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Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica
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Judaic - Kosher Shofars
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The sounds
A man demonstrates sounding a shofar at a synagogue in
Minnesota.
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. |
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Ten appropriate verses from the Bible are recited at each
repetition, which ends 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. Shevarim was supposed to be composed of three connected
short sounds; the teruah of nine very short notes divided into
three disconnected or broken sequences of three 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 sequence of the shofar blowing is thus tekiah,
shevarim-teruah, tekiah; tekiah, shevarim, tekiah; tekiah,
teruah, and then a final blast of "tekiah gadola" which means
"big tekiah," held as long as possible. This formula makes
thirty sounds for the series, with tekiah being one note,
shevarium three, and teruah nine. This series of thirty sounds
is repeated twice more, making ninety sounds in all. The
trebling of the series is 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 of the
service into malchiyot, zichronot, and shofarot. In addition to
these three repetitions, a single formula of ten sounds is
rendered at the close of the service, making a total of 100
sounds. According to the Sephardic tradition, a full 101 blasts
are sounded, corresponding to the 100 cries of the mother of
Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army who did not make it home
after being assassinated by the biblical Yael (Judges 5:28). One
cry is left to symbolize the legitimate love of a mother
mourning her son.
The performer
The expert who blows (or "blasts" or "sounds") the shofar is
termed the Tokea (lit. "Blaster") or Ba'al Tekia (lit. "Master
of the Blast"). 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 Tekia shall abstain from anything that may cause
ritual contamination for three days prior to Rosh ha-Shanah. See
Shulkhan Arukh 3:73.
The Shape and Sound of the Shofar |
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