2. Introduction
16 instruments mentioned in the Torah
Shofar appears 72 times
Mentioned in the Old Testament
Most frequent instrument
Instrument developed by the ancient
Hebrews
Specific manufacture instructions given by rabbi
Made from Ram’s right horn
Smooth Horn
Crescent shaped
3. The Shofar
Etymology means
“trumpet”
First used in Torah
(Exodus 19:16,19)
On Mount Sinai
Camp trembled with fear
4. Forms of the Shofar
Ritual
Memorial of blowing of trumpets (Leviticus 23:24)
Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:9)
Transfer of the Ark (2 Samuel 6:15)
War
Walls of Jericho (Josh 6:4,6,8,13)
○ Symbolic meaning
○ Perceived as being supernatural
Signal
Commands and ceremony (1 Kings 1:34,39)
Feast of New Moon (Psalm 81:3)
Alarm (Ezekiel 33:3)
Solomon’s Succession to the Throne (1 Kings 1:34)
Confounding Evil
Solomon's prayer (1 kings 8:37, Leviticus 26:6)
10. Symbolism
Monotheism
Transcendental powers (sound of the
neshama)
References in Torah to the sound God
makes while walking
Part of a dominant cultural symbol
During Rosh Hashanah
Different sounds symbolize different
meanings
Tekiah
Teruah
Shevarim
TekiahGedolah
12. How it is used in modern Israel
Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur
Presidency
Welcoming Shabbat
Holocaust
Siren sounded for two minutes on Yom
Hashoah (Day of Remembrance)
Meant to match the Shofar wail
Shofar as a call for action
13. Resources
Braun, Joachim. Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine: Archaeological, Written, and
Comparative Sources. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002. Print.
David, Hillel. “The Significance of the Shofar.” 6 Apr. 2012.
http://www.betemunah.org/shofar.html
Greene, Virginia. “Accessories of Holiness": Defining Jewish Sacred Objects.” Journal
of the American Institute for Conservation, 31 no. 1. Spring 2009
Hammer, Rabbi Dr. Reuven. “Shofar History and Tradition.”
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Rosh_Hashanah/In_the_Co
mmunity/Shofar.shtml.
Montagu, Jeremy. Musical Instruments of the Bible. Boston: Scarecrow Press, 2002.
Print
Rosenbloom, Lila. “Jewish Remembrance: Yom Hashoah, the Zionists, and the Shofar.”
University of Maryland. 2009
Sendry, Alfred. Music in Ancient Israel. New York: Philosophical Library., 1969. Print.
Wulsat, David. “Sounding of the Shofar” The Galpin Society Journal. May, 1973
“Shofar.” Mid-East Mfg., Inc. 2001-2006. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. http://www.mid-
east.com/Info/shofars.html.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13602-shofar
Editor's Notes
Smooth, crescent shaped and usually just over a foot in length. Talmud specifies that a shofar must not less then three hand-breadths long to be used for ceremonial purposesMad from the horn of a Goat or ram2.Tamud tractates “roshassanah, sabbath” Qumran writings3. Rabinnical authority examples: if it had a hole which has been stopped up, if this interferes with the blast then it is not valid. If one shofar is put inside of another shofar and if one can hear the sound of the inner one he there by performs his relitious duty, but if he hears the sound of the outer one he does not thereby perform his religious duty. If he turns it inside out (with water) does not perform religious duty. Rabbinical scribes stated that if one blew the shofar simply to make music, he has performed his religious duty. -it may increase resonance of inner shofar, or it could have some spiritual connection with ritual.
*right horn larger then left*jewish new year, day of blowing trumpets. Talmud makes it very clear it was the shofar**special significant event, city walls destroyed as a result of some supernatural power attached to the use of the horn. Additional word used in the torah “soprothayyoblim” could attach some symbolical meaning.
