A shofar is an ancient musical instrument made from a ram's horn, used in Jewish religious ceremonies. It is similar to a modern bugle but does not have tools that change the pitch; instead, the player controls the sound by adjusting how they shape their mouth and lips. The shofar is played during synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur. It is also blown each morning during the month of Elul, which comes before Rosh Hashanah. Shofars vary in size and shape, depending on the type of animal used and the level of detail in their finishing.

Bible and rabbinic literature

The shofar is mentioned many times in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, and rabbinic writings. In Exodus 19, a shofar sound coming from a thick cloud on Mount Sinai made the Israelites feel very afraid and respectful.

The shofar was used to announce the new moon and the Jubilee year. The first day of Tishrei, now called Rosh Hashana, is known as the "memorial of blowing" or "day of blowing" the shofar. Shofars were also used to signal the start of a war. They were played during processions and added to the temple orchestra by David. Note that the "trumpets" described in Numbers 10 are a different instrument, called ḥaṣoṣrah in Hebrew, not shofar (shofar in Hebrew).

In the Temple in Jerusalem, the shofar was sometimes used with the trumpet. On Rosh Hashana, the main ceremony used the shofar, placed in the center with a trumpet on each side. The shofar was made from an ibex horn, shaped straight, and decorated with gold at the mouthpiece. On fast days, the main ceremony used trumpets in the center with a shofar on each side. The shofars on those days were rams’ horns, curved, and decorated with silver at the mouthpieces.

On Yom Kippur of the Jubilee Year, the ceremony used the shofar as it did on New Year’s Day. The shofar is first mentioned in Yovel (Jubilee Year—Leviticus 25:8–13). In Rosh Hashanah 33b, the sages asked why the shofar was sounded in the Jubilee Year. Rosh Hashanah 29a says that in regular years, both shofars and trumpets were used, but in the Jubilee Year, only the shofar was used. The Rabbis later created the practice of sounding the shofar every Yom Kippur, not just once every 50 years.

For other special days, the shofar was sounded briefly, and two silver trumpets announced sacrifices. When the trumpets sounded, people inside the Temple complex would prostrate themselves, lying flat on the ground face down.

The shofar was blown during Joshua’s time to help capture Jericho. As the Israelites surrounded the city’s walls, the shofar was blown, and the city was taken. The shofar was often used in wars so troops could know when a battle began. The person blowing the shofar would call out from a hill, and the sound could be heard by all soldiers because of its clear tone.

Today, the shofar is most known for its use on Rosh Hashana. It is also used in other rituals. It is blown each morning (and sometimes in the afternoon) during the month of Elul, and to mark the end of the fast on Yom Kippur after evening services.

In Talmudic times, the shofar was also used to announce the start of Shabbat. It was used to begin and end a herem (a religious ban).

During the diaspora, when playing musical instruments was briefly banned, the shofar became more important as a symbol of mourning for the destroyed Temple. A song called Al Naharoth Bavel was linked to this ban. The ban aimed to prevent people from taking the temple’s music for granted, as reflected in the phrase, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, over my chiefest joy.”

Jewish law (halakha) says that the shofar cannot be blown on Shabbat because the person blowing it might carry it, which is a type of forbidden work on Shabbat. Some say this is because the spiritual power of the shofar and Shabbat are similar, making the shofar unnecessary on Shabbat. Originally, the shofar was blown on Shabbat in the Temple in Jerusalem. After the Temple’s destruction, it was only blown where the great Sanhedrin (religious court) met. When the Sanhedrin ended, the practice stopped.

The Sages said the mitzvah (commandment) is to hear the shofar’s sounds. They taught that the shofar must be blown three times, based on three Torah references to the shofar during holidays. Customarily, each complex sound is preceded and followed by a simple sound, totaling nine sounds. Because of confusion about the exact pattern, three different series of sounds (9, 9, and 12) were created. This is the main obligation for the shofar on Rosh Hashana.

Many reasons are given for this mitzvah. One famous list by Saadia Gaon includes:
1. To remember the creation of the world
2. To remember the start of the new year
3. To remember the experience at Mount Sinai
4. To remember the words of the prophets
5. To remember the destruction of the Holy Temple
6. To remember the Binding of Isaac
7. To inspire fear and awe of God
8. To inspire fear and awe of the Day of Judgment
9. To believe in the future return of the Jewish people and the coming of the Messiah
10. To believe in the future Resurrection of the Dead

If a shofar is blown into a pit or cave, hearing the original sound fulfills the mitzvah, but not the echo. Most modern authorities say hearing a shofar on the radio or internet does not fulfill the mitzvah because electronically reproduced sounds are not valid for this commandment. However, a rabbi should be consulted in urgent situations, as some authorities believe it is better to perform the mitzvah through electronic means than not at all.

