The Fallen Walls of Jericho
Arthur L. Finkle
Joshua 2 has Moses’ successor, Joshua pursuing the Canaanites to the city of Jericho, a most ancient city. Joshua send reconnaissance (spies) to report what would be the best way to attack the city. The spies know, through, a women a few virtues, that morale was depleted in this city.
According to Joshua 6, the sounds of the Shofars for seven days destroyed the defensive walls of Jericho. Also thrown in was the story of Joshua’s spies garnering that Canaanite morale was low.
Accordingly, Joshua, a great general, designed a masterful plan. For six days the army would circle the city once while the priests blew their ram's horns. No one sole would make any sound. On the seventh day, the army encircled the city seven times, all the while sounding the Shofars (along with carrying the Ark of the Covenant). Thereafter, Joshua believed that the walls would tumble down; his army would maraud the city; and leave it in flames.
This article will discuss two issues:
• Was there a tumbled wall around Jericho?
• If so, Were the tumbling walls due to the Shofars or was this some type of military ploy?
Jericho’s Dig
We know that the harvest had been very good in the Autumn of the year of the siege of Jericho, thereby allowing the populace to withstand a protracted siege. A spring, still extant, provided water. And Jericho was a walled city. (Joshua 3:15)
The German excavation of 1907–1909 found that on the north a short stretch of the lower city wall did not fall as everywhere else. A portion of that mudbrick wall was still standing to a height of over two meters (eight feet).
What is more, there were houses built against the wall! It is quite possible that this is where Rahab’s house was. Since the city wall formed the back wall of the houses, the spies could have readily escaped. From this location on the north side of the city it was only a short distance to the hills of the Judean wilderness where the spies hid for three days (Joshua 2:16, 22).
Bryant Wood, director of the Associates for Biblical Research, and also director of the Kh. el-Maqatir Excavation in Israel. http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i2/jericho.asp. Accessed March 1, 2010
After the seventh trip around the city on the seventh day, Scripture tells us that the wall ‘fell down flat’ (Joshua 6:20). The Hebrew here carries the suggestion that it ‘fell beneath itself.’ Is there evidence for such an event at Jericho? It turns out that there is ample evidence that the mud brick city wall collapsed and was deposited at the base of the stone retaining wall at the time the city met its end.
Another archeologist, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1950s excavated Jericho’s walls and dated them to around 1550 BCE She provided precise detail that she found, ‘fallen red bricks piling nearly to the top of the revetment. These probably came from the wall . . . brickwork above the revetment.’ In other words, she found a heap of bricks from the fallen city walls! An Italian team excavating at the southern end of the mound in 1997 found exactly the same thing. Such a falling wall easily allowed the invaders (Hebrews) to enter the city as is expressed so well in Joshua 6:20.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2020
Psychological Warfare
We know from Scripture that the Shofar bespoke times of war to assemble troops, to attack, to pursue, and to proclaim victory (Numbers 10:9, Judges 6:4; Jeremiah 4:5 and Ezekiel 33:3-6). Indeed, when Jonathan defeated the Philistines. “It came about when he had arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them.” See Judges 3:27
An African-American spiritual, a type of traditional song once referred to as a Negro spiritual, written between 1825 and 1860, memorialized this great biblical event.
It is the product of pre-Civil War slaves and thus probably dates to the first half of the nineteenth century. Parts of its text were originally written in the slaves' dialect. The title, for instance, was given as "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho." The slaves wrote these songs often to signal an escape attempt or simply to express their hope for freedom. Thus, the closing line of the refrain, "And the walls (of Jericho) came tumblin' down," signified more to them than what is usually derived from the Biblical verse that inspired it -- Joshua 6:15-21. http://www.answers.com/topic/joshua-fit-the-battle-of-jericho-vocal-classical-work
Sometimes the words of these old stand-byes were slightly changed and adapted to special events. For example, the words of “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho (and the walls came tumbling down)” were changed into “Marching ‘round Selma” in 1965 as a part of the Civil Rights movement.
“This constant improvement of negro spirituals gave birth to another type of Christian songs. These were inspired by the Bible (mainly the Gospel) and related to the daily life [and called Gospel Music].”
http://www.negrospirituals.com/
When 'Joshua fit the battle of Jericho,' he may well have been history's first general to use psychological warfare. For seven days he had his army — accompanied by priests blowing rams' horn trumpets and carrying the ark of the covenant — circle the Canaanite city's walls. We can imagine that at the first appearance of the Israelites' noisy procession, the Canaanites must have scrambled to man Jericho's defenses. On the second day, too, they leapt to their positions. And again on the third. But after the same thing had happened six days in a row, they probably became inured. On the seventh day, the Israelites made seven circuits. Whatever the bizarre performance meant, the defenders must have thought that it obviously was not a threat. But upon finishing the seventh lap, the Israelites let out a shout and attacked, catching the defenders off guard. See http://www.historynet.com/military-history-the-birthplace-of-war.htm/2
“So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.” See Judges 6:34
Moreover, as a signal of war, Hebrew Scripture (Numbers 10:9) provide” “And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.”
See Sergeant Major Herbert A. Friedman (Ret., 1995) and consultant the History channel, among other organizations, bespeaks the credence put into the strategic utilization of music on the battlefield. Example included the Shofars at Jericho; Washington’s military music; Andrew Jackson’s battle charges to Beethoven’s drum rolls; Santa Ana’s arraning for the playing of El Degüello, to scare the Spanish; the Korean Communists playing funeral dirges to depress its adversary.
Insofar as Jericho in concerned, picture a city walled restricting movement as opposed to their original use of the walls keeping people out. Now the citizenry and the army hear seven days of the opposing army, possibly outnumbering the city-dwellers, making weird sounds of war. Scary! http://www.psywarrior.com/MusicUsePSYOP.html
In capturing Jericho, Joshua employed some still valid techniques of intelligence gathering and psychological warfare. He first sent into the city two spies who learned from a harlot named Rahab (Joshua 2:1) that the inhabitants were demoralized. His army marched around the city for six days to advertise its strength before Joshua called for the trumpets to be blown. "My interpretation of the falling of the walls of Jericho," writes Gale, "was that it was in fact the crumbling of the will of the inhabitants to fight."
Time Magazine, December 6, 1968 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844671,00.html#ixzz0hKaCZcZR
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Spare No Sacrifice – Sound the Shofar
Spare No Sacrifice – Sound the Shofar
Arthur L. Finkle
Unlike some of the other instruments of the Temple period, the Shofar was uniquely semitic. The word "Shofar" is derived from the Assyrian shapparu, a wild goat of the ibex family.
Medieval philosophers and mystics have attributed certain moralizing and occult meanings to the sounding of the Shofar. Rabbi Saadia Gaon (10th century) stated that the sound of the Shofar raised awe and emotion in the hearts and souls of the people. Maimonides (11th century) interpreted the sounding as reminding humankind of its duties to God. The mystical Zohar (1285?) holds that the sound of the Shofar awakens the Higher Mercy.
The Shofar is the most-mentioned instrument in the Bible (72 times). It held a special religious and secular role in the life of the Jewish people. Only Priests and Levites were allowed to perform the religious function of blowing the Shofar in the Jewish Commonwealth.
