Rothschild Machzor

The Tablets of Stone and a shofar pierce the veil of heaven as Moses receives the Law. This detail is from the Rothschild Machzor (1490) with part of Perkei Avot.

Another shofar from page 43 of 50. Artistically, the curve of the shofar is repeated in the horn from which the person emerges, and in the curly tendrils of the floral motif. 

Center for Online Judaic Studies

Shofar on Erev Pesach

While shofar is most closely affiliated with Rosh Hashanah, I have come to see it as an important part of Passover as well. Here is an excerpt from the Altabet Family Haggadah drawing upon the family's Sephardi traditions (emphasis added):

Erev Passover (Afternoon) -- The Passover Offering
On Erev Pesaĥ, 14 Nissan

The Minĥah prayer is in lieu of the daily afternoon offering. In Temple times, the Passover offering followed the Minĥah offering. Therefore, it is an appropriate time to study the seder of the Passover Offering after Minĥah:

"We offer the words of our lips in place of the sacrifice of bullocks."

The Passover offering is brought from young male lambs or goats and slaughtered anywhere in the Temple court only after midday of the fourteenth of Nissan, after the slaughtering of the daily afternoon offering and after the afternoon cleaning of the menorah cups. One should not slaughter the Passover offering while leaven is possessed. If slaughtered prior to the minĥah, it is acceptable, as long as someone stirs the blood of the Passover offering so it does not congeal until the blood of the daily afternoon offering has been sprinkled. Then the blood of the Pesaĥ offering is sprinkled once toward the altar‘s base.

How is it done? The shokhet slaughters it, and the first Kohen at the head of the line receives it and hands it over to his colleague, and his colleague to his colleague. The Kohen nearest the altar sprinkles it once toward the base of the altar. He returns the empty vessel to his colleague, and his colleague to his colleague, receiving first the full vessel and then returning the empty one. There were rows of silver vessels and rows of golden vessels, and the vessels did not have flat bottoms, in case they set them down and the blood would congeal.

Afterwards, they hung the Passover offering, flayed it completely, tore it open, and cleansed its bowels until the wastes were removed. They took out the parts offered on the altar, that is the fat that is on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with fat on them and the tail up to the backbone, and placed them in a ritual vessel. The Kohen then salted them and burned them upon the altar, each one individually. The slaughtering, the sprinkling of its blood, the cleansing of its bowels and the burning of its fat override the Shabbat, but other things relating to it do not override Shabbat. Also, if it falls on Shabbat, the Passover offerings are not carried home, but one group remains with their Passover offerings on the Temple mount, the second group sits in the area just outside the Temple court, and the third stays where it is in the courtyard.

After nightfall, they go to their places and roast the Passover offering. The Passover offering was slaughtered in three groups, each group consisting of no less than thirty men. The first group entered, the Temple court was filled and closed, and while they were slaughtering and offering its parts on the altar, they recited the Hallel; if they finished Hallel before everyone sacrificed, they repeated it, and after repeating, they might recite it a third time. Each time Hallel was recited, they [the Kohanim] sounded three blasts of the shofar: tekiah, teruah, tekiah.

When the offering ended, they opened Temple court doors, the first group went out and the second entered, and they closed the Temple court doors. When they finished, they opened the doors, the second group went out and the third entered. The process for each group was the same. After they all left, they washed the Temple court, even on Shabbat, of the soil of the blood.

How was the washing done? A water channel passed through the Temple court and had an outlet from the court. When they wanted to wash the floor, they shut the outlet and the stream overflowed its sides until the water rose and flooded all around and all the blood and dirt of the court were gathered to it. Then they opened the outlet, everything drained out and the floor was fully cleaned; this is for the honor of the Temple.

If the Passover offering was found to be unacceptable, one did not complete his obligation until he brought another. This is a very concise description of the seder of the Passover offering. May reciting it be regarded in place of its offering.

We mourn for the destruction of the Holy Temple, and plead before God, the Creator of the universe, that He rebuilds it speedily in our days.

Then, "At home, prior to attending the Arbit [Evening] service: Our custom is to sound the shofar as the gabbaim did in Turkey did in the late afternoon as their signal to the community that it was time to close up the shops: tekiah, teruah, tekiah."

After services, candle lighting marked the start of the seder.

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Some Christians now celebrating a Passover seder. A quick search of the internet reveals examples of them beginning their seders with a shofar blast.

Toy Shofarot

Made by Yoder Manufacturing Company. From National Music Museum, Vermillion, SD

$7 from Judaica by Solomon, 12 inches long. "Great for your child to learn with!"

