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Use and Purpose of a Jewish Shofars

Shofar History

Shofars, also spelled shophars, are musical instruments created and developed by ancient Hebrews. The shofar is made of a ram or . It has a flattened from which the user blows air.

Origin

 The ritual of sounding the shofar did not originate in . Rather, it was adopted and reinvented by Hebrews, who divorced the practice from pagan origins. Making a loud noise on the New Year was meant to frighten away demons. Furthermore, the states that the shofar has the power to confuse or anyone that speaks against .

Adopted and Adapted

 The , or Hebrew oral instruction, cites the shofar's origin in the Hebrew Scripture, but both the Mishnah and the Talmud cite the shofar's sounding during both and after the Second Temple was destroyed.

Reinterpretation

 Sounding a shofar for the New Year in ancient times was a way of proclaiming the coronation of victorious gods. Hebrew sounds the shofar on Rosh Hashanah to proclaim the coronation of God, who has victoriously completed the work of creation.

Jericho

 According to the Bible, the Hebrews conquered the ancient city of by marching an army around the walls and blasting the shofar seven times. The sound of the coupled with the shouts of the Hebrews allegedly caused the walls to collapse ( 6:2-5).

Day of Atonement

 The shofar was sounded in the Jewish temple on the Day of Atonement. This was the day that the Hebrews presented their sacrificial lambs in the temple as an atonement of their sin.

Day of

 The sounding of the shofar signaled the Day of Jubilee, a day when freedom from debt was celebrated among ancient and modern Hebrews.

Temple Dedications

 The shofar was blown to dedicate the first temple, the temple built by King Solomon, according to the Bible. The second temple designed by Herod was also dedicated with the sound of the shofar.

Ark of the Covenant

 When the was moved, the blowing of the shofar preceded it along its journey.

10 Reasons for Sounding the Shofar The shofar is a traditional Hebraic instrument that's still used by and Christians alike. The shofar, traditionally a ram's horn, is blown like a . The reasons for blowing a shofar are many and varied. Blowing a shofar properly requires some training, and several of the sounds are specific to ritual and tradition and should not be altered.

Rosh Hashanah

 The shofar is traditionally blown on the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, it is blown this day to call people to wake up, repent and seek redemption.

A Call to Study

 The blowing of the shofar reminds God's people to study and love His word. A shofar was blown at Mount Sinai in ancient Bible times, when God gave the to Moses. The blowing of the shofar can act as a reminder of that event.

Call to Humility

 One purpose of blowing the shofar can be to call people to humility and to prostrate themselves before God.

Healing

 Many use the shofar as a tool for declaring healing from physical ailments over another person's body, mind and spirit. The vibrations from the instrument are believed to be powerful and spiritual in nature.

Praise and Worship

 Blowing the shofar also can be a way of praising and glorifying God. Chronicles 29:26 states that the Levites used the instrument for this purpose.

Call to War

 In ancient times, the shofar was used to call people to war. In modern times, this is meant as a call to fight for principles of belief held in common by God's people; by comparison, in ancient times, blowing the shofar was a literal call to begin war.

Announcing the Messiah

 The shofar is to be the instrument used to announce the coming of the Messiah. For Jews, this will be the first Messiah's coming, while Christians see this as the second coming of Christ.

Confuse the Enemy

 Blowing of the shofar is believed to cause confusion in the spiritual realm to demons and evil spirits. The sound also is used by intercessors as a means to break up confusion in the spirit world and bring clarity to the people of God.

Call to Gather

 Shofars are blown to call people to gather for a time of worship or intercession. It is believed that the sound does not need to be heard by the physical ears but transcends to reach those who need to be present at a gathering.

Announcing the King

 The blowing of a shofar is used to announce the coronation of a king and, in the present day, the ushering in of the Spirit of God.

Shofar Cleaning Instructions Shofars are carved from rams' horns, and are blown by Jewish people as a wake-up call to do teshuva (repentance). Traditionally, the horns are blown from the first day in through Yom Kippur.

Built-up residue on a shofar can result in extremely unpleasant smells, which cause problems in correctly performing the ritual.