The Shofar had several religious roles recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures , such as the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:15; 1 Chronicles 15:28); the announcement of the New Moon (Psalms 81:4); the beginning of the religious New Year (Numbers 29:1); the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:9); the procession preparatory to the Feast of Tabernacles (Mishnah, Hullin 1:7); the Havdalah ceremony marking the end of a festival (Mishnah, Hullin 1:7);and other uses mentioned in Hebrew Writings (Mishnah and Talmud) after the fall of the Temple in 70 Common Era (CE).
Rosh HaShanah
The Shofar is primarily associated with Rosh HaShanah. Indeed, Rosh HaShanah is called Yom T'ru'ah (the day of the Shofar blast). “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no manner of servile work; it is a day of blowing the horn unto you.” (Numbers 29:1) [ This is 1 Tishrei, which is Rosh HaShanah, the Hebrew New Year.] See also Leviticus 23:24). .
In the Mishnah (book of early Rabbinic laws derived from the Torah), a discussion in Tractate Rosh HaShanah centers around the centrality of the Shofar in the time before the destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.O. Those debating never experienced the ceremony itself but their grandfathers may have. Indeed, the Shofar was the center of the ceremony, with two silver trumpets playing a lesser role. On other solemn holidays, fasts, and New Moon celebrations, two silver trumpets were featured, with one Shofar playing a lesser role. The Shofar is also associated with the Jubilee Year in which, every fifty years, Jewish Law provided for the release of all slaves, land, and debts. The sound of the Shofar on Yom Kippur proclaimed the Jubilee Year that provided the actual release of fi¬nancial encumbrances.
Jubilee Year
The legislation concerning the year of Jubilee is found in Leviticus, xxv, 8-54, and xxvii, 16-24. It contains three main enactments:
• rest of the soil;
• reversion of landed property to its original owner, who had been driven by poverty to sell it; and
• the freeing or manumission of those Israelites who, through poverty or otherwise, had become the slaves of their brethren.
Ten days after Rosh HaShanah, at the Yom Kippur service it reads. “And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto thee the days of seven sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years.” See Leviticus 16:29, 23:27.
Further, the Scriptures herald: Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. See Lev 25: 9
New Moon
The new moon offering comes before the Rosh HaShanah offering, because that which is brought the most often has precedence (Yad, Temidim 9:2).
The Israelites and the subsequent Jews celebrated a lunar calendar intercalated so that the seasons are correct. New moons were extremely important. Accordingly, the Shofar was sounded upon the occurrence of the new moon. (Numbers 29:11; Rosh HaShanah 1:1). The Talmud tells us that this custom was discontinued when the Samaritans attempted to disrupt this system of sounding from mountain to mountain announcing the new moon.
Scripture further proclaims the sounding on the appearance of the new moon:
And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. See Numbers 10:10.
Finally we have the famous passage in PSALMS 81:3: “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.”
Coronations
In addition, the Shofar had a number of secular roles, such as coronating a king (2 Samuel 5:10; 1 Kings 1:34; 2 Kings 1;13); signaling in times of war to assemble troops, to attack, to pursue, and to proclaim victory (Numbers 10:9, Judges 6:4; Jeremiah 4:5 and Ezekiel 33:3-6).
In post-biblical times, the Shofar was enhanced in its religious use because of the ban on playing musical instruments as a sign of mourning for the destruction of the Temple. (It should be noted that a full orchestra played in the Temple, including, perhaps, a primitive organ.) The Shofar continues to announce the new year and the New Moon, to introduce the Sabbath, and to carry out the commandments on Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. The secular uses have been discarded (although the Shofar was sounded to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967) (Judith Kaplan Eisendrath, Heritage of Music, New York: U.A.H.C., 1972, pp. 44-45).
Silver Trumpets and Temple Times
According to rabbinic tradition, “In the Temple on Rosh Hashanah two men blowing silver trumpets stood on either side of the one who blows the Shofar....The Gemara...cites the verse [Psalms 47:5; 81:3; 98:6; 150:3] that requires trumpets along with the Shofar.” We also read that, “A community beset by calamity is under a Rabbinic obligation to...[be] assembled for supplication and prayer, and this is always accomplished with trumpets as it is written (Numbers 10:2): And they shall be yours for summoning the assembly....we sound the trumpets in order to stir the hearts of the people and bring them to repentance by causing them to realize that the disaster resulted because of their sins. In the Temple, Shofars were blown along with the trumpets. The Shofar [blows] short...and the trumpets [blow] long...for the primary commandment is with trumpets.”
In these rabbinic statements, the word “Shofar” is footnoted: “The use of two Shofars, one on each side, is a Rabbinic innovation, to publicize that the special mitzvah of the day is with trumpets (Yom Teruah).” “Trumpets” is footnoted with: “The purpose of sounding an instrument on a fast day is to assemble the people for supplication and prayer....blowing the trumpets is more important, for it is mandated by the Pentateuch, whereas the Shofar accompaniment is derived from the aforementioned verse in Psalms” (Schottenstein Gemara, chap. 3, “Rosh Hashanah,” pp 24b2, notes 21, 24, 27,28, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, NY.) Also see The Writings of Flavius Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews,” Bk. 3, Chap. 12, www.bible.crosswalk.com.)
http://www.messianicisrael.us/news/teachings/yom-teruah-and-the-two-silver-trumpets.html?Itemid=39
History of the Uses of the Trumpet and Shofar Reverse Roles
The marshalling signals are described in Numbers 10, though in war the
Shofar seems to have been the signaling instrument par excellence. All
these functions, and their calls, seem later to have been appropriated
by the Shofars. The encyclopedic Psalm 150, for example, makes no
mention of the trumpet. Only lately (in the last century or so B.C.)
do trumpets appear to come back into their former favor; but, due
to Greco- Roman influence, their use is primarily military. Indeed the
roles of the two instruments seem to have become reversed; the Talmud
says 'what was called a trumpet has become a Shofar, and what was
called a Shofar has become a trumpet' (Bab. Talmud Shabbat 36a; also
Sukkoth 34a; and Rosh HaShanah 36a; Targum version of Hosea 5:8). A
passage in the Mishnah (Gittin 3:6) indicates much the same thing, in
saying that a 'trumpet' can be made of animal horn. So the Shofar
eventually took on the ceremonial function originally performed by the
trumpet.
This confusion of usage makes the task of reconstructing the trumpet
and Shofar calls simpler rather than the reverse, for the instruments
and their traditional signals may be treated summarily. Since the
Shofar calls themselves are the subject of some differences in our own
times and were disputed in Talmudic times.
The Shofar had specifications according to the Mishnah. For example,
it could not have holes; it could be not be valid if there was a split in the
horn. The horn should be from a preferably kosher animal but never a
cow (reminding one of the worship of the Golden Calf during Moses’
journey to receive the Ten Commandments for the first time.) It should
be sounded from the small end of the horn. Horns could not be placed
inside other horns; and there were restrictions as to decorations on
the Shofar itself. (See Rosh HaShanah Mishnah and Talmud)
Further it is not clear whether the Shofar was used originally for
ritual (as Leviticus 25 suggests) or for war purposes (Joshua 6). We
do know, however, that Tractate Shabbat 35b provides that the Shofar
sounded six times to prepare for the Sabbath.
Eventually, after the destruction of the second Temple, the Shofar was
identified with Rosh HaShanah (the beginning of the religious year,
sometimes known as Yom Teruah (Day of the blast) or Chag HaShoforot
(the Shofar festival).
In addition, no minor authority, Cyrus Adler, indicated that cornet (a
type of trumpet) and Shofar were used interchangeably.
