YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel,
saying, In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall
have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an
offering by fire to YHVH." Leviticus 23:23-25
Yom Teruah basically means a day of noise/blasts. Yom Teruah is
known as the Feast of Trumpets in Christianity and is better known
as Rosh Hashannah (the new year) in modern Judaism. But Yom Teruah
isn't really the 'Jewish New Year,' in fact, it falls on the first
day of Etanim, (also known traditionally as Tishri) which is the
seventh month in YHVH's calendar. The real 'new year' is in Aviv
(also known traditionally as Nisan) when Pesakh/Passover
occurs.
Yom Teruah begins a ten-day period leading up to the holiest day of
YHVH's calendar, Yom Kippur -- the "Day Of Atonement." These ten
days are called the 'Days of Awe' in modern Judaism. In fact,
modern Judaism also includes the preceding month of Elul also as a
time to prepare for the upcoming Fall moedim (appointed times). The
sounding of the shofar on Yom Teruah is a wake-up blast -- a
reminder that the time is near for the Day of Atonement. It is time
to teshuvah (repent, turn back to YHVH). Traditionally, these ten
days are ones of heart searching and self examination -- the shofar
warns us we need to examine our lives and make amends with all
those we have wronged in the previous year, and to ask forgiveness
for any vows we may have broken. So a main theme of the Fall Holy
Days is repentance.
Hearing the shofar blow is a mitzvah (command). Most Messianic
congregations follow tradition when it comes to 'how' to blow the
shofar. Traditionally, the Baal Tekiah (shofar blower) begins with
one held blast called Tekiah; followed by three broken blasts
called Shevarim; followed by nine even faster broken blasts called
Teruah. The Tekiah, Shevarim, and Teruah each last the same length
of time. These are repeated three times. Then the Baal Tekiah
concludes by blowing and holding a final blast as long as he can
(basically, until he runs out of breath). This final blast is
called Tekiah Gedolah. I am not convinced that this arrangement of
blows is important to fulfill the biblical command of blowing the
shofar, but I see nothing wrong if tradition prevails in this
instance. Scripturally, no such blast arrangement is mentioned, but
as long as the shofar is blown and people hear it, I would consider
the mitzvah satisfied.