Why do we give children "toy" shofarot instead of the real thing? A real shofar need not be expensive, and will probably last longer than a cheap plastic toy (unless the dog chews it). I suspect it is due to the assumption that a real shofar is too difficult to blow. Most of these toys have a reed in the mouthpiece that vibrates to make noise; they do not require the buzzing of lips. Yet I find children as young as eight readily (or less) quickly get the hang of blowing a real horn, and like the loud noise it makes.

$169.99 for 100. What a deal, from MileChai.com in Denver. Their video, below suggests using to drown out Haman's name on Purim, a use for shofar that I have espoused.

Wooden Rosh Hashanah set from KidKraft, about $30. The shofar is not hollow.

The toys with reeds miss the point. We are to hear the shofar; its external appearance is not the important part. With this in mind, I like these shofarot made from PVC pipe. Getting children involved in assembling and decorating the "horns" engages them in ways that a store bought gimmick can't. In addition to inculcating cultural and religious values, they will have the shared experience of working with an adult, and learn about tools and the physics of sound. And while PVC does not have the overtones of an actual animal horn, the pipes have the unmistakable sound of a trumpet and of vibrating lips. Play (in both the musical and recreational sense of the word) on these tubes prepare the youngsters for blowing an actual shofar. And I think children know the difference between buzzing lips and blowing an ersatz noisemaker; we shouldn't be condescending to them. (Note that a straight length of almost any tubing can also be blown as a trumpet.)

The following is not a toy shofar, but it is a shofar toy.  The shofar blower is clearly an up-to-date dude.

http://modernjewishhome.blogspot.com/2010/08/rosh-hashana-blowout-sale.html

Shofar Cookie Cutter

Mbiu - An African "Shofar"

Made from an ox or cow horn, this does not qualify as a shofar. I am including it here because of its beautiful decorative work and as another example of a sideblown horn.

It is in the collection of the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, and the photo is used by permission. Catalog Number 7097, it came from Lamu, Kenya, and is of 20th century origin. The curator's notes say it is probably a mbiu Swahili for buffalo horn.

My Swahili dictionary says that a mbiu, "is beaten as a musical instrument." While the artwork and blowhole on this specimen suggests it was not intended for beating, the definitions supports my contention that shofarot are also fine percussion instruments.

The curator continues, "In Lamu, a coastal town of North Eastern Africa with a rich cultural history, the side-blown horn was used by early chieftains to show their power and authority. In Swahili language this curved side-blown horn is called Siwa... The present instrument, however, does not qualify as siwa, but may have been used by town criers as signaling instrument. In this case it would have been called mbiu; however, this type was usually not decorated."

Sources for additional information:
Jim de Verre. “A Note on the Nomenclature of Side-Blown Horns on the Swahili Coast.” African Musicology 1/1 (1983), pp. 14-17.
James de Verre. “The Siwas of Pate and Lamu: Two Antique Side-Blown Horns from the Swahili Coast.” AARP (Art and Archeology Research Papers) 9 (1976), pp. 38-47.

Shofar Menorah

Offered by Christianbook.com, this hannukiah is 5 X 9.5 inches and costs $15 plus shipping. The site does not make clear if the menorah is made from a cast material or a natural horn (which could char), is actually capable of being sounded, if it's length is measured along the horizontal or around the curve (making it much smaller), nor if the candle holders create perforations into the cavity of the horn (thus making it unfit for use on Rosh Hashanah). Still, shofar is connected to the Hannukah as described in the Book of Maccabees. I have written about this in Hearing Shofar: The Still Small Voice of the Ram's Horn, Chapter 3-5.

From www.someecard.com, these are not my views.

Does not apply where I pray.

The sound is supposed to arouse fear!

Does this refers to a jazz concert?

Shofar mural overhead in home

The photo shows the center segment of a ceiling mural by Cathy Rader, located in a private home in Northridge, CA .

Rader, a San Diego-based graphic artist and friend of the family, designed and painted the acrylic collage of Chagall images in 1994, in time for the daughter's Bat Mitzvah celebration party.

The family went to San Diego to assist the artist in painting the 32' long x 8' high mural, done in four sections on foam board, each 8' square. It was reassembled on their 16' high living room ceiling.  The colorful mural with a shofar being blown in the middle, along with other famous Chagall images, is a joyous site to behold and to sit under.

Photo and artist interview (c) by Joy Krauthammer.

And Sarah Laughed

"Sarah and the Angels" Marc Chagall, c. 1960, Color Lithograph

And He said: 'I will certainly return unto thee when the season cometh round; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.' And Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. And Sarah laughed within herself, saying: 'After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?' Genesis 18:10-12

Some say Sarah was laughing at God in doubt that she could conceive. Others say her laughter was at the pleasure of procreation.

I say, Chagall had it right when he used shofar to illustrate the moment. Shofar is deeply imprinted with the energy of birth:

• Is both the rigid male phallus, and the vessel of the female womb.
• Is the cry of new born life, even as it is the call of the new year.
• Is made from a horn, an ancient and eternal symbol of fecundity.

