Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Congregation, Toronto, Canada

How a Shofar is made (Video)

The crafting of Shofars is an ancient art that hasn’t changed much for thousands of years.  Every Shofar starts out as a raw horn of an animal.  There are several types of animals whose horns can me made into a Shofar. The most common Shofar is made from the horn of a ram, that is a male sheep that is at least a year old.  The very long curvy Shofars that are known as Yemenite Shofars, are made from the horn of the Kudu, a type of antelope found in southern and eastern Africa.  Neither of these types of horns is available in sufficient quantities in Israel.  The raw horns are brought from countries in southern Africa where the animals are raised for meat production.  In theory, you could make a Shofar out of the horn of a Bull.  However Jewish law prohibits this in order that the Shofar not ‘remind’ God of the sin of the golden calf. Every Shofar manufacturer has to maintain good relationships with growers of these animals in Africa in order to ensure that they will get good quality horns that will not crack or split.  Also it is extremely important to get horns from herds of animals that have been checked to be disease free.  Once the horns arrive in Israel, the manufacturer inspects them and sorts out which ones are fit to...