A shofar is a horn

Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...

, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 services on Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...

 and Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...

.
Shofar come in a variety of sizes.

Bible and rabbinic literature

The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

, the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

 and rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...

. The blast of a shofar emanating from the thick cloud on Mount Sinai

Biblical Mount Sinai

The Biblical Mount Sinai is the mountain at which the Book of Exodus states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God...

 made the Israelites tremble in awe (Exodus 18, 20).

The shofar was used to announce holidays (Ps. lxxxi. 4), and the Jubilee year

Jubilee (Biblical)

The Jubilee year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years , and according to Biblical regulations had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the territory of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah; there is some debate whether it was the 49th year The Jubilee...

 (Lev. 25. 9). The first day of the seventh month (Tishri) is termed "a memorial of blowing" (Lev. 23. 24), or "a day of blowing" (Num. xxix. 1), the shofar. They were for signifying the start of a war (Josh. 6. 4; Judges 3. 27; 7. 16, 20; I Sam. 8. 3). Later, it was also employed in processions (II Sam. 6. 15; I Chron. 15. 28), as musical accompaniment (Ps. 98. 6; comp. ib. xlvii. 5) and eventually it was inserted into the temple orchestra by David (Ps. 150. 3). Note that the 'trumpets' described in Numbers 10 are a different instrument, described by the Hebrew word 'trumpet' not the word for shofar .

The Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

 describes the first day of the seventh month (1st of Tishri = Rosh ha-Shanah) as a zikron teruˁah and as a yom teruˁah . This was interpreted by the Jewish sages as referring to the sounding of the shofar.

In the Temple in Jerusalem

Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

, the shofar was sometimes used together with the trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

. On New Year's Day the principal ceremony was conducted with the shofar, which instrument was placed in the center with a trumpet on either side; it was the horn of a wild goat

Wild Goat

The wild goat is a widespread species of goat, with a distribution ranging from Europe and Asia Minor to central Asia and the Middle East. It is the ancestor of the domestic goat.-Social structure:...

 and straight in shape, being ornamented with gold at the mouthpiece

Mouthpiece (brass)

On brass instruments the mouthpiece is the part of the instrument which is placed upon the player's lips. The purpose of the mouthpiece is a resonator, which passes vibration from the lips to the column of air contained within the instrument, giving rise to the standing wave pattern of vibration in...

. On fast days the principal ceremony was conducted with the trumpets in the center and with a shofar on either side. On those occasions the shofarot were rams' horns

Domestic sheep

Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...

 curved in shape and ornamented with silver at the mouthpieces. On Yom Kippur of the jubilee year

Jubilee (Biblical)

The Jubilee year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years , and according to Biblical regulations had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the territory of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah; there is some debate whether it was the 49th year The Jubilee...

 the ceremony was performed with the shofar as on New Year's Day.

On Rosh Hashanah and other full holidays (Day of Atonement, Ingathering of the harvest (Sukkot

Sukkot

Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...

), Passover and the Feast of Weeks – Pentecost) a single Priest perfected two sacrifices in honor of the full holiday, (Note that festivals such as Hanukah and Purim, are not considered full holidays requiring an extra sacrifice). On Rosh Hashanah, something special occurred during the special sacrifice. Arguably two Shofar Sounders played the long notes and one Trumpet player played the short note. Accordingly, Rosh HaShanah is called Yom Teruah (the day of the blast) Otherwise, the Trumpets had “top billing.” Rosh Hashanah27a, supports this claim: “Said Raba or it may have been R. Joshua B. Levi: What is the scriptural warrant for this? – Because it is written, “With trumpets and the sound of the Shofar shout ye before the King in the Temple, we require trumpets and the sound of the Shofar; elsewhere not.”

Indeed, on Yom Kippur, the Shofar was sounded to announce the
Jubilee Year

Jubilee (Biblical)

The Jubilee year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years , and according to Biblical regulations had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the territory of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah; there is some debate whether it was the 49th year The Jubilee...

