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The Shofar 
We suggest
reciting the blessings found below before clicking the sound links...
Play Shofar.WAV
Play Shofar2.WAV
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With the beginning of the month of Elul, we awaken to teshuvah, repentance, turning back to the right path and forsaking our past misdeeds. The sound of the shofar during Elul and on Rosh Hashanah is a cry to rouse us from our spiritual slumber. Its wild, shrillness says "Awake, examine your deeds, improve your ways and return in repentance". |
| It is a commandment from the Torah, a Mitzvah, to hear the sound of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. We are told to mark that day, the first day of the month of Tishri, with a blast of horns and a special, sacred assembly. |  |
The word shofar comes from a Hebrew
root meaning "hollow". It traditionally is made from
the horn of a ram, and sometimes an antelope or gazelle. It is
among the most ancient of our ritual symbols, used in ancient
Israel to sound alarms and announce important events, such as the
new moon. There are four specific calls, repeated in combinations
by the shofar blower, who is called the baal tekiah, and it is
the custom to sound one hundred notes. The first call is Tekiah,
one long blast of alarm, as clear a tone as the blower can
manage. Next comes Shevarim, which means "broken";
three short blasts, together as long as one tekiah. Teruah,
understood by the rabbis to mean "wailing", are at
least nine short blasts, sounding like sobs, also the length of a
tekiah. Finally, at the end, there is Tekiah Gedolah, a single,
sustained tekiah blast that is held for as long as the breath of
the baal tekiah holds out.
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"Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us by Your mitzvot and commanded us to hear the voice of the shofar." |
| "Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this joyous occasion." |  |
Go to Sound Links
| For Further Reading: | Elul - Preparing for the Days of Awe Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur |
Religious Objects is produced by Steve
Butterfass and Eric Bonnell