Further Confusion
In “Sound The Shofar - "Ba-Kesse" Psalm 81:4,” Solomon B . Freehof, a a professor at Hebrew Union College, follows the strange history of translation. The preponderance of
traditional (Jewish) commentators agree on one translation of it and
all the non-traditional commentators (non-Jewish) unanimously agree on
another. One partial exception to this strange lineup is Rashi (11th
century commentator), who translates "Ba-Kesse" as ‘here’ and in Proverbs
7:20 as ‘the special day,’ or ‘the appointed day.’ But he, too, in his
commentary to Rosh HaShonah 8a-b, agrees with all the traditional
commentators, beginning with the Talmud and the Midrash, Leviticus
Rabba 29:6, taking the word to be a synonym of the word "Chodesh" in
the first part of the sentence, meaning: The New Moon.
However, the non-traditional commentators of the 19th century,
Wellhausen in Proverbs, Duhm in Psalms, and Briggs and Toy in the
International Critical Commentary, and our modern English translation,
all agree to translate the word "Kesse" not as "New Moon" but as Full
Moon.
Accordingly, the evidence seems to be on the side of the traditional
commentators who legitimized the appearance of the New Moon in the
Seventh month as the Rosh HaShanah (Beginning of the Religious New
Year)
Blasts in the Holy Temple
There is much ambiguity between the words “Shofar” and “Hatzorot” in Scriptures and later writings. Indeed, at some point, scholars used Shofar interchangeably.
Indeed, in Tractate Mishnah, Tractate, Arakhin, Chapter Two, Mishnah Three, Section one: There was a minimum of 21 daily trumpet blasts in the Temple and a maximum of 48. The explanation of this section can be found in Sukkah 5:5 (Harvest Festival – 15 days after Rosh HaShanah). The maximum number of blasts was sounded on erev (evening) Shabbat (Sabbath) during Sukkot.
1) There are never less than twenty-one blasts in the Temple and never more than forty-eight.
More Incidents of Shofar in Scriptures
The Shofar used to proclaim Solemn Assemblies and Special feasts Joel 2:15
Day of Judgment
Day of Judgment (Messianic Age) is proclaimed by the sound of the Shofar. See Is. 27:13
When Ark moved in its almost 40-year journey in the desert, their horns sounded See 2 Sam 6:15; and 1 Chron. 25:28.
Numbers 10:5 When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Numbers 10:6 When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
When giving praise, the horns sounded. See Ps 150; 78:6
And, lest we forget, when Moses was at the foot of the mountain on the way to receive the Giving of law, the Shofars sounded. In Exodus, 19:12, instructions are issued to build a boundary around Mt Sinai, and the next pasuk specifies laws
"לֹא תִגַּע בּוֹ יָד כִּי סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל אוֹ יָרֹה יִיָּרֶה אִם בְּהֵמָה אִם אִישׁ לֹא יִחְיֶה בִּמְשֹׁךְ הַיֹּבֵל הֵמָּה יַעֲלוּ בָהָר - No hand shall touch it, for he shall be stoned or cast down; whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the ram's horn (Shofar) sounds a long, drawn out blast, they may ascend the mountain."
– See Ex 19:19; 20:18;
Excommunication
Scripture cites that Barak used 400 Shofars to excommunicate Meroz (Judges v. 23; Mishnah Kiddushin 16a. www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=653&letter.., Accessed March 2, 2010-03-02
Excommunication was commonly referred to in the Torah as herem (banishment). To be banished was a terrible thing in ancient days because there was no protection outside your tribe or kingdom. See San 7b. Line 5.
The Talmud alludes to twenty-four offenses punishable by excommunication.
Some examples include:
• uttering the name of God in vain
• luring another person to sin
• refusing to testify before a court at the allotted time
• selling nonkosher meat as kosher meat
• marrying a non-Jewish individual
The excommunication began with the announcement of the blowing of the Shofar in front of an open ark. The community gathered, lamented and the assembly leader would articulate curses derived from the Scriptures. And a public warning forbade anyone associating with the ex-communicant.
Examples of famous excommunications include Maimonides,
Spinoza, The Lubachiter Chisisdim and Mordecai Kaplan founder of the Reconstructionist movement
________________________________________
Sources: Ariel Scheib, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Excommunication.html, Accessed March 2, 2010. Eisenberg, Ronald L. The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2004; Wigoder, Geoffrey , Ed. The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia. NY: Facts on File; 1992; Kolatch, Alfred J. The Jewish Book of Why/The Second Jewish Book of Why. NY:
In post-biblical times, the Talmud tells us that member so the Jewish Court has a duty to, "Take out the tools of my trade, my cane, strap, Shofar, and sandal. [Rashi: The cane was for beating those who refused to abide by judicial decisions, the strap for biblically-prescribed lashes, the Shofar for excommunication, and the sandal for the ritual of halitza in the case of a levirate marriage.] See Talmud Sanhedrin 7b.
Funeral
Some communities utilized the announcement of a funeral by th e Shofar, Indeed,
it was customary in some localities to blow the Shofar to announce a death in the community and to summon the citizens to attend the funeral (Moed Katan 27b)
War Horn
Significant Events
When Jonathan defeated the Philistines. See 1 Samuel 13:3
“It came about when he had arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them.” See Judges 3:27
________________________________________
So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. See Judges 6:34
Signal of War
Numbers 10:9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
Festivals
A second a procession of the people led by the High Priest carried palm branches and the other fragrant branches processed, singing the Hallel Psalms 113-118, from the Temple through the Water Gate to the pool of Siloam. At the pool of Siloam the High Priest filled a golden pitcher with the water from the pool [Mishnah: Sukkah, 4:9B]; then the procession returned to the Temple, the Shofar, ram’s horn trumpet, announcing their arrival. The Mishnah records that no fewer than 21 (3 x 7) trumpet blasts on the Shofar we given in a liturgical service. There were three blasts at the opening of the Temple gates at 9AM, nine (3 + 3+3) at the offering of the Tamid morning sacrifice and nine more at the Tamid evening sacrifice. On the feast days when additional offerings were made, nine additional Shofar blasts were given and on the eve of the Sabbath 6 (3: 3) more [Mishnah: Sukkah 5:5].
Shabbat
The Shofar was blown at the temple to begin the Sabbath each week. There was within the temple an inscription on the lintel of the wall at the top of the Temple that said, "To the house of the blowing of the trumpet (Shofar)". Each Sabbath 2 men with silver trumpets and a man with a Shofar made three trumpet blasts twice during the day. On Rosh haShanah, this was different. The Shofar is the primary trumpet. According to Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29, Rosh HaShanah is the day of the blowing of the trumpets. The original name is Yom (Day) Teruah (The staccato sound of the horn, which also means “Shout”). According to the Mishnah (Rosh HaShanah 16a, 3:3), the trumpet used for this purpose is the ram's horn, not trumpets made of metal as in Numbers 10. On Rosh HaShanah, a Shofar delivers the first blast, a silver trumpet the second, and then the Shofar the third.
http://www.Shofars.org/theShofararticle.htm. Accessed March 1, 2010.