 (every 50-years, Jews were granted forgiveness, debts were forgiven, indentured Israelites were granted freedom, and the fields "shall become owned by the priests." Shofar first indicated in Yovel (Jubilee Year - Lev. 25:8-13). Indeed, in Rosh Hashanah 33b, the sages ask why the Shofar sounded in Jubilee year. Further support is found in Rosh Hashanah 29a, where the Talmud talks of trumpets for sacrifices but Shofar in the Jubilee Year does not apply to priests who are exempt from the obligations of the jubilee. Perhaps, we have the first mention of Shofar Sounding by non-Priests. Perhaps the first distancing away from the Sacrificial Cult.

Otherwise, for all other special days, the Shofar is sounded shorter and two special silver Trumpets announced the sacrifice.

When the trumpets sound the signal, all the people who were within the sacrifice prostrate themselves, stretching out flat, face down and on the ground.

The shofar was blown in the times of Joshua

Joshua

Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...

 to help him capture Jericho

Jericho

Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...

. As they surrounded the walls, the shofar was blown and the Jews were able to capture the city. The shofar was commonly taken out to war so the troops would know when a battle would begin. The person who would blow the shofar would call out to the troops from atop a hill. All of the troops were able to hear the call of the shofar from their position because of its distinct sound.

Post-Biblical times

In post-Biblical times, the shofar was enhanced in its religious use because of the ban on playing musical instruments as a sign of mourning for the destruction of the temple. (It is noted that a full orchestra played in the temple.) The shofar continues to announce the New Year, and the new moon,, to introduce Shabbat

Shabbat

Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

, to carry out the commandment to sound it on Rosh Hashanah, and to mark the end of the day of fasting on Yom Kippur once the services have completed in the evening. Secular uses have been discarded (see a notable exception in a section further down).

The shofar is primarily associated with Rosh Hashanah. Indeed, Rosh Hashanah is called "Yom T’ruah" (or "Yom Teruah") (the day of the shofar blast). In the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

 (book of early rabbinic laws derived from the Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

), a discussion centers on the centrality of the shofar in the time before the destruction of the second temple (70 AD). Indeed, the shofar was the center of the ceremony, with two silver trumpets playing a lesser role. On other solemn holidays, fasts, and new moon celebrations, two silver trumpets were featured, with one shofar playing a lesser role. The shofar is also associated with the jubilee year

Jubilee (Biblical)

The Jubilee year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years , and according to Biblical regulations had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the territory of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah; there is some debate whether it was the 49th year The Jubilee...

 in which, every fifty years, Jewish law provided for the release of all slaves, land, and debts. The sound of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah announced the jubilee year, and the sound of the shofar on Yom Kippur proclaimed the actual release of financial encumbrances.

The halakha

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 (Jewish law) rules that the shofar may not be sounded on Shabbat due to the potential that the ba’al tekiyah (shofar sounder) may inadvertently carry it which is in a class of forbidden Shabbat work. The historical explanation is that in ancient Israel, the shofar was sounded on Shabbat in the temple located in Jerusalem. After the temple’s destruction, the sounding of the shofar on Shabbat was restricted to the place where the great Sanhedrin

Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...

 (Jewish legislature and court from 400 BCE to 100 C.E.) was located. However, when the Sanhedrin ceased to exist, the sounding of the shofar on Shabbat was discontinued.

The shofar says, "Awake, sleepers
from your sleep, and slumberers arise from your slumber!" Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance 3:4.

