Trance Setting of Psalm 150

GOR / Francesco Banchini
album - Qumran
Shofar

Halelu yah halelu-‘el beqodsho haleluhu bireqia’ ‘uzzo
haleluhu bigevurotav haleluhu kerov gudlo
haleluhu beteqa’ shofàr haleluhu benével vekinor
haleluhu vetof umachol haleluhu beminnim ve’ugav.

--
Sal.150, 1- 4

Survey of Shofar Blowers

Cantor Pincus's shofar class

Cantor Daniel Pincus teaches shofar and has embarked on a research project to better understand contemporary shofaring.

Thank you for your interest.

917-494-2724 cantordanielpincus.com

Yiddish - "To Blow Shofar"

In Yiddish, "blow shofar" is typically rendered, "blozen shofar" or "blozn shofar."*

However, History of the Yiddish Language, Max Weinrich, identifies "tetshn" as meaning "blow shofar". The term appears to have been used regionally and moving towards obsolescence by mid-16th century.  The book also uses the spelling, "tetschen."

The book cites the proverb, "Fier tetschen hat man kaan chochme neitig" (No wisdom is needed to blow shofar). While this suggests that anyone can make a lot of noise, it is appears to contradict the Talmudic distinction that  blowing shofar is chochmah (a skill), and not work (Rosh Hashanah 29a and Shabbat 117b).

It is thought that the Yiddish term is a borrowing from Latin of, "TOCĀRE"

History of the Yiddish Language, Max Weinrich, Yale University Press
Volume 1
Volume 2


* (Du) blozst" is "(you) blow".

Reik Interpretted

My book, Hearing Shofar: The Still Small Voice of the Ram's Horn, devotes most of a chapter to discussing the theories of Theodor Reik about shofar. The following blog post by Rabbi Morey Schwartz summarizes Reik more efficiently than I could:

I realize that the [shofar's] sound is technically the vibration of the air as it runs through the horn; however, I could not help but think about it differently based on an incredible idea that I read last year – an understanding of the sound of the shofar as suggested by Theodor Reik, a close disciple of Sigmund Freud.

Take a look at the following verse, describing the experience of revelation on Mt. Sinai:

And when the voice of the shofar waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. (Exodus 19:19)

Based on this wording and a number of other proof-texts, Reik suggested a simple but profound notion – the sound we hear when we blow on the shofar – voice of the shofar – is the sound of the voice of God….that is to say, if you were standing at Sinai on the occasion of the giving of the Torah – the bellowing sound of God’s voice would have sounded to you like the sound of the shofar.

And therefore, on Rosh HaShanah, we pray our hearts out to God - and then we stand in His presence and await His answer…..so convinced we are that our prayers will be answered, we ourselves play back the sound of that voice through the use of the instrument that most closely resembles what it would sound like to our hears,* as described in chapter 19 of the Book of Exodus.  In fact, perhaps it is for this reason that the mitzvah associated with shofar is to hear it’s blasts, rather than to blow on it – even though the former cannot be achieved without the latter.

I suspect that the phrase "our hears" is a typographical error. But did the author mean, "our ears" or "our hearts"? I suppose it doesn't matter.

Shofar Macro Photo

Extreme close-up reveals texture and colors in horn. Photo by "papadon" at Smugmug.

Jewish Museum - Venice

Antique shofarot in Museo Ebraico di Venezi. The photographer, jsnyder42 notes that they are 18th century, but this is not supported by the signage.

Shofar Knot

Talmud Tractate Rosh Hashanah disqualifies as a shofar a horn that has been turned inside-out or manipulated so that the narrow end of the horn has a wide opening and the big end of the horn has a small openning.

But what if a horn is somehow tied into a knot? Can it qualify as a shofar?

Let me know what you think and why. What, if any, ritual or spiritual significance might a knotted horn have?

------
Taking this question a step further, I am trying to imagine blowing a Klien Bottle shofar.

Keratin and Shofar

The horns used for shofar are composed principlly of a protein called "keratin".  This term is derived from the Greek word, keras  which is in term derived from (or at least from the same linguistic stock) as the Hebrew word keren -- both words mean "horn." Keren is also a biblical synonym for shofar (in the same way that "horn" can be used to mean "trumpet".)