Magical Symbolism
Apart from its liturgical uses the Shofar was closely connected with magical symbolism. Its blast destroyed the walls of Jericho, and in the Dead Sea scrolls we read that during battles Shofar blowers sounded a powerful war cry to instill fear into the hearts of the enemy while priests blew the six trumpets of killing. Historically the Shofar has also served in a number of popular usages: it was sounded during rites to bring rain, in the event of local disasters, and so on. In our times its liturgical use is restricted to New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
If the Shofar and its tones, like the Law of Moses, must be preserved unaltered, this would seem to prevent its "improvement" to become a true musical instrument to sound concurrent with worship. After the destruction of the Temple the Shofar was permitted specificially because it was not a musical instrument.
"Only in Ps 150:3 is it (shophar) mentioned with most of the other really musical instruments. Hence, we must conclude that the function of the shophar was to make noise--be it of earthly or of eschatological character--but not to make music. After the destruction of the temple and the general banishment of all instrumental music, the shophar alone survived, just because it was not a musical instrument."(International Dictionary of the Bible, p. 473, Abingdon).
• Alfred Edersheim, The Temple and Its Ministry and Services at the Time of Jesus Christ (London, 1874); Gregal Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI 1997, Reprint Of Original 1874.
Jewish Liturgical Music
"The Shofar is the ritual instrument of the ancient and modern Hebrews, the only Hebrew cultural instrument to have survived until now. Of martial origin, the Shofar was a priestly instrument in Biblical times. According to the Mishna, two different forms of Shofar were used in the Temple: one made of ibex horn, its bell ornamented with gold, was sounded at New Year and during the Yovel Days; one made of ram's horn, with silver ornamentation, was sounded on fast days.
The Shofar could be used to call the assembly (Qahal or Synagogue) in the wilderness. However, the ALARM could not be blown which included "making a joyful noise before the Lord." This was not musical worship but the universal warrior's cry that their god was superior.
Shofar as Music?
We learn from the Mishna, the Talmud and later commentaries, that the Rabbi’s proscribed improvements or modifications that might affect the tone. The ban included no gold-plating of its interior, no plugging of holes, no alteration of its length (the minimum permissible length of a ritually approved horn was 3 handbreadths).
• So, of all the instruments used in the Temple (there was Temple Orchestra), only the Shofar remains extent. See Alfred Edersheim, The Temple and Its Ministry and Services at the Time of Jesus Christ (London, 1874); Gregal Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI 1997, Reprint Of Original 1874.
Today’s Shofar Sounder carries on an ancient Tradition. The Shofar sounder stands in the footsteps of the holy priests, the great warriors, the talmudic sages, the great edi¬tors, and the great philosophers. Indeed, the Shofar represents the mystery of the survival of the Jewish people. And the nascent herald of the Messianic Age.
Arthur L. Finkle
Unlike some of the other instruments of the Temple period, the Shofar was uniquely semitic. The word "Shofar" is derived from the Assyrian shapparu, a wild goat of the ibex family.
Medieval philosophers and mystics have attributed certain moralizing and occult meanings to the sounding of the Shofar. Rabbi Saadia Gaon (10th century) stated that the sound of the Shofar raised awe and emotion in the hearts and souls of the people. Maimonides (11th century) interpreted the sounding as reminding humankind of its duties to God. The mystical Zohar (1285?) holds that the sound of the Shofar awakens the Higher Mercy.
The Shofar is the most-mentioned instrument in the Bible (72 times). It held a special religious and secular role in the life of the Jewish people. Only Priests and Levites were allowed to perform the religious function of blowing the Shofar in the Jewish Commonwealth.
The Shofar had several religious roles recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures , such as the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:15; 1 Chronicles 15:28); the announcement of the New Moon (Psalms 81:4); the beginning of the religious New Year (Numbers 29:1); the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:9); the procession preparatory to the Feast of Tabernacles (Mishnah, Hullin 1:7); the Havdalah ceremony marking the end of a festival (Mishnah, Hullin 1:7);and other uses mentioned in Hebrew Writings (Mishnah and Talmud) after the fall of the Temple in 70 Common Era (CE).
Rosh HaShanah
The Shofar is primarily associated with Rosh HaShanah. Indeed, Rosh HaShanah is called Yom T'ru'ah (the day of the Shofar blast). “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no manner of servile work; it is a day of blowing the horn unto you.” (Numbers 29:1) [ This is 1 Tishrei, which is Rosh HaShanah, the Hebrew New Year.] See also Leviticus 23:24). .
In the Mishnah (book of early Rabbinic laws derived from the Torah), a discussion in Tractate Rosh HaShanah centers around the centrality of the Shofar in the time before the destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.O. Those debating never experienced the ceremony itself but their grandfathers may have. Indeed, the Shofar was the center of the ceremony, with two silver trumpets playing a lesser role. On other solemn holidays, fasts, and New Moon celebrations, two silver trumpets were featured, with one Shofar playing a lesser role. The Shofar is also associated with the Jubilee Year in which, every fifty years, Jewish Law provided for the release of all slaves, land, and debts. The sound of the Shofar on Yom Kippur proclaimed the Jubilee Year that provided the actual release of fi¬nancial encumbrances.
Jubilee Year
The legislation concerning the year of Jubilee is found in Leviticus, xxv, 8-54, and xxvii, 16-24. It contains three main enactments:
• rest of the soil;
• reversion of landed property to its original owner, who had been driven by poverty to sell it; and
• the freeing or manumission of those Israelites who, through poverty or otherwise, had become the slaves of their brethren.
Ten days after Rosh HaShanah, at the Yom Kippur service it reads. “And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto thee the days of seven sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years.” See Leviticus 16:29, 23:27.
Further, the Scriptures herald: Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land. See Lev 25: 9
New Moon
The new moon offering comes before the Rosh HaShanah offering, because that which is brought the most often has precedence (Yad, Temidim 9:2).
The Israelites and the subsequent Jews celebrated a lunar calendar intercalated so that the seasons are correct. New moons were extremely important. Accordingly, the Shofar was sounded upon the occurrence of the new moon. (Numbers 29:11; Rosh HaShanah 1:1). The Talmud tells us that this custom was discontinued when the Samaritans attempted to disrupt this system of sounding from mountain to mountain announcing the new moon.
Scripture further proclaims the sounding on the appearance of the new moon:
And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. See Numbers 10:10.
Finally we have the famous passage in PSALMS 81:3: “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.”
Coronations
In addition, the Shofar had a number of secular roles, such as coronating a king (2 Samuel 5:10; 1 Kings 1:34; 2 Kings 1;13); signaling in times of war to assemble troops, to attack, to pursue, and to proclaim victory (Numbers 10:9, Judges 6:4; Jeremiah 4:5 and Ezekiel 33:3-6).
In post-biblical times, the Shofar was enhanced in its religious use because of the ban on playing musical instruments as a sign of mourning for the destruction of the Temple. (It should be noted that a full orchestra played in the Temple, including, perhaps, a primitive organ.) The Shofar continues to announce the new year and the New Moon, to introduce the Sabbath, and to carry out the commandments on Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. The secular uses have been discarded (although the Shofar was sounded to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967) (Judith Kaplan Eisendrath, Heritage of Music, New York: U.A.H.C., 1972, pp. 44-45).