Ritual: in the ritual objects termed “tashmishey mitzvah” aka “accessories of religious observance” or, more clearly, “objects which make it possible to perform a commandment.” This category also includes most other ritual objects essential to Jewish life.War: different signals marked a particular role. Priests had been assigned the improtant role in the batt.e They directed the operations of the troops in the midst of the combatants. They gave appropriate signals with the shofar blasts that marked different phases of the engagement. Assembly, advance, attach, ambush, reassembly and recall all had different blasts. Varied in the conspicuous rhythmic. The Torah indicates in Numbers the different calls the Trumpet made. Signal: Solomons proclamation Confounding Evil: a way to avoid catastrophes (doesn’t rain for 40 days) and fight away demons, fight away pestilence, famine. Shofar not blown for excessive rain
*two forms of shofar used:Straight or Linear Horn (usually from ram) at the New Year: mouthpiece covered with gold -Natural tone preserved at all cost when worked on or repaired -great attention to quality of it. (thick,thin to make clean or pure sound) -decorating horns-carved text -natural occurring horn mentioned in ex. 19:13,16. in ancient near east -there is also context from iconographic evidence that is the pre Roman period (pre israelite-Judaen context)2. Yemenite shofarSizes over 50 inches-easier to blow because they are larger
*other sounds that can describe a sobbing, moaning, or a voice*accommodates itself to a variety of situations, evoking magical atmosphere that can function symbolically. *tones could be short, calm, sustained and quavering*Qumran War Scroll mentions it as a “mighty alarm”*qol (means the voice), yabbaba, r’aThe Torah (numbers 10:6-8) mentions two different sounds, the teki’ah and the teru’ah. Since the rabbis were not certain exactly what the teruah was, two possibilities emerged: the shevarim, broken sounds resembling a moan, and the teruah, an outcry of nine staccato notes. Both are used todayKNOW WHAT EACH VOICE MEANS:Word yebabah
The two blessings, “to hear the sound of the shofar” andSheheheyanu (who has kept us in life), are recited by the person who sounds the shofar. Worshippers listen
-Ashkenazim Jews use Shofar only on RochhaShanah and Yom Kippur while Sephardic, Southern and Oriental Jews use it in many other occasions; ritual and secular for celebrations and to signal Shabbat-Moroccan (well shaped mouthpieces), Persian (tip is cut off flat); other different inscriptions on the Shofar in Germany and Poland in 17th century; Yemenite shofars-Differences in how Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews call (Sephardim ends with TruahG’dolah, Ashkenazic ends with TkiahG’dolah)
-horn became instrument that “brought human sacrifice to an end and sealed God’ covenant with Abraham” (Gerson, Kiwi, 1980; cf. Gen. 22:13)-symbolizes purity of the soul, symbolizes beginning of a new year and starting new/purity-Day of Atonement, New Moon feast, Day of Penitence known for transcendental powers-Other cases symbolically reminds the faithful to remember the ram sacrificed by Abraham instead of his son (Gen. 22:13)->sacrificed the ram instead of the son, appeared out of nowhere happened to be caught in a bush; a blessing-after Adam and Eve sin for the first time, the Torah quotes “Bereshit (Genesis) 3:8 And they heard the voice (kol) of HaShem God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of HaShem God amongst the trees of the garden.”-the question God asked Adam was “Where are you?”-could be taken as where are you spiritually/morally-during Rosh Hashannah it is sounded to start a new year and begin reevaluating where someone stands in life-more of a profound question-used with a Menorah, Etrog, Lulav to impact Jewish culture (Shofar is always used in these symbols)->symbol of nationalism and identification-Israelites connected the blowing of the shofar with magic and sorcery. Blowing of shofar on New Year’s day was supposed to remind God symbolicallly of his promise given to Abraham, Jacob, and IsaacTekiah: a long blast, calls for repentance and for one to search their own heartTeruah: wavey sound; calls for people to stand by their God through an alarm clock soundShevarim: broken sound; symbolizes crying and sorrow with the desire to redeem themselvesTekiahGedolah: prolonged, unbroken sound; final appeal to complete full repentance SHOUT: It is said in Joshua, the priests blew the shofars, while the people shouting: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the shofar, the people shouted with a great shout so that the wall fell down flat. -in this context it is not a merry noise but a noise of war and the Shofar is consistently used as a signaling instrument
-Shofar blasted every morning during the month before Rosh Hashanah except the morning before-symbolizes mandatory and voluntary blast difference; need a day in between to mark this distinction between voluntary and mandatory blasts-when a new president is sworn in--replaced by a mechanical simulacrum heard over all Jerusalem-everyone stop what they’re doing and stands silently-meant to call people to action; to remind them to never forget and make sure it doesn’t happen again