruah.

In summary, the inner essence of the soul - the tekiyah - refines the character traits - the shevarim - which in turn guide and sanctify the actions - the teruah.

The Final Tekiyah
Each set of shofar blasts concludes with a final tekiyah blast. Like the first tekiyah, this tekiyah represents the core holiness of the soul. But while the first long blast signifies this inner essence as a potential force, the final tekiyah indicates the actualization of its influence on our traits and deeds.

Partial Teshuvah
This is a full, complete set of shofar blasts - tekiyah-shevarim-teruah-tekiyah. However, we also blow two partial sets of shofar blasts, with only shevarim or teruah in the middle. What do these sets of blasts represent?
The optimal situation is when the Divine knowledge is able to penetrate all levels.

Ideally, both our character traits and our actions should be guided by the soul's inner resources. But there are also situations of incomplete spiritual awakening. Some individuals may have proper actions, but fail to uplift and refine their character. This situation is represented by the set of tekiyah-teruah-tekiyah, since only the teruah blasts (i.e., the actions) are influenced by the innate holiness of the tekiyah.

In other cases, there may be internal or external obstacles that prevent the inner soul from expressing itself in deed and action. Nonetheless, there may still be a refinement of the character. This situation is represented by the order of tekiyah-shevarim-tekiyah, as only the shevarim (the traits) are influenced by the tekiyah.

Clearly, the optimal situation is when the Divine knowledge is able to penetrate all levels, encompassing both shevarim and teruah, character traits and deeds. This preferable state is expressed in the verse: "Fortunate are the people who know the teruah-blast; O God, they will go in the light of Your countenance." (Psalms 89:16)

[Adapted from Olat Re'iyah vol. II pp. 326-327]