Silver Trumpets and Temple Times
According to rabbinic tradition, “In the Temple on Rosh Hashanah two men blowing silver trumpets stood on either side of the one who blows the Shofar....The Gemara...cites the verse [Psalms 47:5; 81:3; 98:6; 150:3] that requires trumpets along with the Shofar.” We also read that, “A community beset by calamity is under a Rabbinic obligation to...[be] assembled for supplication and prayer, and this is always accomplished with trumpets as it is written (Numbers 10:2): And they shall be yours for summoning the assembly....we sound the trumpets in order to stir the hearts of the people and bring them to repentance by causing them to realize that the disaster resulted because of their sins. In the Temple, Shofars were blown along with the trumpets. The Shofar [blows] short...and the trumpets [blow] long...for the primary commandment is with trumpets.”
In these rabbinic statements, the word “Shofar” is footnoted: “The use of two Shofars, one on each side, is a Rabbinic innovation, to publicize that the special mitzvah of the day is with trumpets (Yom Teruah).” “Trumpets” is footnoted with: “The purpose of sounding an instrument on a fast day is to assemble the people for supplication and prayer....blowing the trumpets is more important, for it is mandated by the Pentateuch, whereas the Shofar accompaniment is derived from the aforementioned verse in Psalms” (Schottenstein Gemara, chap. 3, “Rosh Hashanah,” pp 24b2, notes 21, 24, 27,28, Mesorah Publications, Brooklyn, NY.) Also see The Writings of Flavius Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews,” Bk. 3, Chap. 12, www.bible.crosswalk.com.)
http://www.messianicisrael.us/news/teachings/yom-teruah-and-the-two-silver-trumpets.html?Itemid=39
History of the Uses of the Trumpet and Shofar Reverse Roles
The marshalling signals are described in Numbers 10, though in war the
Shofar seems to have been the signaling instrument par excellence. All
these functions, and their calls, seem later to have been appropriated
by the Shofars. The encyclopedic Psalm 150, for example, makes no
mention of the trumpet. Only lately (in the last century or so B.C.)
do trumpets appear to come back into their former favor; but, due
to Greco- Roman influence, their use is primarily military. Indeed the
roles of the two instruments seem to have become reversed; the Talmud
says 'what was called a trumpet has become a Shofar, and what was
called a Shofar has become a trumpet' (Bab. Talmud Shabbat 36a; also
Sukkoth 34a; and Rosh HaShanah 36a; Targum version of Hosea 5:8). A
passage in the Mishnah (Gittin 3:6) indicates much the same thing, in
saying that a 'trumpet' can be made of animal horn. So the Shofar
eventually took on the ceremonial function originally performed by the
trumpet.
This confusion of usage makes the task of reconstructing the trumpet
and Shofar calls simpler rather than the reverse, for the instruments
and their traditional signals may be treated summarily. Since the
Shofar calls themselves are the subject of some differences in our own
times and were disputed in Talmudic times.
The Shofar had specifications according to the Mishnah. For example,
it could not have holes; it could be not be valid if there was a split in the
horn. The horn should be from a preferably kosher animal but never a
cow (reminding one of the worship of the Golden Calf during Moses’
journey to receive the Ten Commandments for the first time.) It should
be sounded from the small end of the horn. Horns could not be placed
inside other horns; and there were restrictions as to decorations on
the Shofar itself. (See Rosh HaShanah Mishnah and Talmud)
Further it is not clear whether the Shofar was used originally for
ritual (as Leviticus 25 suggests) or for war purposes (Joshua 6). We
do know, however, that Tractate Shabbat 35b provides that the Shofar
sounded six times to prepare for the Sabbath.
Eventually, after the destruction of the second Temple, the Shofar was
identified with Rosh HaShanah (the beginning of the religious year,
sometimes known as Yom Teruah (Day of the blast) or Chag HaShoforot
(the Shofar festival).
In addition, no minor authority, Cyrus Adler, indicated that cornet (a
type of trumpet) and Shofar were used interchangeably.
Further Confusion
In “Sound The Shofar - "Ba-Kesse" Psalm 81:4,” Solomon B . Freehof, a a professor at Hebrew Union College, follows the strange history of translation. The preponderance of
traditional (Jewish) commentators agree on one translation of it and
all the non-traditional commentators (non-Jewish) unanimously agree on
another. One partial exception to this strange lineup is Rashi (11th
century commentator), who translates "Ba-Kesse" as ‘here’ and in Proverbs
7:20 as ‘the special day,’ or ‘the appointed day.’ But he, too, in his
commentary to Rosh HaShonah 8a-b, agrees with all the traditional
commentators, beginning with the Talmud and the Midrash, Leviticus
Rabba 29:6, taking the word to be a synonym of the word "Chodesh" in
the first part of the sentence, meaning: The New Moon.
However, the non-traditional commentators of the 19th century,
Wellhausen in Proverbs, Duhm in Psalms, and Briggs and Toy in the
International Critical Commentary, and our modern English translation,
all agree to translate the word "Kesse" not as "New Moon" but as Full
Moon.
Accordingly, the evidence seems to be on the side of the traditional
commentators who legitimized the appearance of the New Moon in the
Seventh month as the Rosh HaShanah (Beginning of the Religious New
Year)
Blasts in the Holy Temple
There is much ambiguity between the words “Shofar” and “Hatzorot” in Scriptures and later writings. Indeed, at some point, scholars used Shofar interchangeably.
Indeed, in Tractate Mishnah, Tractate, Arakhin, Chapter Two, Mishnah Three, Section one: There was a minimum of 21 daily trumpet blasts in the Temple and a maximum of 48. The explanation of this section can be found in Sukkah 5:5 (Harvest Festival – 15 days after Rosh HaShanah). The maximum number of blasts was sounded on erev (evening) Shabbat (Sabbath) during Sukkot.
1) There are never less than twenty-one blasts in the Temple and never more than forty-eight.
More Incidents of Shofar in Scriptures
The Shofar used to proclaim Solemn Assemblies and Special feasts Joel 2:15
Day of Judgment
Day of Judgment (Messianic Age) is proclaimed by the sound of the Shofar. See Is. 27:13
When Ark moved in its almost 40-year journey in the desert, their horns sounded See 2 Sam 6:15; and 1 Chron. 25:28.
Numbers 10:5 When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Numbers 10:6 When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
When giving praise, the horns sounded. See Ps 150; 78:6
And, lest we forget, when Moses was at the foot of the mountain on the way to receive the Giving of law, the Shofars sounded. In Exodus, 19:12, instructions are issued to build a boundary around Mt Sinai, and the next pasuk specifies laws
"לֹא תִגַּע בּוֹ יָד כִּי סָקוֹל יִסָּקֵל אוֹ יָרֹה יִיָּרֶה אִם בְּהֵמָה אִם אִישׁ לֹא יִחְיֶה בִּמְשֹׁךְ הַיֹּבֵל הֵמָּה יַעֲלוּ בָהָר - No hand shall touch it, for he shall be stoned or cast down; whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the ram's horn (Shofar) sounds a long, drawn out blast, they may ascend the mountain."
– See Ex 19:19; 20:18;
Excommunication
Scripture cites that Barak used 400 Shofars to excommunicate Meroz (Judges v. 23; Mishnah Kiddushin 16a. www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=653&letter.., Accessed March 2, 2010-03-02
Excommunication was commonly referred to in the Torah as herem (banishment). To be banished was a terrible thing in ancient days because there was no protection outside your tribe or kingdom. See San 7b. Line 5.
The Talmud alludes to twenty-four offenses punishable by excommunication.
