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There are many types of shofars. which are used both in the Jewish tradition and in the ancient world in different uses. In fact the shofar is part of the animal horn. For example: horns of a ram, deer, antelope, ram, deer, goat horn and even a cow (a cow horn is not kosher for blowing). So what types of shofars are there?
Important - animals are not bred specifically for shofars.
It is important to note that the horns from which different types of shofars are made are a by-product and animals are not killed just for the use of making shofars. For example, the absolute majority of the ram’s horns come to Shimon Keinan and Kol Shofar from Morocco, where sheep are a staple food on the menu, and on the Muslim holiday of sacrifice there is a mitzvah to eat a lamb at the holiday meal, or as a contribution to food for the poors. Part of the by-product is the horns of the ram from which the ram’s shofars are made. You can read here how to make a shofar.
To avoid confusion, you need to understand the difference between a elk (Ayal) and a ram (Ail).
A elk is an animal from the moose family that has fully branched antlers without antler coating, and it sheds its antlers every year. And every year the horns grow anew and bigger.
The antlers of the elk are called Antler in English, while the horns of the Bovidae family and the sheep in the content are called Horn in English.
The ram is included in the Bovidae family and belongs to the sheep and is the male of the sheep. The horn is a kind of hollow tube made of horn material and is pulled out of the bone. It is a fixed fund for life and does not change. There are a variety of ram shofars and sometimes it is difficult to choose a suitable shofar, but this ram horn should be the first choice for blowing the shofar. To mention according to what is written in the Aqidah of Yitzhak:
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son.
Rabbi Avhu said: Why would you blow a ram's shofar? God said: Blow a ram's shofar before me, so that I may remind you of the binding of Isaac son of Abraham, and I will exalt you as if you had bound yourselves before me.
A ram’s shofar is a whole family of different types of shofar according to the different communities.
A Shofar originating from the Inquisition period in Spain, a flat Shofar that which can be easily hidden.
A Yemeni shofar, unprocessed and unaligned, with a short bore, completely natural, deep and low sound.
The most common shofar in the communities, the narrow part is aligned and the long bore gives a high and sharp sound.
Its appearance resembles a Yemeni shofar, characterized by a thin wall and a deep, low sound.
Kudu is an African antelope from the Bovidae family, and it lives in forested areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Like the rest of the Bovidae, the code also ruminant. Males have large, waved horns. A kudu horn shofar is sometimes mistakenly called a Addax shofar, the horn is long and curled which produces several types of sounds, and its sound is stronger and deeper than a common shofar. In most communities in Israel, it is customary to blow a ram’s horn shofar on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but in Yemenite communities, it is customary for you to blow a Yemeni ram’s shofar. The horns probably came from neighboring Ethiopia across the Red Sea. Emissaries who arrived in Yemen as early as the 19th century wrote about their encounter with the Yemeni kudu trumpeter.
גם כי היה עמדי מן המוכן שופר של איל ותקעתי בו חובת היום, ניסיתי לתקוע גם בשופר שלהם, וכן הוא בכל ארץ תימן, באין להם שופרות של איל, או כי לא ידעו לעשותו, הם תוקעים בשופר של יעל ארכו כשתי אמות ומפותל...וקולו גדול ומרעיד יותר משל איל.
The ram is also a type of large antelope, and it is also from the Bovidae family and has black and almost straight horns. Did you know? Oryx shofar is kosher but The horn itself is straight, therefore it is not customary at use is Synagogues. Since this shofar is straight, there is a controversy regarding the fulfillment of the mitzvah. It resembles a trumpet in shape Both in terms of the length of the bore, and in terms of its sound.
Ibex is a common mountain goat in the south of the country. It lives in arid areas and on top of cliffs. The male has impressive horns that can reach a size of 130 cm. A yael shofar is kosher for blowing, but yael horns are not available and obtaining the horns is only Ibex horns in the desert. The IBEX shofar sound is special and a deep bass sound is heard.
The Shofars at Kol Shofar are meticulously handcrafted in our family workshop, paying maximum attention to the highest level of quality, to Kashrut, ease of blowing, cleanliness and producing a special sound. Our customers say they can recognize our Shofars immediately anywhere in the world, due to our unique handprint.