Mitzvah

The Sages indicated that the mitzvah

Mitzvah

The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...

 was to hear the sounds of the shofar. They went so far as to consider a shofar blown into a pit or cave and to decide whether a person who hears the original sound or the echo has fulfilled the mitzvah. Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 27b). The Shulchan Aruch sums up that if the hearer hears the reverberation, the mitzvah is not valid. However, if the listener perceives the direct sounds, he fulfils the mitzvah. Thus, most modern halakhic authorities hold that hearing a shofar on the radio or the Internet would not be valid to satisfy the mitzvah because "electronically reproduced sounds do not suffice for mitzvot that require hearing a specific natural sound. . . . However, one should consult a competent rabbi if an unusually pressing situation arises, as some authorities believe that performing mitzvot through electronically reproduced sound is preferable to not performing them at all."

According to Jewish law

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 women and minors are exempt from the commandment of hearing the shofar blown (as is the case with any positive, time-bound commandment), but they are encouraged to attend the ceremony.

If the Baal Tekiyah (shofar sounder) blows with the intention that all who hear will perform the mitzvah, then anyone listening—even someone passing by—who intends to hear the Shofar can perform the mitzvah because the community blower blows for everybody. If the listener stands still, it is presumed he intends to hear. If one hears the blast but with no intention of fulfilling the mitzvah, then the mitzvah has not been fulfilled.

Qualifications

The expert who blows (or "blasts" or "sounds") the shofar is termed the Tokea (lit. "Blaster") or Ba'al T'qiah (lit. "Master of the Blast"). Being a Ba'al T'qiah (shofar sounder) is an honor. Every male Jew is eligible for this sacred office, providing he is acceptable to the congregation. "The one who blows the shofar on Rosh Hashanah . . . should likewise be learned in the Torah and shall be God-fearing; the best man available." If a potential choice will cause dissension, he should withdraw his candidacy, even if the improper person will be chosen. If a blind blower was dismissed, but the community did not find a blower as proficient, he should be appointed as community blower.

The Shulchan Aruch discusses who is fit to blow the shofar on behalf of a congregation:

• Anyone not obligated to fulfill the mitzvah of sounding the shofar cannot fulfill the commandment for (cover) another whose duty it is to perform the mitzvah.
• Although a woman (who is exempt from this mitzvah because it is time bound) may not blow the shofar for men (whose duty it is to perform the mitzvah), a female Ba'alat T'qiah may intone the shofar for herself and other women. Similarly, she may say a blessing over the mitzvah even though it is not mandatory (the requisite blessing contains the words “asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v’tzivanu”, "who sanctified us with His commandments [mitzvot] and commanded us to ...", but women are not commanded in this mitzvah).
• Only a freeman (not even a slave who will become free in the next month) can be a Ba'al T'qiah.

The Ba'al T'qiah shall abstain from anything that may cause ritual contamination for three days prior to Rosh Hashanah.

Choice of animal

According to the Talmud, a shofar may be made from the horn of any animal from the Bovid

Bovid

A bovid is any of almost 140 species of cloven-hoofed ruminant mammal at least the males of which bear characteristic unbranching horns covered in a permanent sheath of keratin....

ae family except that of a cow or calf, although a ram is preferable. Bovidae horns are made of keratin

Keratin

Keratin refers to a family of fibrous structural proteins. Keratin is the key of structural material making up the outer layer of human skin. It is also the key structural component of hair and nails...

 (the same material as human toenails and fingernails). An antler

Antler

Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species.-Etymology:Antler originally meant the lowest tine, the "brow tine"...

, on the other hand, is not a horn but solid bone. Antlers cannot be used as a shofar because they cannot be hollowed out.

There is no requirement for ritual slaughter (shechita), and theoretically, the horn can come from a non-kosher animal because under most interpretations of Jewish law the shofar is not required to be muttar be-fikha (literally: permissible in your mouth); the mitzvah

Mitzvah

The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...

 is hearing the shofar, not eating the animal it came from. The shofar falls into the category of tashmishei mitzvah, objects used to perform a mitzvah that do not themselves have inherent holiness. Moreover, because horn is always inedible, it is considered afra be-alma (mere dust) and not an unkosher substance.

