CHODESH TOV!
The shofar is used during the month of Elul and on
Rosh HaShanah. In fact, the
shofar is such an important part of this holiday that another name for
Rosh HaShanah is Yom Teruah, which means “day of the shofar blast” in
Hebrew. The shofar is blown one hundred times on each of the two days of
Rosh HaShanah. If one of the days of Rosh HaShanah falls on Shabbat,
however, the shofar is not blown.
According to the famous Jewish philosopher Maimonides, the sound of
the shofar on Rosh HaShanah is meant to wake up soul and turn its
attention to the important task of repentance (teshuvah). It is a
commandment to blow the shofar on Rosh HaShanah and there are four
specific shofar blasts associated with this holiday:
- Teki’ah – An unbroken blast lasting about three seconds
- Shva’rim – A teki’ah broken into three segments
- Teruah – Nine rapid fire blasts
- Tekiah Gedolah – A triple teki’ah lasting at least nine seconds, though many shofar blowers will attempt to go significantly longer, which the audience loves.
The person who blows the shofar is called a Tokea (which literally
means “blaster”) and it is no easy task to perform each of these sounds.
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