Some examples include:
• uttering the name of God in vain
• luring another person to sin
• refusing to testify before a court at the allotted time
• selling nonkosher meat as kosher meat
• marrying a non-Jewish individual
The excommunication began with the announcement of the blowing of the Shofar in front of an open ark. The community gathered, lamented and the assembly leader would articulate curses derived from the Scriptures. And a public warning forbade anyone associating with the ex-communicant.
Examples of famous excommunications include Maimonides,
Spinoza, The Lubachiter Chisisdim and Mordecai Kaplan founder of the Reconstructionist movement
________________________________________
Sources: Ariel Scheib, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Excommunication.html, Accessed March 2, 2010. Eisenberg, Ronald L. The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2004; Wigoder, Geoffrey , Ed. The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia. NY: Facts on File; 1992; Kolatch, Alfred J. The Jewish Book of Why/The Second Jewish Book of Why. NY:
In post-biblical times, the Talmud tells us that member so the Jewish Court has a duty to, "Take out the tools of my trade, my cane, strap, Shofar, and sandal. [Rashi: The cane was for beating those who refused to abide by judicial decisions, the strap for biblically-prescribed lashes, the Shofar for excommunication, and the sandal for the ritual of halitza in the case of a levirate marriage.] See Talmud Sanhedrin 7b.
Funeral
Some communities utilized the announcement of a funeral by th e Shofar, Indeed,
it was customary in some localities to blow the Shofar to announce a death in the community and to summon the citizens to attend the funeral (Moed Katan 27b)
War Horn
Significant Events
When Jonathan defeated the Philistines. See 1 Samuel 13:3
“It came about when he had arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them.” See Judges 3:27
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So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. See Judges 6:34
Signal of War
Numbers 10:9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
Festivals
A second a procession of the people led by the High Priest carried palm branches and the other fragrant branches processed, singing the Hallel Psalms 113-118, from the Temple through the Water Gate to the pool of Siloam. At the pool of Siloam the High Priest filled a golden pitcher with the water from the pool [Mishnah: Sukkah, 4:9B]; then the procession returned to the Temple, the Shofar, ram’s horn trumpet, announcing their arrival. The Mishnah records that no fewer than 21 (3 x 7) trumpet blasts on the Shofar we given in a liturgical service. There were three blasts at the opening of the Temple gates at 9AM, nine (3 + 3+3) at the offering of the Tamid morning sacrifice and nine more at the Tamid evening sacrifice. On the feast days when additional offerings were made, nine additional Shofar blasts were given and on the eve of the Sabbath 6 (3: 3) more [Mishnah: Sukkah 5:5].
Shabbat
The Shofar was blown at the temple to begin the Sabbath each week. There was within the temple an inscription on the lintel of the wall at the top of the Temple that said, "To the house of the blowing of the trumpet (Shofar)". Each Sabbath 2 men with silver trumpets and a man with a Shofar made three trumpet blasts twice during the day. On Rosh haShanah, this was different. The Shofar is the primary trumpet. According to Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29, Rosh HaShanah is the day of the blowing of the trumpets. The original name is Yom (Day) Teruah (The staccato sound of the horn, which also means “Shout”). According to the Mishnah (Rosh HaShanah 16a, 3:3), the trumpet used for this purpose is the ram's horn, not trumpets made of metal as in Numbers 10. On Rosh HaShanah, a Shofar delivers the first blast, a silver trumpet the second, and then the Shofar the third.
http://www.Shofars.org/theShofararticle.htm. Accessed March 1, 2010.
Magical Symbolism
Apart from its liturgical uses the Shofar was closely connected with magical symbolism. Its blast destroyed the walls of Jericho, and in the Dead Sea scrolls we read that during battles Shofar blowers sounded a powerful war cry to instill fear into the hearts of the enemy while priests blew the six trumpets of killing. Historically the Shofar has also served in a number of popular usages: it was sounded during rites to bring rain, in the event of local disasters, and so on. In our times its liturgical use is restricted to New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
If the Shofar and its tones, like the Law of Moses, must be preserved unaltered, this would seem to prevent its "improvement" to become a true musical instrument to sound concurrent with worship. After the destruction of the Temple the Shofar was permitted specificially because it was not a musical instrument.
"Only in Ps 150:3 is it (shophar) mentioned with most of the other really musical instruments. Hence, we must conclude that the function of the shophar was to make noise--be it of earthly or of eschatological character--but not to make music. After the destruction of the temple and the general banishment of all instrumental music, the shophar alone survived, just because it was not a musical instrument."(International Dictionary of the Bible, p. 473, Abingdon).
• Alfred Edersheim, The Temple and Its Ministry and Services at the Time of Jesus Christ (London, 1874); Gregal Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI 1997, Reprint Of Original 1874.
Jewish Liturgical Music
"The Shofar is the ritual instrument of the ancient and modern Hebrews, the only Hebrew cultural instrument to have survived until now. Of martial origin, the Shofar was a priestly instrument in Biblical times. According to the Mishna, two different forms of Shofar were used in the Temple: one made of ibex horn, its bell ornamented with gold, was sounded at New Year and during the Yovel Days; one made of ram's horn, with silver ornamentation, was sounded on fast days.
The Shofar could be used to call the assembly (Qahal or Synagogue) in the wilderness. However, the ALARM could not be blown which included "making a joyful noise before the Lord." This was not musical worship but the universal warrior's cry that their god was superior.
Shofar as Music?
We learn from the Mishna, the Talmud and later commentaries, that the Rabbi’s proscribed improvements or modifications that might affect the tone. The ban included no gold-plating of its interior, no plugging of holes, no alteration of its length (the minimum permissible length of a ritually approved horn was 3 handbreadths).
• So, of all the instruments used in the Temple (there was Temple Orchestra), only the Shofar remains extent. See Alfred Edersheim, The Temple and Its Ministry and Services at the Time of Jesus Christ (London, 1874); Gregal Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI 1997, Reprint Of Original 1874.
Today’s Shofar Sounder carries on an ancient Tradition. The Shofar sounder stands in the footsteps of the holy priests, the great warriors, the talmudic sages, the great edi¬tors, and the great philosophers. Indeed, the Shofar represents the mystery of the survival of the Jewish people. And the nascent herald of the Messianic Age.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sounding of the Shofar or Trumpet in the Holy Temple?
Sounding of the Shofar or Trumpet in the Holy Temple?
Arthur L. Finkle
If we believe archeological findings, the frieze on the Arch of Titus in Rome, depicts the captured hatzotzerot (trumpets) from the Jewish Second Temple being borne in triumph among the other sacred objects. Further, we see the symbol of the Shofar as a symbol of Judaism in the archeological record (Capernaum synagogue - Ist century CE; Ephesus 2-3rd centuries; Rome – 2-5th centuries; etc.) in the early centuries of the Common Era.
Ambiguity of Words
There are, nevertheless, several ambiguities in whether the written words a trumpet and a Shofar. A case in point are the Hebrew words “Keren” (Horn) and Jubal (Jubilee)
The word ‘Shofar’ comes from an old Semitic root (cf. Akkadian ‘sapparum' meaning wild sheep or goat). At first, as has been indicated, the word ‘karen’ does not seem to have been used by itself. Later through the explanation of the Mishnah c 200CE), a horn could become a Shofar if it were constructed according to Mishnaic and later Talmudic direction.
The hatzotzerot, in contrast, seem to have been interchanged with the Shofar. In Tractate Rosh HsShanah, it termed when 'duty days' were taken in turns, the Shofar and trumpets played the same calls.