The Elef Hamagan (586:5) delineates the order of preference: 1) curved ram; 2) curved other sheep; 3) curved other animal; 4) straight—ram or otherwise; 5) non-kosher animal; 6) cow. The first four categories are used with a bracha (blessing), the fifth without a bracha, and the last, not at all.

Construction

In practice two species are generally used: the Ashkenazi and Sefardi shofar is made from the horn of a domestic ram, while a Yemeni shofar is made from the horn of a kudu

Greater Kudu

The Greater Kudu is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas, due to a declining habitat, deforestation and hunting....

. A Moroccan Shofar is a flat Shofar with no curves besides the main curve; years ago, when the Morrocan Jews were not allowed to practice Judaism, it was easy to hide it in their clothes because of its flat shape.

A crack or hole in the shofar affecting the sound renders it unfit for ceremonial use. A shofar may not be painted in colors, but it may be carved with artistic designs (Shulkhan Arukh, Orach Chayim

Orach Chayim

Orach Chayim "manner of life" is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of Halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law primarily pertinent to the Hebrew calendar...

, 586, 17). Shofars (especially the Sephardi shofars) are sometimes plated with silver across part of their length for display purposes, although this invalidates them for use in religious practices.

The horn is flattened and shaped by the application of heat, which softens it. A hole is made from the tip of the horn to the natural hollow inside. It is played much like a Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an brass instrument

Brass instrument

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...

, with the player blowing through the hole, causing the air column inside to vibrate. Sephardi shofars usually have a carved mouthpiece resembling that of a European trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 or French horn

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

, but smaller. Ashkenazi shofars do not.

Because the hollow of the shofar is irregular in shape, the harmonic

Harmonic

A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...

s obtained when playing the instrument can vary: rather than a pure perfect fifth, intervals

Interval (music)

In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...

 as narrow as a fourth, or as wide as a sixth may be produced.

Sounds

Biblical commandment

The T'qiah and teruah sounds mentioned in the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 were respectively bass and treble

Treble (sound)

Treble refers to tones of high frequency or range. In music this corresponds to high notes, and for this reason the treble clef is often used for instruments with higher pitch. Examples of treble sounds are guitar tones, female voice , young boy voice, etc. They have frequencies above 9 KHz. Treble...

. The t'qiah was a plain deep sound ending abruptly; the teruah, a trill

Trill

Trill may refer to:* Trill , a type of musical ornament* Trill consonant, a type of sound used in some languages*Trill, a type of bird food-Fiction:* Trill , two symbiotic races of aliens in the fictional Star Trek universe...

 between two t'qiahs. These two sounds, constituting a single unit of shofar sounding, were rendered three times during a service added specially for Rosh HaShanah

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...

: first in honor of God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

's Kingship (malchiot); next to recall the near sacrifice of Isaac

Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac Akedah or Akeidat Yitzchak in Hebrew and Dhabih in Arabic, is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah...

, in order to cause the congregation to be remembered before God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 (zichronot); and a third time to comply with the precept regarding the shofar (shofrot).

The word t'ruah (a broken sound) appears three times in the Bible in the context of the shofar, from which the Talmud derives the rule that three such sounds must be made. In addition, other verses connect the word t'qiah (an unbroken sound) to t'ruah twice, thus leading the Talmud to rule that each t'ruah must be preceded and followed by a t'qiah, leading to a total of nine blasts (t'qiah-teruah-t'qiah three times).

Over time doubts arose as to the correct sound of the teruah. The Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

 is uncertain whether it means a moaning/groaning or a staccato

Staccato

Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...

 beat sound. A system of three sounds was therefore devised to account for all the possibilities:

• Sh'varim is composed of three connected short sounds.
• Teruah is a series of nine very short notes divided into three disconnected or broken sequences of three notes each. The nine notes of the teruah is equal the three notes of the sh'varim in duration.
• T'qiah is slightly longer than the length of either the sh'varim or the teruah.