According to Jewish law, women and minors are not required to hear the shofar (as with other time-bound commandments), but they are encouraged to attend the ceremony.

If the shofar blower intends for everyone to fulfill the mitzvah, then anyone who hears the shofar—even a passerby—can fulfill the mitzvah if they intend to do so. If a listener stands still, it is assumed they intend to hear. If someone hears the shofar but does not intend to fulfill the mitzvah, it is not completed.

The person who blows the shofar is called the ba'al tokeah or ba'al tekiah (meaning “master of the blast”). This is an honor

Shape and material

According to the Talmud, a shofar may be made from the horn of any animal in the Bovidae family except a cow. A ram’s horn is preferred. Bovidae horns are made of a layer of keratin (the same material as human toenails and fingernails) around a bone core. Between the keratin and bone is a layer of cartilage, which can be removed to leave a hollow horn. Antlers, however, are made of solid bone and cannot be used as shofars because they cannot be hollowed out.

There is no requirement for ritual slaughter (shechita). Theoretically, the horn can come from a non-kosher animal. Most Jewish law interpretations do not require the shofar to be muttar be-fikha (“permissible in your mouth”), as the mitzvah is hearing the shofar, not eating the animal. The shofar is considered a tashmishei mitzvah – an object used to perform a mitzvah that does not have inherent holiness. Since horn is always inedible, it is considered afra be-alma (“mere dust”) and not a non-kosher substance.

The Elef Hamagen (586:5) lists the order of preference for shofar materials: 1) curved ram; 2) curved other sheep; 3) curved other animal; 4) straight—ram or otherwise; 5) non-kosher animal; 6) cow. The first four categories are used with a blessing (bracha), the fifth without a blessing, and the last not at all.

Examples of animals with horns include:
• A Dall sheep with horns.
• Greater kudu, Namibia.

In practice, two species are most commonly used: Ashkenazi and Sefardi shofars are made from domestic ram horns, while Yemeni shofars are made from kudu horns. A Moroccan shofar is flat with a single, broad curve. A crack or hole in the shofar that affects the sound makes it unfit for use. A shofar may not be painted but can be carved with artistic designs. Some Sephardi shofars are plated with silver for display, but this makes them unsuitable for religious rituals.

The horn is flattened and shaped using heat, which softens it. A hole is made from the tip of the horn to the hollow inside. It is played like a European brass instrument, with the player blowing through the hole while vibrating their lips, causing the air inside to vibrate. Sephardi shofars often have a carved mouthpiece resembling a European trumpet or French horn, but smaller. Ashkenazi shofars do not.

Because the hollow inside the shofar is irregular, the sounds produced can vary. Instead of a pure perfect fifth, intervals as narrow as a fourth or as wide as a sixth may be created.

Examples of shofars include:
• A small shofar made from a ram’s horn.
• A shofar made from the horn of a greater kudu.
• A small shofar made from a ram’s horn.

Use in modern Jewish prayer

The shofar is used mainly on Rosh Hashanah. People usually blow the shofar 100 or 101 times each day of Rosh Hashanah. However, the main requirement is to blow 30 sounds. The other 70 sounds are divided into 60 during the Mussaf prayer. These 60 sounds are split into ten sounds after each of three main themes in the Rosh Hashanah services: crowning God as king, asking God to remember us, and referencing shofar blasts from different parts of the Bible. These ten sounds are repeated during the Mussaf prayer. Ten additional sounds are blown after the Mussaf prayer, making a total of 100 blasts. The different types of blasts are called tekiah, shevarim, and teruah. The required 30 blasts include the sequences tekiah-shevarim-teruah-tekiah, tekiah-shevarim-tekiah, and tekiah-teruah-tekiah. Each sequence is repeated three times.

The shofar is also blown in the synagogue at the end of Yom Kippur. Some people blow only a tekiah gedolah, while others blow tekiah-shevarim-teruah-tekiah.

Because the shofar is closely connected to the Days of Repentance and the inspiration from its sounds, it is also blown after weekday morning services (in some communities, also after weekday afternoon services) during the entire month of Elul, which is the last month of the Jewish civil year before Rosh Hashanah. It is not blown on the last day of Elul (in some communities, the last three days of Elul) to show the difference between the optional blasts of Elul and the required blasts of Rosh Hashanah. Shofar blasts are also used in some communities during rituals like Yom Kippur Katan and optional prayer services during times of community hardship. The exact ways of blowing the shofar may differ depending on the location.