While shofar is most frequently associated with whimpers and sobs, it is also the sound of laughter used to mark new moons, coronations, victories, healings, and the dance. It has been pointed out that "צחוק- laughter and צעקה- screaming are similar in the the holy tongue."

Sarah laughed. The shofar laughes. Good will laugh.

Thank you to Google

Thank you to Google and the other search engines used in my shofar research. This image was apparently used by Google Israel on Rosh Hashanah 2006.

Shofar during Pograms

An article titled "Self Defense" at www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org* describes Jewish resistance to pograms in Russia and Austria-Hungary from the end of the 19th century until after World War I.

During the pogroms of 1881–82, self-defense was organized spontaneously in different places. Equipped mainly with light arms, the defenders relied on the numerical strength of the Jewish masses to try to prevent the rioting mobs from penetrating their streets... In Balta, the teacher Eliezer Mashbir organized a self-defense unit largely made up of porters, coachmen, and apprentices, and even set up a form of communication through signaling with blasts of the shofar. 

*The article cites its source as Encyclopaedia Judaica © 2008.

Let My People Google

Nothing about shofar, just a lot of fun. Pesach Tov!

Help Identify this Shofar

How old is this shofar and from where does it come?

Charlie K. from Wilmington, DE sent me this photo and asked a question:

I'm hoping that you might be able to help me identify the shofar shown in the attached photo. A friend of mine found it in an antique shop in California and sent it to me. We are both powder horn collectors, and he thought I would like to have an old shofar since it is also made of horn.

I do like it, but my wife and I plan to donate it to our synagogue. She runs the gift shop and thinks it would be a nice item for raising a little additional money. Its honey colored patina does suggest it is not of recent vintage. Can you provide any information as to age, origin, and value so she can describe and price it correctly?

During my years of researching shofar, I have not found a thorough study of shofar styles and regional or chronological characteristics.

It appears to be from a sheep (not a goat or antelope).

It's honey-colored patina does suggest it is not of recent vintage, but it is not as darkly discolored as the 100 year old shofarot I have seen in the collection of the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles. So I would narrow our investigation to the 20th century.

While it is hard to tell from the photo, it appears to have been flattened. This is a characteristic I associate with Ashkenazi, but this doesn't narrow it much either.

It reminds me, in size, shape, and ornament, of a shofar I knew when I was a child, circa 1960.

I love the saw tooth details around its mouth, and the overall texture suggests that it was not produced on high speed polishing equipment that yields, in my opinion, an overly smooth finish on shofarot being commercially produced today.

But let's turn our attention to more important things. How does it sound? Is it easy to blow? Are there any weak or thin spots or cracks that could perforate the side wall?

Your idea of donating it to the synagogue is praiseworthy. But I question if selling it in the gift store is the best use for it. First, if your congregation has a place to display historic Judaica, consider putting this into the collection since it does have a sensibility absent in contemporary shofarot. And if the congregation plans to sell it, perhaps some sort of charity auction would draw a better price?  I will start the bidding at $76, since this is clearly older than the shofarot I have, nor do I have a good example of a flat style.

Perhaps one of this blog's readers can shed more light on your question.

 --------------------- PART TWO ------------------

April 2, 2011 - Charlie K. writes

Thanks for posting the shofar picture.

Based on your comments, here is a little more info. The patina is not as rich as it appears to be in the picture, but I don’t think it has ever been cleaned – at least in modern times. The surface shows no evidence of machine work – only a minor amount of hand scraping. For the most part, it is the natural surface with partially raised grain.

As you observed, the stem portion has been flattened. In addition, the tip appears to have been formed partially by heat and partially by a small amount of material removal. There are several worm holes in it – a few are through holes, but most seem to be surface damage only.

Although I am not an expert on shofars, I have handled thousands of horn items over the past 45 years [as a collector of powder horns], and my gut feel is that this is a 19th century piece or at latest, very early 20th century.

With regard to donating it, our synagogue has no space for displaying antique Judaica nor any interest in doing so. That is why my wife decided to put it in the shop. She appreciates your bid of $76.00, but her gut feeling and mine as well is that it is worth more than that. So, let’s see what your blog readers say, and then we can decide what to do.

Come on readers, let's bid up the price of this horn -- all proceeds go to a charity. Send me your bids and I will forward them to Charlie. Do I hear $180?

The perforation of the side wall by a worm hole, alas, would proscribe the horn according to halacha, unless it could be patched with the same material -- a piece of horn. For example, you could whittle a plug, heat the horn, then jamb the plug into the hole so it forms a tight fit as the horn cools. Or you could heat a piece of horn until it starts to melt, then plug the hole with the molten horn. I have no first hand experience doing this -- do any of my readers know a good horner?