The shofar was used in to announce holidays (Ps. lxxxi.
4), and the Jubilee year (Lev. 25. 9). The first day of
the seventh month (Tishri) is termed "a memorial of
blowing" (Lev. 23. 24), or "a day of blowing"
(Num. xxix. 1), the shofar. It was also employed in processions
(II Sam. 6. 15; I Chron. 15. 28), as a musical accompaniment
(Ps. 98. 6; comp. ib. xlvii. 5) and to signify the start
of a war (Josh. 6. 4; Judges 3. 27; 7. 16, 20; I Sam. 8.
3). Note that the 'trumpets' described in Numbers 10 are
a different instrument, described by the Hebrew word 'trumpet'
not the word for shofar.
The Torah describes the first day of the seventh month (1st
of Tishri = Rosh ha-Shanah) as a zikron teruah (memorial
of blowing; Lev. xxiii) and as a yom teru'ah (day of blowing;
Num. 29). This was interpreted by the Jewish sages as referring
to the sounding of the shofar.
In the Temple in Jerusalem, the shofar was sometimes used
together with the trumpet. On New Year's Day the principal
ceremony was conducted with the shofar, which instrument
was placed in the center with a trumpet on either side;
it was the horn of a wild goat and straight in shape, being
ornamented with gold at the mouthpiece. On fast days the
principal ceremony was conducted with the trumpets in the
center and with a shofar on either side. On those occasions
the shofarot were rams' horns curved in shape and ornamented
with silver at the mouthpieces. On Yom Kippur of the jubilee
year the ceremony was performed with the shofar as on New
Year's Day. Rosh Hoshana is the Jewish New Year. A ceremonial
horn, called a “shofar” is blown, reminding Jews that God
is king. A feast with symbolic food is eaten on Rosh Hashana,
and the next ten days are spent in repentance. Rosh Hashana
ends on Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a day of judgment, during
which prayers are made asking for forgiveness.
On Rosh Hashanah and other full holidays (Day of Atonement,
Ingathering of the harvest [Succot], Passover and the Feast
of Weeks – Pentecost) a single Priest perfected two sacrifices
in honor of the full holiday, Note that festivals such as
Hanukah and Purim), are not considered full holidays requiring
an extra sacrifice. On Rosh Hashanah, something special
occurred during the special sacrifice. Arguably two Shofar
Sounders played the long notes and one Trumpet player played
the short note. Accordingly, Rosh HaShanah is called Yom
Teruah (the day of the blast) Otherwise, the Trumpets had
“top billing.” Rosh Hashanah27a, supports this claim: “Said
Raba or it may have been R. Joshua B. Levi: What is the
scriptural warrant fore this? – Because it is written, “With
trumpets and the sound of the Shofar shout ye before the
King in the Temple, we require trumpets and the sound of
the Shofar; elsewhere not.” See also Sidney B. Hoenig, Origins
of the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy, The Jewish Quarterly Review,
New Series, Vol. 57, The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume
of the Jewish Quarterly Review (1967), pp. 312-331. • Published
by: University of Pennsylvania Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1453499.
Accessed December 31, 2009
Indeed, on Yom Kippur, the Shofar was sounded to announce
the Jubilee Year (every 50-years, Jews were granted freedom,
forgiveness and debts and reclamation of sold lands. Shofar
first indicated in Yovel (Jubilee Year - Lev. 25:8-13).
Indeed, in Rosh Hashanah 33b, the sages ask why the Shofar
sounded in Jubilee year. Further support is found in Rosh
Hashanah 29a, where the Talmud talks of trumpets for sacrifices
but Shofar in the Jubilee Year does not apply to priests
who are exempt from the obligations of the jubilee.
Otherwise, for all other special days, the Shofar is sounded
shorter and two special silver Trumpets announced the sacrifice.
When the trumpets sound the signal, all the people who were
within the sacrifice prostate themselves, stretching out
flat, face down and on the ground. See external references.
The shofar was blown in the times of Joshua to help him
capture Jericho. As they surrounded the walls, the shofar
was blown and the Jews were able to capture the city. The
shofar was commonly taken out to war so the troops would
know when a battle would begin. The person who would blow
the shofar would call out to the troops from atop a hill.
All of the troops were able to hear the call of the shofar
from their position because of its distinct sound.
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