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.
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, including,
perhaps, a primitive organ.) The shofar continues
to announce the New Year and the new moon, to
introduce the Sabbath, and to carry out the
commandments on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The
secular uses have been discarded (although the
shofar was sounded to commemorate the
reunification of Jerusalem in 1967) (Judith Kaplan
Eisendrath, Heritage of Music, New York: UAHC,
1972, pp. 44-45).
The shofar is primarily associated with Rosh ha-Shanah.
Indeed, Rosh Hashanah is called "Yom T’ruah" (the
day of the shofar blast). In the Mishnah (book of
early rabbinic laws derived from the torah), a
discussion centers on the centrality of the shofar
in the time before the destruction of the second
temple (70 C.E.). 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 in which, every fifty years,
Jewish law provided for the release of all slaves,
land, and debts. The sound of the shofar on Rosh
ha-Shanah announced the jubilee year, and the
sound of the shofar on Yom Kippur proclaimed the
actual release of financial encumbrances.
The halakha (Jewish law) rules that the shofar may
not be sounded on the Sabbath due to the potential
that the ba’al t’kiyah (shofar sounder) may
inadvertently carry it which is in a class of
forbidden Sabbath work (RH 29b) the historical
explanation is that in ancient Israel, the shofar
was sounded on the Shabbat in the temple ‘located
in Jerusalem. After the temple’s destruction, the
sounding of the shofar on the Sabbath was
restricted to the place where the great Sanhedrin
(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 the
Sabbath was discontinued (Kieval, The High Holy
Days, p. 114).
The shofar says, “Wake up from your (moral) sleep.
You are asleep. Get up from your slumber. You are
in a deep sleep. Search for your behavior. Become
the best person you can. Remember God, the One Who
created you. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance
3:4.
Construction
The shofar may be the horn of any kosher animal,
except that of a cow or calf, which would be a
reminder of the golden calf incident.
Physical horns
Many large grazing animals, the ones that have
cloven hoofs and chew their cud, are armed with
either horns or antlers. These weapons are used
for defense against predators or dominance duels
between males for possession of a few favored
females. Both horns and antlers are borne on the
head and have similar uses. However, they are
structurally different.
A Shofar may be created from the horn of any
kosher animal (ritually slaughtered; cloven hoof;
and chews a cud. Mishnah RH 1:1). In biological
classification, these animals belong to the
Bovidae family.
Bovidae horns are made of keratin (the same
material which is a human toenail or fingernail).
An antler, on the other hand, is not a horn but a
calcium protrusion. Such antlers are not used for
Shofars because they cannot be hollowed. A rent 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,
586, 17). According to traditional Jewish law
women and minors are exempt from the command to
hear the shofar-blowing (as is the case with any
positive, time-bound commandment), but they are
allowed to, and encouraged to, attend the
ceremony.
The horn is flattened and given a turned up bell
by applying heat to soften it. 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 applying his lips to
this hole, and causing the air column inside to
vibrate. Shofars used in Ashkenazic Jewish worship
tend to have no carved mouthpiece, the player
instead applying his lips directly to the
irregular hole drilled in the tip of the horn.
Sephardic Jewish shofars, on the other hand,
usually do have a carved mouthpiece resembling
that of a European trumpet or French horn, but
smaller.
Because this hollow is of irregular bore, the
harmonics obtained when playing the instrument can
vary: rather than a pure perfect fifth, intervals
as narrow as a fourth, or as wide as a sixth may
be produced.
The sounds
The tekiah and teruah sounds mentioned in the
Bible were respectively bass and treble. 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.
Ten appropriate verses from the Bible were recited
at each repetition, which ended with a
benediction. Over time doubts arose as to the
correct sound of the teruah. The Talmud is
uncertain whether it means a moaning/groaning or a
staccato beat sound. The former was supposed to be
composed of three connected short sounds; the
latter, of nine very short notes divided into
three disconnected or broken sequences of 3 notes
each. The duration of the teruah is equal to that
of the shevarim; and the tekiah is half the length
of either. This doubt as to the nature of the real
teruah, whether it was simply a moan, a staccato
or both, necessitated two near-repetitions to make
sure of securing the correct sound. The following
formula, consisting of ten sounds, resulting:
tekiah, shevarim-teruah, tekiah; tekiah, shevarim,
tekiah; tekiah, teruah, tekiah. This formula was
repeated twice more, making thirty sounds for the
series. The last tekiah was prolonged and was
called "tekiah gedolah" = the "long tekiah." This
series of thirty sounds was repeated twice more,
making ninety sounds in all. The trebling of the
series was 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 into malchiyot, zichronot,
and shofarot. In addition a single formula of ten
sounds is rendered at the close of the service,
making a total of 100 sounds. This correspond to
the 100 cries of the mother of the Sisera, the
Cannanite general who did not make it home after
being assassinated by the biblical Yael (Judges
5:28).
Unique sound waves
Click on a computer representation of a “tkiya.”
Note the second tkiya note is similar but not
identical to the first. The second starts out the
same, then the long note of the first note is more
sustained (and perhaps more melodic). The second
note below has a vibrating long note at nearly the
same amplitude. The third part of the note trails
off and is similar but not identical in the two
examples.
The performer
The expert who blows (or "blasts" or "sounds") the
shofar is termed the Ba'al Tokea (lit. "Master of
the Blast"). Qualifications include someone who is
learned in Torah and God-fearing. Every Jew is
eligible for this sacred office, providing he is
acceptable to the congregation. If a potential
choice will cause dissension, he should withdraw
his candidacy, even if the improper person is
chosen. See Shulkhan Arukh 3:72; The Ba'al Tokea
shall abstain form anything that may cause ritual
contamination for three days prior to Rosh ha-Shanah.
See Shulkhan Arukh 3:73.
Use in modern times
In modern times, the shofar is used only at Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is blown in synagogues
to mark the end of the fast at Yom Kippur, and
blown at four particular places at Rosh Hashanah.
Because of its inherent ties to the Days of
Repentance and the inspiration that comes along
with hearing its piercing clasts, the shofar is
also blown after morning services for the entire
month of Elul (excluding Shabbos), which is the
last month of the 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. The exact modes
of sounding can vary from location to location.
The shofar is now almost never used outside these
times, though has been seen in western classical
music on a limited number of occasions. The best
known example is to be found in Edward Elgar's
oratorio The Apostles, although an instrument such
as the flugelhorn usually plays the part instead
of an actual shofar.
Israeli Oriental metal band Salem used Shofar in
their metal adaptation for "Al Taster" psalm. |