Playing with words, then, it is as if the horn that is the molecule gets transformed into the horn that is the horn that gets transformed into the horn that is blown.

A similar configuration exists at a molecular level. The keratin protein is made up of helical amino acids that are then coiled and paired into protofilaments that are, in turn, twisted into long, strong filaments.  This structure is called a coiled coil or a superhelix.

Rope has a similar structure in which small fibers are twisted into twine that is twisted into plies and then, finally into a rope. While each small fiber may be fragile, the twisting puts lateral pressure on the fibers to squeeze them together so friction (or molecular bonds) can hold hold them together tightly. By reversing the direction of twist at each stage, all the individual fibers end up aligned along the length of the rope, providing maximum structural integrity. More, the forces of the opposing twists cancel each other out so their is not a tendency to unwind.

As with rope, the superhelix or "super twisted coiled coil" structure of keratin imparts great strength to the body parts made of the proteins.

Keratin structure  from  PubMed

The keratin in horn, hair, skin, wool, nails, claws, and hooves is alpha keratin, different from the beta keratin in feathers, beaks, and reptile scales. Keratin is highly insoluble in water.

The protein in bone is collagen and also has a superhelical form, a triple helix.

Horns on Altars

Quote

I discuss these keren in Chapter XX of Hearing Shofar: The Still Small Voice of the Ram's Horn. Here are some artistic interpretation of the altar.

Cornelis Danckerts, detail from map De Stadt Ierusalem, 1710 ca.

...another one has just left

What a beautiful image -- the shofar marking the launching of "wor-ship": 

“Jerusalem is a Port City on the Shore of Eternity”

From "Jerusalem, 1967" (Verse 21)
Yehuda Amichai

Jerusalem is a port city on the shore of eternity.
The Temple Mount is a huge ship, a magnificent
luxury liner. From the portholes of her Western Wall
cheerful saints look out, travelers. Hasidim on the pier
wave goodbye, shout hooray, hooray, bon voyage! She is
always arriving, always sailing away. And the fences and the piers,
and the policemen and the flags and the high masts of churches
and mosques and the smokestacks of synagogues, and the boats of
psalms of praise and the mountain-waves. The shofar blows: another one
has just left. Yom Kippur sailors in white uniforms
climb among ladders and ropes of well-tested prayers.

And the commerce and the gates and the golden domes:
Jerusalem is the Venice of God.


Translated by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell, Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai, University of California Press, 1996


Click here to see other shofar related images in his poetry.

Shofar Classes in Visalia, CA

Master Blaster coming to Visalia, will blow you away with Shofar

Photo of event from Valley Voice Newspaper 2011-05-21.

The Bible asks, "When a shofar (ram’s horn) is blown in a town, shouldn't people be alarmed?" In reply, Cynthia Simonian says not to worry, the shofar blowing to be heard in Visalia on May 15th is only Congregation Beit Shalom's Israeli Independence Day Festival.  Simonian, a lay leader of the Jewish congregation, is inviting neighbors from throughout the Central Valley to come visit her synagogue for a day of Jewish heritage, cultural awareness, music, Israeli dancing, and good food.

The celebration will also feature shofar classes and demonstrations by Michael Chusid. He is a Ba'al Tekiah, Hebrew for the Master Blaster of the shofar, and the author of Hearing Shofar: The Still Small Voice of the Ram's Horn, a three-volume compendium of information about shofar, available as a free download at www.HearingShofar.com. Chusid has taught thousands of people to blow the shofar, and has offered to teach everyone coming to the Festival. "It is much easier than you think," he says, "and most people find it very fulfilling to be able to connect with the ancient, soulful calls of the shofar.

The first reference to shofar is in the Book of Exodus, where the Israelites heard the shofar while receiving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. "However, in the Jewish mystical tradition," Chusid adds, "the shofar is related to the spirit of God described in the second verse of Genesis." He will lecture on how the message of shofar is a theme that flows through the entire Hebrew Bible. While the shofar is most commonly blown on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Chusid says that people of all faiths are now using shofar in worship, ritual, and music.