Confusion by Performing the Same or Similar Tasks
The Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 54 provides a description of the priests lowering trumpets during pauses in the Levitical singing n the Second Temple, signaling to worshippers to prostrate themselves.
Further there is a curious reference in I Chron. 5:13 instructing the trumpeters and singers being 'as one, to make one sound.’ It bespeaks the possibility that the trumpets played a sustained note over which the singers chanted as opposed to the trumpets and singers having separate parts. Moreover, one of the common words for 'fanfare' is “te r'uah” meaning 'a shout'. Accordingly, this fanfare could be described to have been the imitation of a shout. Sometimes this ambiguity between a vocal or instrumental meaning is difficult. A case in point is the famous passage in the Vulgate edition (Official early church version of the Holy Scriptures) of Joshua 5 , ‘where the priests were to blow the Shofars, while the peoples shouted: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound (kol) of the Shofar the peoples shouted with a great shout (teru'ah) so that the wall fell down flat.’ The Vulgate cannot be blamed for glossing because , by this time, there was a lack of distinction between the Shofar and trumpet.
History of the Uses of the Trumpet and Shofar Reverse Roles
The marshalling signals are described in Numbers 10, though in war the Shofar seems to have been the signaling instrument par excellence. All these functions, and their calls, seem later to have been appropriated by the Shofars. The encyclopedic Psalm 150, for example, makes no mention of the trumpet. Only lately (in the last century or so B.C.) do trumpets appear to come back into their former favor; but now, due to Greco- Roman influence, their use is primarily military. Indeed the roles of the two instruments seem to have become reversed; the Talmud says 'what was called a trumpet has become a Shofar, and what was called a Shofar has become a trumpet' (Bab. Talmud Shabbat 36a; also Sukkoth 34a; and Rosh HaShanah 36a; Targum version of Hosea 5:8). A passage in the Mishnah (Gittin 3:6) indicates much the same thing, in saying that a 'trumpet' can be made of animal horn. So the Shofar eventually took on the ceremonial function originally performed by the trumpet.
This confusion of usage makes the task of reconstructing the trumpet and Shofar calls simpler rather than the reverse, for the instruments and their traditional signals may be treated summarily. Since the Shofar calls themselves are the subject of some differences in our own times and were disputed in Talmudic times.
The Shofar had specifications according to the Mishnah. For example, it could not have holes; it could be valid if there was a split in the horn. The horn should be from a preferably kosher animal but never a cow (reminding one of the worship of the Golden Calf during Moses’ journey to receive the Ten Commandments for the first time.) It should be sounded from the small end of the horn. Horns could not be placed inside other horns; and there were restrictions as to decorations on the Shofar itself. (See Rosh HaShanah Mishnah and Talmud)
Further it is not clear whether the Shofar was used originally for ritual (as Leviticus 25 suggests) or for war purposes (Joshua 6). We do know, however, that Tractate Shabbat 35b provides that the Shofar sounded six times to prepare for the Sabbath.
Eventually, after the destruction of the second Temple, the Shofar was identified with Rosh HaShanah (the beginning of the religious year, sometimes known as Yom Teruah (Day of the blast) or Chag HaShoforot (the Shofar festival).
In addition, no minor authority, Cyrus Adler, indicated that cornet (a type of trumpet) and Shofar were used interchangeably.
Further Confusion
In “Sound The Shofar - "Ba-Kesse" Psalm 81:4,” Solomon B . Freehof follows the strange history of translation. The preponderance of traditional (Jewish) commentators agree on one translation of it and all the non-traditional commentators (non-Jewish) unanimously agree on another. One partial exception to this strange lineup is Rashi (11th century commentator), who translates "Ba-Kesse" here and in Proverbs 7:20 as "the special day," of "the appointed day." But he, too, in his commentary to Rosh HaShonah 8a-b, agrees with all the traditional commentators, beginning with the Talmud and the Midrash, Leviticus Rabba 29:6, taking the word to be a synonym of the word "Chodesh" in the first part of the sentence, meaning: The New Moon.
However, the non-traditional commentators of the 19th century, Wellhausen in Proverbs, Duhm in Psalms, and Briggs and Toy in the International Critical Commentary, and our modern English translation, all agree to translate the word "Kesse" not as "New Moon" but as Full Moon.
Accordingly, the evidence seems to be on the side of the tradition commentators who legitimized the appearance of the New Moon in the Seventh month as the Rosh HaShanah (Beginning of the Religious New Year)
References
Cyrus Adler, The Shofar - It's Use and Origin
Published in 1893, Government Printing Office (Washington) , pp 287-311.
Solomon B. Freehof, “Sound the Shofar: ‘Ba-Kesse’ Psalm 81:4, The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Jan., 1974), pp. 225-228, University of Pennsylvania Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1454132 Accessed: 04/01/2010 20:37
Sidney B. Hoenig, “Origins of the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy.”The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 57, The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume of the Jewish Quarterly Review (1967), pp. 312-331, University of Pennsylvania Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1453499 Accessed: 04/01/2010
David Wulstan, “The Sounding of the Shofar,” The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 26 (May, 1973), pp. 29-46, London: Galpin Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/841111
The Galpin Society was formed in October 1946 in London for the publication of original research into the history, construction, development and use of musical instruments. Its name commemorates the pioneer work of Canon Francis W. Galpin (1858-1945) who had spent a lifetime in the practical study of old instruments, in collecting them and recording their history.
Arthur L. Finkle
If we believe archeological findings, the frieze on the Arch of Titus in Rome, depicts the captured hatzotzerot (trumpets) from the Jewish Second Temple being borne in triumph among the other sacred objects. Further, we see the symbol of the Shofar as a symbol of Judaism in the archeological record (Capernaum synagogue - Ist century CE; Ephesus 2-3rd centuries; Rome – 2-5th centuries; etc.) in the early centuries of the Common Era.
Ambiguity of Words
There are, nevertheless, several ambiguities in whether the written words a trumpet and a Shofar. A case in point are the Hebrew words “Keren” (Horn) and Jubal (Jubilee)
The word ‘Shofar’ comes from an old Semitic root (cf. Akkadian ‘sapparum' meaning wild sheep or goat). At first, as has been indicated, the word ‘karen’ does not seem to have been used by itself. Later through the explanation of the Mishnah c 200CE), a horn could become a Shofar if it were constructed according to Mishnaic and later Talmudic direction.
The hatzotzerot, in contrast, seem to have been interchanged with the Shofar. In Tractate Rosh HsShanah, it termed when 'duty days' were taken in turns, the Shofar and trumpets played the same calls.
Confusion by Performing the Same or Similar Tasks
The Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 54 provides a description of the priests lowering trumpets during pauses in the Levitical singing n the Second Temple, signaling to worshippers to prostrate themselves.
Further there is a curious reference in I Chron. 5:13 instructing the trumpeters and singers being 'as one, to make one sound.’ It bespeaks the possibility that the trumpets played a sustained note over which the singers chanted as opposed to the trumpets and singers having separate parts. Moreover, one of the common words for 'fanfare' is “te r'uah” meaning 'a shout'. Accordingly, this fanfare could be described to have been the imitation of a shout. Sometimes this ambiguity between a vocal or instrumental meaning is difficult. A case in point is the famous passage in the Vulgate edition (Official early church version of the Holy Scriptures) of Joshua 5 , ‘where the priests were to blow the Shofars, while the peoples shouted: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound (kol) of the Shofar the peoples shouted with a great shout (teru'ah) so that the wall fell down flat.’ The Vulgate cannot be blamed for glossing because , by this time, there was a lack of distinction between the Shofar and trumpet.