To help improve the skills of shofar blowers, an International Day of Shofar Study is held on Rosh Chodesh Elul, which is the start of the month before Rosh Hashanah.

• A Jewish Haredi man blowing a Shofar, 2012.
• Hasidic Jew, blowing the kudu shofar in Uman, Ukraine, 2010.
• A Jewish Israeli man blows the shofar at the Western Wall, Jerusalem.
• Linen shofar cover from the 20th century, in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland.

Shofar campaign

The Public Shofar Campaign was started by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, in 1953. It began just before Rosh Hashanah, which was on September 10 that year. This was the first public mitzvah campaign created to help Jewish people follow religious traditions, no matter where they lived. The campaign acted as a model for future mitzvah efforts.

The campaign started in Brooklyn, New York, with young rabbinical students from the Lubavitcher yeshiva. These students went to street corners, parks, and Jewish stores across Brooklyn. At first, the main goal was to help people who could not go to synagogue hear the shofar, especially patients in hospitals like St. John’s and Kings County Hospital.

At first, the campaign was informal. Later, it was supported by the Lubavitch Youth Organization of New York after it was created in 1955. In the late 1950s, the practice spread worldwide, as visitors from Israel and other countries traveled to New York. The campaign was then brought to Israel, Miami Beach, Detroit, and Milan. By the early 1970s, Chabad in California was bringing the Shofar Campaign to 15 hospitals. In Skokie, Chicago, local efforts began around 1967. These efforts later grew to include hospital patients and people who could not leave their homes. This work was later taken up by young men from other Jewish communities.

In 1975, the Rebbe expanded the campaign to include the entire month of Elul. He also focused on reaching isolated soldiers, including those in the Israeli military, and Jews in correctional facilities. This led to the campaign being held in places like Sing Sing and the Federal Correctional Complex in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. Today, the Shofar Campaign continues in public parks, prisons, nursing homes, hospitals, and on street corners around the world, including Jerusalem, Moscow, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign remained important. Chabad organized many public shofar events, such as 22 street corner blowings in Skokie, Illinois, and several more in other areas of Chicago, like Rogers Park and Lakeview.

Non-religious usage

During the time when the Ottoman Empire and the British controlled Jerusalem, Jewish people were not allowed to blow the shofar at the Western Wall. After the Six-Day War, Rabbi Shlomo Goren went to the Wall and blew the shofar. This event inspired Naomi Shemer to add a line to her song "Jerusalem of Gold," which says, "a shofar calls out from the Temple Mount in the Old City."

The shofar has been used to mark victories and celebrations. Jewish elders were photographed blowing multiple shofars after learning that the Nazis surrendered on May 8, 1945. The shofar has been important in the movement supporting Israel and is often played during the Salute to Israel Parade and other pro-Israel demonstrations.

At the inauguration ceremony for the President of Israel, a shofar is blown once the President has taken an oath, followed by a call of "Long live the President."

An American group called the Shofar Army, which some people describe as Christian nationalists, has included the use of the shofar in their activities.

In pop music, the shofar is used by the Israeli Oriental metal band Salem in their version of "Al Taster" (Psalm 27). The late trumpeter Lester Bowie played the shofar with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In the film version of the musical Godspell, the first act begins with cast member David Haskell blowing the shofar. Israeli composer and singer Shlomo Gronich uses the shofar in his performances to create a wide range of musical notes. Since 1988, Rome-based American composer Alvin Curran's project Shofar has included the shofar as a skilled solo instrument and combined it with natural and electronic sounds. Madonna used a shofar played by Yitzhak Sinwani on the Confessions Tour and the album Confessions on a Dance Floor for the song "Isaac," which is based on Im Nin'alu. In 2003, The Howard Stern Show had a contest called "Blow the Shofar," where callers were asked to identify songs played on the shofar. Stern Show writer Benjy Bronk has also used the shofar in his performances. The shofar is sometimes used in Western classical music. Edward Elgar's oratorio The Apostles includes the sound of a shofar, though other instruments like the flugelhorn are often used instead.

The shofar has appeared in many films, both as a sound effect and as part of musical scores. Elmer Bernstein included the shofar in several parts of his score for Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments; one of Bernstein's shofar recordings was later used in Return of the Jedi for the Ewoks' horn calls. Jerry Goldsmith's scores for the films Alien and Planet of the Apes also include the shofar in their orchestration.

Health issues

Playing the shofar requires blowing air forcefully through the instrument, which can be physically demanding. This may cause health issues for the player due to holding the instrument, pressing it against the lips, and the effort needed to blow air steadily. During the COVID-19 outbreak, there was much discussion about the risks of spreading germs through breathing when using the shofar in group settings, as well as ways to reduce these risks.