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  Why is the shofar so important?
 
 

The shofar has been used from ancient times right up to the present. It was blown to announce New Moons and holidays and was even used to proclaim the crowning of a new king (a custom still practiced today at the swearing-in ceremony of a new Israeli president).

  The most solemn modern use of the shofar is during the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which is also the Biblical Feast of Trumpets.
   
  Hear the shofar (click at right)
 
  Listen to the sounds of the shofar as you read some thoughts on the meaning  of this sacred tradition.
  There are any number of explanations for the significance of the shofar blasts, but for us, the most important cry of the shofar is the call to Jews to come home to Israel from exile.
 

    שופר

Sounding the Shofar to Gather in the Exiles
God remembers His scattered people. The shofar will be sounded at the time of the great ingathering of the Jewish exiles back to Israel. Sounding it today is a reminder to pray for the Jews and to assist them to return to their Land.
"So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet [shofar] will be blown; they will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem" (Isaiah 27:13 NKJV).
The shofar is a horn of an animal and is blown like a trumpet. It is usually a ram's horn, but it can also be made from any kosher animal, such as a sheep, goat, mountain goat, antelope, or gazelle.
In Bible times, the shofar was blown on occasions other than New Moons and Jewish
  holidays; it was also sounded at the outset of the Jubilee Year and in instances of war.
The shofar reminds us of the ram that Abraham sacrificed in place of his son Isaac.
When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, they heard the
  sound of a shofar, which inspired awe of the LORD.
The shofar is also the call of redemption, reminding us that God will be faithful to redeem
  the Jewish people.
   Sounds of the Shofar
 
 
Tekiah
Shevarim
Teruah
Combination
    Information
Tekiah is a long, single blast with a clear tone.

 

 
Shevarim is a set of three short, "broken" blasts.

 

 
Teruah is a set of nine short, very rapid blasts.

   
A combination of tekiah, shevarim, and teruah ends with a tekiah gedolah (great tekiah), and the latter is held as long as possible.

 
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