Unit 1(L): The Meanings of Shofar Rabbinic Interpretations, Part 3 "Straight and Crooked"

It is for this reason that we blow the shofar sounds Teki'ah--Shevarim--Teru'ah--Teki'ah [and in that order]:

Our Rabbis of blessed memory explained that shevarim means deep sighing, like sick people do. And teru'ah means sobbing and crying, like those who cry over the dead do.

Now, "God has made humans to be righteous [lit: "straight"] (Ecclesiastes 7:29), but humans [often] ruin themselves and are stubborn and crooked. Therefore, we start with the first teki'ah because it is a simple and straight sound, and afterward [we blow] shevarim, deep sighing, which suggests a sickness of the soul [i.e., resulting from minor sins people have committed]; then afterward teru'ah, sobbing, which suggests major sins that cause the death of the soul.

Over [all] this [kind of conduct] a person needs to sigh deeply and sob with much weeping--rivers of tears streaming down their face--and to do teshuvah since the blessed God accepts those who return. And when one does full teshuvah, then they are restored to their original righteous condition, as the blessed God made us to be. And this is [represented by] the last teki'ah which is also a simple and straight sound. For "good and righteous is Adonai, therefore he guides sinners on the path [of teshuvah]" (Psalms 25:8).