Ceremonial wind instrument, originally made of a ram's horn. Scripture stipulates that it should be sounded on the NEW YEAR and to announce the Year of Release (Lev. 25:9). It was also blown on FAST days, in the ceremony of EXCOMMUNICATION, before the start of the SABBATH, and at times of famine or plague. The blowing of the shofar during SYNAGOGUE services during the month of Elul, on HOSHANAH RABBAH, and at the conclusion of the DAY OF ATONEMENT (Yom Kippur) was introduced later.
Reprinted
with permission from A
Concise Encyclopedia of Judaism,
by Dan Cohn-Sherbok. Oneworld Publications