SHOFAR! 1Corinthians 15:52

A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT!

†      † A musical instrument of ancient origin, made of a horn, typically ram

†      † Used for Jewish religious purposes

†      † Lacks pitch-altering devices just like a bugle

†       †Pitch is controlled by the “embouchure” (the use of facial muscles/the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece

POST BIBLICAL TIMES:

†      † Used as a sign of mourning for the destruction of the temple

†       †To introduce Shabbat, that after the destruction of the temple, the shofar was sounded at the place where the great Sanhedrin from 400BC to 100 AD was located.  When the Sanhedrin disappeared the shofar was not sounded at Shabbat

JERUSALEM TODAY:

†     †  Used to announce the Jewish New Year

†      † The sighting of the new moon

†       Sounding of it on Rosh Hashanah or Feast of Trumpets *commemorating the destruction of the second temple in 70AD and the period of time between the 1st and 2nd temple; the day believed to be the day Adam and Eve were created; announcing the jubilee year

†       Mark the end of the day of fasting on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people, 25 hour period of fasting and praying; repentance and atonment, announcing the release of financial encumbrances;

†       Associated with the Jubilee year in which every fifty years, Jewish law provided for the release of all slaves, land and debts.

Horn:

†       May be made from the horn of any animal from the Bovidae family, except a cow, although a ram is preferable

†       Bovidae  horns are made of keratin (same as human toenails/fingernails.

†       An antler is not a horn, but solid bone.  Antlers cannot be used as they cannot be hollowed out

†       No rituals for slaughter to obtain the horn

†       Can come from a non-kosher animal, since mitzvah objects are used, and are themselves not holy

†       Considered inedible, so is mere dust and not an unkosher substance

†       Order of preference: 1. Curved ram; 2. Curved other sheep; 3. Curved other animal; 4. Straight ram or otherwise; 5. Non-kosher animal; 6. Cow

How it is made:

†       The horn is flattened; shaped by the application of heat, which softens it.

†       Hole is made from the tip to the natural hollow inside.


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