Bar-Sheshet and Ribak are families with a long and proud history of producing top quality Shofars that are prized worldwide in Diaspora as well as in Israel.
The tradition of Shofar making in the Bar-Sheshet family began with the great rabbi Yitzhak Bar-Sheshet (the “Ribash”) who lived in Spain in the 14th century. It was not a peaceful time for the Spanish Jews, and during this time, the son of the Ribash started carving horn combs and teaspoons, afterwards honing in on the creation of shofars, an expert level craft. After the Expulsion in Spain in 1492, they moved to Morocco, where they continued the trade of making shofars, honing their craft there for centuries. In 1947, Meir Bar-Sheshet immigrated on the famed Exodus voyage to Israel. In the camp for displaced persons, Meir created a shofar with the use of only his hands and nearby materials he could scrounge up. In 1948, he was able to set up shop properly in Haifa, and grow the family business. Today, Meir's son Zvi Bar-Sheshet continues the legacy.
In a little town in Poland, meanwhile, in Wlodawa, Rabbi Yacov Rossman went through the same steps with carving fine combs and horn teaspoons before moving on to shofars. His shofars were so exceptional that they won acclaim all over Poland. Making Aliyah to palestine in 1927, Rabbi Rossman was the first shofar maker in brand new Tel Aviv, the first modern age Hebrew city. Passing his craft, knowledge and skills to his cousin Avraham Ribak when he didn't have children of his own, Ribak continued the tradition Rabbi Rossman started and continued to make shofarot in the same place, in Israel. Today Eli Ribak, Avraham's son continues the tradition.
Eli Ribak and Zvi Bar-Sheshet now work in collaboration, continuing their family traditions in the craft of creating shofars, with devotion and care that is clear in the beauty and quality of their horns, the preferred source for this unique Judaica item in religeous communities worldwide.
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