Listed below are several methods for cleaning a shofar

Vinegar or Baking Soda

 Vinegar and baking soda both have odor-eliminating properties that can be used to clean a shofar. Fill the shofar with vinegar or with baking soda dissolved in water and leave it to sit overnight. In the morning, rinse the shofar off. If necessary, repeat the process.

Hydrogen Peroxide

 Pour hydrogen peroxide into the shofar until it is half full. Plug it with a cork and gently shake it until the residue begins to spill out. Then dump out the liquid. Repeat the process until residue stops coming out.

Once you have eliminated the residue, wipe the inside of the shofar using a cloth tied to a wire.

OxiClean

 Pour warm water into the shofar until it is half full. Then, scoop OxiClean (or a similar product) into the shofar. Use corks to plug both ends of the shofar, and shake it for several minutes. Unplug one end, fill the rest of the shofar with water, and let the mixture sit for one hour. Upon emptying the shofar, wipe the inside using a cloth tied to a wire. Rinse with boiling water and leave the shofar to dry before using it. If necessary, repeat the process.

How to Remove Odor From a Shofar

Instructions

1 Combine 1 tbsp. of baking soda with an equal amount of water in your small mixing dish. 2 Wet the inside of the shofar and a toothbrush. Coat the toothbrush in baking soda and use it to gently scrub the inside walls of the shofar, removing the worst of the sinews and materials inside. 3 Wash the mouthpiece of the shofar, inside and out, using the baking soda paste and cotton swab. Use the toothbrush as well if this part of the instrument has gotten particularly dirty from people playing it with unclean mouths. 4 Rinse the shofar to remove the loosened materials and baking soda. 5 Measure 1/2 tbsp. of gravel and set it aside. 6 Plug the mouthpiece of the shofar with your thumb and fill the horn about half full with hydrogen peroxide. 7 Add the gravel to the peroxide and cover the open end of the bell with the plastic lid (you'll have to hold it in place). 8 Shake the shofar gently. Swirl the liquid and gravel through the instrument and try to the gravel to scrape the sides of the inner walls, removing traces of sinew and other dirty materials. 9 Empty, rinse and dry the shofar. If possible, let it air-dry in a sunny, outdoor location, as this will help to further deodorize it. 10 Repeat rinsings with baking soda and peroxide if an odor persists.

How to Care for a Shofar

A shofar is a wind instrument made from a hollowed-out ram's horn. It is blown during the Rosh Hashanah (New Year) services and at the end of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), as well as during morning services on the days leading up to those holidays. Since it is a natural material, it is durable, but some special care should be taken to keep it in good condition.

Instructions

1 Clean a new shofar by soaking it in a dilute bleach solution (a cup of bleach in a bathtub of water for an extra- large shofar) for up to a week. Each day, take out the shofar, rinse it, and blow it to see if any animal matter comes out, or if the smell remains. If so, soak it for another day. Try shaking the bleach solution around inside the horn with both ends of the shofar stopped up with rags. This may work some smelly stuff loose, which can then be rinsed out. Once the shofar is clean, rinse it very well and dry it thoroughly. It may continue to smell like bleach for up to a month.

2 Clean the shofar by running warm water through it before the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). You will use it often during the Hebrew month of Elul (the month in which the High Holidays fall, roughly corresponding to late August and September), and you don't want any animal matter to cause a bad smell.

3 Rinse the inside of the shofar with bleach and lots of water after the holidays are over. This will kill any bacteria from your saliva that can interact with the animal tissue on the inside of the horn and cause a smell.

4 Position the shofar with the large opening in front of a fan or air conditioner until it is dry inside (a few hours or overnight). Use pipe cleaners to dry the narrow end if necessary.

5 Store it away from extreme temperatures, because high heat and humidity can cause a shofar to warp, and very low temperatures may cause it to crack. Either way, the sound will be compromised, and it may become unfit to use for ritual purposes, depending on the extent of the damage. Tips & Warnings

 Never wear lipstick when blowing a shofar; it can stain the rim. Don't blow the shofar when you are sick, because germs will happily live inside the shofar and reinfect you

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