The doubt as to the nature of the Biblical teruah, whether it was simply a broken moan (sh'varim), a staccato (teruah) or both (sh'varim-teruah), necessitates three near-repetitions to make sure of securing the correct sound. The sequence of the shofar blowing is thus:

1. T'qiah, sh'varim-t'ruah, t'qiah
2. T'qiah, sh'varim, t'qiah
3. T'qiah, teruah, and then a final blast of 't'qiah g'dolah which means "big tekiah," held as long as possible.

This series is also known by its acronyms: TaShRaT, TaShaT, TaRaT, respectively.

When blowing the sh'varim-teruah, the t'qiah is lengthened to be slightly longer the duration of the sh'varim and the teruah together.

Some opinions require trebling the series, based on the mention of teruah three times in connection with the seventh month (Lev. xxiii, xxv; Num. xxix), and also on the above-mentioned division of the service into malchiyot, zichronot, and shofarot.

To fulfill all of the opinions and criteria above, a total of thirty blasts are sounded, the minimum number required today:

• Tashrat three times, yielding twelve blasts
• Tashat three times, yielding nine
• Tarat three times, yielding nine

Alternatively, although fewer opinions are satisfied, some communities sound a single series of Tashrat-Tashat-Tarat without trebling. This may also fulfill the required total of thirty blasts, if t'qiah is counted as one note, sh'varim three, and teruah nine.

Regardless, all halachic authorities teach that one should follow his community's custom.

Modern practice

It is customary to hear 100 or 101 sounds in the synagogue, although the minimum requirement is to hear 30 sounds.

The shofar is sounded just before, during and after the Musaf prayer on Rosh HaShanah

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...

. For the sounding just before Musaf, after the Torah reading, relevant verses from the Bible are recited, followed by two blessings: one on the Biblical commandment of "hearing the sound of the shofar" and the blessing of Shehecheyanu

Shehecheyanu

The Shehecheyanu blessing is a common Jewish prayer said to celebrate special occasions. It is said to be thankful for new and unusual experiences. The blessing has been recited by Jews for nearly 2000 years...

. After that, thirty shofar blasts are sounded. In the Musaf prayer itself, the shofar is sounded three times during the silent prayer, and then again three times during the leader's repetition. For each of these soundings, ten appropriate selections from the Bible are recited, followed by a benediction, followed finally by a series of ten shofar blasts. After leader's repetition of the Musaf prayer is completed, a final series of ten (or eleven, depending on the community's custom) shofar blasts are sounded, yielding a total of 100 or 101 blasts. (Some communities do not blow the shofar during the silent Musaf prayer, instead blowing the 30 blasts after the leader's repetition.) After the service is over, it is customary to blow another series of thirty blasts "to confuse the Adversary

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

."

According to the Sephardic tradition, a full 101 blasts are sounded, corresponding to the 100 cries of the mother of Sisera

Sisera

Sisera was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor mentioned in the of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by Barak, Sisera was killed by Jael, who hammered a tent peg into his temple....

, the captain of Jabin's

Jabin

Jabin is a Biblical name meaning 'discerner', or 'the wise'. It may refer to:* A king of Hazor, at the time of the entrance of Israel into Canaan , whose overthrow and that of the northern chief with whom he had entered into a confederacy against Joshua was the crowning act in the conquest of the...

 army who did not make it home after being assassinated by the biblical Yael

Yael

Yael is a character mentioned in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible, as the heroine who killed Sisera to deliver Israel from the troops of king Jabin...

 (Judges 5:28). One cry is left to symbolize the legitimate love of a mother mourning her son.

Religion

The shofar is used mainly on Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...

 and Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...

. It is blown in synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

s to mark the end of the fast at Yom Kippur, and blown at four particular occasions in the prayers on Rosh Hashanah. Because of its inherent ties to the Days of Repentance and the inspiration that comes along with hearing its piercing blasts, the shofar is also blown after morning services for the entire month of Elul

Elul

Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days...

