Shofar History

Arthur L. Finkle

 

First mentioned in Exodus 19:16 at the Mt. Sinai, to proclaim the awesomeness of the Ten Commandments, the Shofar became an instrument accompanying sacrifices in the Tabernacle and then the First and Second Temples.  As the sacrificial cult progressed, the Shofar and the two trumpets and one Shofar accompanied some of the offerings to enhance the solemnity of the sacrifices.   However, on Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year, usually forst new moon in September), the Priests sounded two Shofars and one Trumpet. See Chofetz Chaim, Mishnah Berurah 586 et seq. Another source indicates that , while there were usually a trumpet and a Shofar, with the trumpet taking the long notes, on Rosh Hashanah, the Shofar sounded the long notes.  See RH 33b.  The Shofar accompanied the special sacrifices on Rosh Hashanah, the holiday designated as "Yom Teruah" ("A day of blowing"; Num. 29:1). The Shofar proclaimed the Jubilee Year on Yom Kippur (Lev. 25:9–10).  The ancients also used it to accompany other musical instruments (Ps. 98:6); in processionals (Josh. 6:4ff.); as a signal (Josh. 6:12ff., II Sam. 15:10); as a call to war (Judg. 3:27); and to induce fear (Amos 3:6).

At a later period, the Rabbi’s postulated that the ram's horn was preferred in order to recall the binding of Isaac for whose sacrifice a ram was substituted (RH 16a; see Gen. 22:13). The Rabbi’s rules that a curved Shofar symbolizes humankind bowing in submission to God's will (RH 26b

Although the Bible is silent on the reason a Shofar specifically accompanies holy events. The Rabbi’s gave their oral interpretations.  Saadiah Gaon (see Abudraham ha-Shalem, ed. S. Krauser (1959), 269–70) states:

(1)  Trumpets are sounded at a coronation and God is hailed as King on this day.

(2)  The Shofar heralds the beginning of the penitential season (from Rosh Hasanah to the Day of Atonement).

(3)  The Torah was given on Sinai accompanied by blasts of the Shofar.

(4)  The prophets compare their message to the sound of the Shofar.

(5)  The conquering armies that destroyed the Temple sounded trumpet blasts.

(6)  The ram was substituted for Isaac.

(7)  The prophet asks: "Shall the horn be blown in a city, and the people not tremble?" (Amos 3:6).

(8)  The prophet Zephaniah speaks of the great "day of the Lord" (Judgment Day) as a "day of the horn and alarm" (Zeph. 1:14, 16).

(9)  The prophet Isaiah speaks of the great Shofar which will herald the messianic age (Isa. 27:13).

(10)  The Shofar will be sounded at the resurrection.

 

Maimonides writes:

 

Awake from your slumbers, ye who have fallen asleep in life, and reflect on your deeds. Remember your Creator. Be not of those who miss reality in the pursuit of shadows, and waste their years in seeking after vain things which neither profit nor save. Look well to your souls and improve your character. Forsake each of you his evil ways and thoughts.” (Yad, Teshuvah 3:4)

 

 

 

Other Uses

 

In about 400 C.E. in Babylonia, the Shofar was sounded to announce a death (MK 27b). During the Middle Ages also, the Shofar announced fasts (see Ta'an. 1:6), excommunications (see Sanh. 76 and MK 16a); and funerals.

In Biblical Jewish life, to prepare for the Sabbath, on Friday afternoon, six blasts were sounded at various intervals. At the first tekiah, the laborers in the fields ceased their work. At the second, shops were closed and city laborers ceased to work. The third signaled that it was time to kindle the Sabbath lights. And the fourth, fifth, and sixth were a tekiah, teruah and tekiah formally ushering in the Sabbath (Shab. 35b).

In modern times, the Shofar, as a symbol of ancient Judaism, was used at the inauguration of a new president of Israel. After the Six-Day War in June 1967, the chief rabbi of the Israel army blew it at the Western Wall after its liberation by the Israel Defense Forces, using the same Shofar which he had sounded on Mt. Sinai in 1956.

Clearly, the Shofar is a unique special announcement.