The Large Ram's Horn Shofar, which has a polished finish, was fashioned in Israel. The Ribak Family of Tel Aviv checks each and every Shofar before shipping to insure that there are no blemishes or imperfections.
Members of the Ribak Family immigrated to Israel from Poland approximately 70 years ago and were among the first citizens in Tel Aviv. They brought with them old equipment from Poland used for producing Shofarot. To this day, the Ribak Family craft Shofarot in accordance with tradition, but use modern techniques, allowing them create the finest Israeli Shofarot for sale.
The Shofar is a curved item generally made from the horn of a ram that has openings on either end. The reason that most Shofarot are created using a ram's horn as opposed to a cow or calf's horn is that using one of those two other horns relates too closely to story of the Golden Calf that occurred in the Old Testament when Moses was away receiving the Ten Commandments.
The person who plays the Shofar is called a Tokea, translating into English as "Blaster". When the ram's horn is blown on Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, it can be rather difficult for the Tokea to continuously blow the Shofar. Those who are good Tokeot know that blowing a Shofar is quite similar to playing a trumpet or a bugle where the Tokea would place the instrument on the side of his or her vibrating lips. Although it may take some practicing, almost any person can master the art of blowing the Shofar and can contribute to a religious service.
On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the Tokea blows the Ram's Horn Shofar 100 times in celebration of the New Year. The Shofar is also sounded at the closing of services on Yom Kippur to show that the time for repentance and asking for forgiveness has ended.
While the Ram's Horn Shofar is blown or holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it can not be blown on Shabbat because the Tokea might mistakenly carry the Shofar from one dwelling to another thereby desecrating the Sabbath.
The reasoning for playing the Shofar is that the sounds created by blowing the ram's horn are supposed to serve as a call or awakening for the Jewish people to address spiritual matters. There are three different sounds that the Tokea makes with the Ram's Horn Shofar that are meant to help with the spiritual awakening. One of the sounds is a short blast called the Tekiah. The second sound is three short notes that are played together known as Shever. The final sound is referred to as the Teru'ah and is nine fast notes played consecutively.
It is important for one to properly care for the Shofar, as a damaged horn will not create the desired sounds.
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