, the last month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth of the Jewish ecclesiastical year. It is not blown on the last day of month, however, to mark the difference between the voluntary blasts of the month and the mandatory blasts of the holiday. Shofar blasts are also used during penitential rituals such as Yom Kippur Katan

Yom Kippur Katan

Yom Kippur Katan , is a practice observed by some Jews on the day preceding each Rosh Chodesh or New-Moon Day, the observance consisting of fasting and supplication, but being much less rigorous than that of Yom Kippur proper....

 and optional prayer services called during times of communal distress. The exact modes of sounding can vary from location to location.

In an effort to improve the skills of shofar blowers, an International Day of Shofar Study is observed on Rosh Chodesh Elul, the start of the month preceding Rosh Hashanah.

National liberation

During the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 and the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 rule of Jerusalem, Jews were not allowed to sound the shofar at the Western Wall

Western Wall

The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...

. After the Six Day War, Rabbi Shlomo Goren

Shlomo Goren

Shlomo Goren , was an Orthodox Religious Zionist rabbi in Israel who founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequently as the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983.He served in the Israel Defense Forces during three wars,...

 famously approached the Wall and sounded the shofar. This fact inspired Naomi Shemer

Naomi Shemer

Naomi Shemer was a leading Israeli songwriter hailed as the "first lady of Israeli song and poetry."-Biography:Naomi Sapir was born on Kvutzat Kinneret, a kibbutz her parents had helped found, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. In the 1950s she served in the Israeli Defense Force's Nahal...

 to add an additional line to her song Jerusalem of Gold, saying: "a shofar calls out from the Temple Mount

Temple Mount

The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...

 in The Old City".

Non-religious musical usage

The shofar is sometimes used in Western classical music. Edward Elgar

Edward Elgar

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...

's oratorio

Oratorio

An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...

 The Apostles

The Apostles (Elgar)

The Apostles, Op. 49, is an oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra composed by Edward Elgar. It was first performed on 14 October 1903.-Overview:...

includes the sound of a shofar blowing, although other instruments, such as the flugelhorn

Flugelhorn

The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...

, are usually used instead.

In pop music, the shofar is used by the Israeli Oriental metal band Salem in their adaptation of "Al Taster" psalm. The late trumpeter Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...

 played a shofar with the Art Ensemble of Chicago

Art Ensemble of Chicago

The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago's AACM in the late 1960s. The group continues to tour and record through 2006, despite the deaths of two of the founding members....

. In Joey Arkenstat's album Bane, the former bassist for Phish

Phish

Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...

 is credited for playing the shofar. In the musical Godspell

Godspell

Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...

, the first act opens with cast member David Haskell

David Haskell

David Michael Haskell was an American film, stage and television actor and singer.-Career:Haskell is best remembered for his dual performance in the 1970s in the New York City, New York, Off-Broadway musical-theatre production Godspell and its subsequent film adaptation Godspell: A Musical Based...

 blowing the shofar, in preparation for singing "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord." In his performances, Israeli composer and singer Shlomo Gronich

Shlomo Gronich

Shlomo Gronich is a male Israeli composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, and choir conductor.- Biography :Shlomo Gronich grew up in a musical family in Hadera. He holds a B.A. in Music Education from Tel Aviv Educational Academy, and a B.A. in Composition from the Mannes School of Music, New York...

 uses the shofar to produce a very wide range of notes. In Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith

Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....

's score to the film, Alien, the shofar is part of the orchestration.

Further reading

• Arthur l. Finkle, Shofar Sounders Reference Manual, LA: Torah Aura, 1993

External links

• How to Play Shofar
• shofar blowing
• Shulkhan Arukh limited English translation includes Rosh Hashanah chapters 585-590 regarding the shofar.
• Hearing Shofar: The Still Small Voice of the Ram's Horn, A three volume compendium of information about shofar.