Simonian says the Festival is free to the public and runs from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. It will take place at Beit Shalom, 115 E. Paseo Ave., Visalia, CA. The event will have activities for the entire family, including a tour of the Synagogue, crafts, games, demonstrations, a film on "How to Write a Torah," other guest speakers, and a gift shop. More information can be found at www.BeitShalomVisalia.com or by calling (559) 308-1333.

The Broken Matzah

The Passover table is set with three matzah. Early in the seder, we break the middle matzah. In The Holistic Haggadah, pages 46-47, Michael L. Kagan relates the whole matzot to "your true self... Whole in the head, without any fermentation, spoilage, without any masks. Just you, as you were as a child... And this is how you wish to be again." He then says the broken matzah is, "lost innocence, lost faith, broken spirit, distance from God, Galut - Exile - from Self."

This mirrors teachings about the sequence of shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah that explain we begin life whole - tekiah - and then experience brokenness - teruah. But redemption is possible, and we return to a state of wholeness - tekiah.

Later in the seder, we eat matzah with maror and charoset, combined to make a "Hillel Sandwich." Kagen offers a "deepening" about custom:

This theme of whole-broken-whole can also be identified in the sounds of the shofar blown on Rosh HaShannah. There are three notes: Tekiah - one long blast (matzah); Shvarim - three broken notes (maror); and Teruah - nine staccato notes (charoset). Why these notes and why this order - one:three:nine:one? The Tekiah is the ONE that we all emerged from, that we all knew before our lives lost their innocence and we all became broken, removed (Galut - Exile) from the Source. This state of Galut is heard in the Shvarim. The Teruah is our recognizing this loss, entering the pain and crying out (Teshuvah - Return). We then return to the ONE but as conscious, mature [humans] - this is Geulah - Redemption. The length of the Tekiah must be as long as the Shvarim-Teruah. Three notes of the Teruah must equal one of the Shvarim. This sandwich must be constructed so that the salami and pickle do not stick out over the sides. In other words, the spiritual reality is that everything is contained within the ONE all the time even though it may not feel like it. And it is this sandwich as Hillel's Sandwich... that we will be eating, not hearing, later this evening.

Click here for other teachings linking shofar with Passover.

The Chariot

My teacher, Rabbi David Cooper, has this to say about the Jewish mystical tradition of Ma'aseh Merkavah, the Works of the Chariot:

The chariot, of course, is a metaphor. It's not a physical chariot but rather it's a vehicle toward higher consciousness. It's that way of living, that way of seeing things, and the way of acting that raises our consciousness to ever higher levels. And there are teachings in Talmud that describe various practices that one could do to raise their awareness, ultimately to God consciousness.

In many ways, the sound of the shofar symbolizes the chariot itself. But the sound of the shofar takes us back to the primordial sounds upon which the creation is built, and it's these primordial sounds that represent the potential to attain God consciousness. So when we hear the call of the shofar, it's as if we are standing in the chariot ascending to that level of awareness that will ultimately bring us to a paradigm shift that is called in Kabbalah, messianic consciousness, that is to say that things will be different, we'll relate to each other in new ways, we'll see the world through entirely new eyes. 

Rabbi David Cooper's audiotape series "The Holy Chariot" is available from Sounds True, PO Box 8010/Dept. BP98, Boulder, CO 80306-8010. Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/2000/05/The-Holy-Chariot.aspx#ixzz1LIaw6VER

See also:
http://rabbidavidcooper.com/cooper-mp3-index/?currentPage=13

http://www.beliefnet.com/Wellness/2000/05/The-Holy-Chariot.aspx

Even Bin Laden Had a Mother

The sages tell us that the broken sound of shofar should sound like Sisera's mother while she awaited the return of her son, General Sisera, a murderer. Some communities blow the shofar 101 time on Rosh Hashanah. They teach that one hundred of the blasts are too drown out the memory of Sisera. But we must remember, on the 101st blast, the pure pain of a mother that has lost her son.

With this ethical teaching in mind, I was appalled by the TV pundit who. last night, said we should be ecstatic over the death of Bin Laden.

Pray for peace.

Shofar Door Pulls

Boston (Brookline), MA. Temple Ohabei Shalom (1922-28).  Shofar shaped door handles. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber, 2010.