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Shofar, Shofar

Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The blast of a shofar emanating from the thick cloud on Mount Sinai made the Israelites tremble in awe (Exodus 19, 20).

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 and straight in shape, being ornamented with gold at the mouthpiece. 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 curved in shape and ornamented with silver at the mouthpieces. On Yom Kippur of the jubilee year the ceremony was performed with the shofar as on New-Year's Day. Rosh Hoshana is the Jewish New Year. A ceremonial horn, called a shofar is blown, reminding Jews that God is king. A feast with symbolic food is eaten on Rosh Hashana, and the next ten days are spent in repentance. Rosh Hashana ends on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a day of judgment, during which prayers are made asking for forgiveness.

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 noise.

Indeed, Rosh Hashanah is called "Yom Truah" (the day of the shofar blast).

After the temples destruction, the sounding of the shofar on Shabbat was restricted to the place where the great Sanhedrin (Jewish legislature and court from 400 BCE to 100 C.E.) was located.

In practice two species are generally used: the Ashkenazi shofar is a domestic ram (see sheep), while the Sefardi shofar is a kudu.

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

Shofars (especially the Sephardi shofars) are often plated with silver across part of their length for display purposes, although this invalidates them for use in religious practices. According to Jewish law 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.

A hole is made from the tip of the horn to the natural hollow inside. It is played much like a European brass instrument, 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 or French horn, but smaller. Ashkenazi shofars do not.

The tekiah was a plain deep sound ending abruptly; the teruah, a trill between two tekiahs. These three sounds, constituting a bar of music, were rendered three times: first in honor of God's Kingship; next to recall the near sacrifice of Isaac, in order to cause the congregation to be remembered before God; and a third time to comply with the precept regarding the shofar.

The trebling of the series is 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. In addition to these three repetitions, a single formula of ten sounds is rendered at the close of the service, making a total of 100 sounds. According to the Sephardic tradition, a full 101 blasts are sounded, corresponding to the 100 cries of the mother of Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army who did not make it home after being assassinated by the biblical Yael (Judges 5:28). One cry is left to symbolize the legitimate love of a mother mourning her son.

It is blown in synagogues 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, 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.

Edward Elgar's oratorio The Apostles includes the sound of a shofar blowing, although other instruments, such as the flugelhorn, are usually used instead.

The late trumpeter Lester Bowie played a shofar with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In Joey Arkenstat's album Bane , the former bassist for Phish is credited for playing the shofar. In the musical "Godspell", the first act opens with cast member David Haskell blowing the shofar, in preparation for singing "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord." In his performances, Israeli composer and singer Shlomo Gronich uses the shofar to produce a very wide range of notes.

Source: Wikipedia > Shofar