History of the Uses of the Trumpet and Shofar Reverse Roles
The marshalling signals are described in Numbers 10, though in war the Shofar seems to have been the signaling instrument par excellence. All these functions, and their calls, seem later to have been appropriated by the Shofars. The encyclopedic Psalm 150, for example, makes no mention of the trumpet. Only lately (in the last century or so B.C.) do trumpets appear to come back into their former favor; but now, due to Greco- Roman influence, their use is primarily military. Indeed the roles of the two instruments seem to have become reversed; the Talmud says 'what was called a trumpet has become a Shofar, and what was called a Shofar has become a trumpet' (Bab. Talmud Shabbat 36a; also Sukkoth 34a; and Rosh HaShanah 36a; Targum version of Hosea 5:8). A passage in the Mishnah (Gittin 3:6) indicates much the same thing, in saying that a 'trumpet' can be made of animal horn. So the Shofar eventually took on the ceremonial function originally performed by the trumpet.
This confusion of usage makes the task of reconstructing the trumpet and Shofar calls simpler rather than the reverse, for the instruments and their traditional signals may be treated summarily. Since the Shofar calls themselves are the subject of some differences in our own times and were disputed in Talmudic times.
The Shofar had specifications according to the Mishnah. For example, it could not have holes; it could be valid if there was a split in the horn. The horn should be from a preferably kosher animal but never a cow (reminding one of the worship of the Golden Calf during Moses’ journey to receive the Ten Commandments for the first time.) It should be sounded from the small end of the horn. Horns could not be placed inside other horns; and there were restrictions as to decorations on the Shofar itself. (See Rosh HaShanah Mishnah and Talmud)
Further it is not clear whether the Shofar was used originally for ritual (as Leviticus 25 suggests) or for war purposes (Joshua 6). We do know, however, that Tractate Shabbat 35b provides that the Shofar sounded six times to prepare for the Sabbath.
Eventually, after the destruction of the second Temple, the Shofar was identified with Rosh HaShanah (the beginning of the religious year, sometimes known as Yom Teruah (Day of the blast) or Chag HaShoforot (the Shofar festival).
In addition, no minor authority, Cyrus Adler, indicated that cornet (a type of trumpet) and Shofar were used interchangeably.
Further Confusion
In “Sound The Shofar - "Ba-Kesse" Psalm 81:4,” Solomon B . Freehof follows the strange history of translation. The preponderance of traditional (Jewish) commentators agree on one translation of it and all the non-traditional commentators (non-Jewish) unanimously agree on another. One partial exception to this strange lineup is Rashi (11th century commentator), who translates "Ba-Kesse" here and in Proverbs 7:20 as "the special day," of "the appointed day." But he, too, in his commentary to Rosh HaShonah 8a-b, agrees with all the traditional commentators, beginning with the Talmud and the Midrash, Leviticus Rabba 29:6, taking the word to be a synonym of the word "Chodesh" in the first part of the sentence, meaning: The New Moon.
However, the non-traditional commentators of the 19th century, Wellhausen in Proverbs, Duhm in Psalms, and Briggs and Toy in the International Critical Commentary, and our modern English translation, all agree to translate the word "Kesse" not as "New Moon" but as Full Moon.
Accordingly, the evidence seems to be on the side of the tradition commentators who legitimized the appearance of the New Moon in the Seventh month as the Rosh HaShanah (Beginning of the Religious New Year)
References
Cyrus Adler, The Shofar - It's Use and Origin
Published in 1893, Government Printing Office (Washington) , pp 287-311.
Solomon B. Freehof, “Sound the Shofar: ‘Ba-Kesse’ Psalm 81:4, The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Jan., 1974), pp. 225-228, University of Pennsylvania Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1454132 Accessed: 04/01/2010 20:37
Sidney B. Hoenig, “Origins of the Rosh Hashanah Liturgy.”The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 57, The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Volume of the Jewish Quarterly Review (1967), pp. 312-331, University of Pennsylvania Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1453499 Accessed: 04/01/2010
David Wulstan, “The Sounding of the Shofar,” The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 26 (May, 1973), pp. 29-46, London: Galpin Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/841111
The Galpin Society was formed in October 1946 in London for the publication of original research into the history, construction, development and use of musical instruments. Its name commemorates the pioneer work of Canon Francis W. Galpin (1858-1945) who had spent a lifetime in the practical study of old instruments, in collecting them and recording their history.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Mystical Meaning of Shofar
The Mystical Meaning of Shofar
Arthur L. Finkle
Several articles address the religious, social, political, cultural and philosophical meaning of Shofar. No articles currently in circulation address the mystical tradition of Shofar.
Jewish mysticism is rich in tradition, citing Shimon Bar Yochai as a founder. In 1176, the Bahir was published by the Provence (Southern France) School of Kabbalists). However, it is ascribed to R. Nechuniah ben HaKana, a disciple of bar Yochai. It is mentioned by the Ravaad, the Ramban and the Zohar. Then xx’ Moses De Leon in the 13th century claims to have found the Zohar, a masterly mystical treatise. Then mystics flourished in Spain during its Jewish Golden Age (Ramban, Abulafia, R. Moshe Cordevero, etc.).
Primary Jewish Mystical Texts
Sefer Yetzirah ("book of creation") was the first historically recorded book on Kabbalah. Meaningless to those not schooled in mysticism, it was written for those schooled in mysticism who had discipled under a mentor.
The second of the important Jewish mystical works is the Bahir ("the illumination"), also known as "The Midrash of Rabbi Nechuniah ben haKana". It is some 12,000 words long. First published in Provence in 1176, many Orthodox Jews believe that the author was Rabbi Nehuniah ben haKana, a Talmudic sage of the first century. Historians have shown that the book was likely written not long before it was published.
The Zohar (זהר "the radiance") is arguably the most important book written on Jewish mysticism. Attributed to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, a 2nd century Talmudic commentator, it is generally assigned to a 13th century Spanish Jew, Moshe de Leon. There are those (mostly non-religious) who doubt that the Zohar was written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Moshe de Leon was in possession of the manuscript and claimed it was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s work. Other sages authenticated this (possibly Abulafia, or Rabbi Levi ben Gershon aka Ralbag).
The Zohar contains and elaborates upon much of the material found in Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer Bahir, and without question is the Kabbalistic work par excellance.
Kabbalistic teachings about the human soul
The Zohar posits that the human soul has three elements, the nefesh, ru'ah, and neshamah. The nefesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature. The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but are slowly created over time; their development depends on the actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually. A common way of explaining the five parts of the soul is as follows:
• Nefesh (נפש) - the lower part, or animal part, of the soul. Is linked to instincts and bodily cravings.
• Ruach (רוח) - the middle soul, the spirit. It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
• Neshamah (נשמה) - the higher soul, or super-soul. This separates man from all other lifeforms. It is related to the intellect, and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. This part of the soul is provided both to Jew and non-Jew alike at birth. It allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God.
• Ha’tah – Higher spiritual plane
• Yichuda – unite with HaKOM
In addition, there are five “realms” through which the “soul” travels. From lowest to highest:
• Asiyah (World of Activity, Making or Physical Manifestation).
• Yetzirah (World of Formation), and
• B'riyah (World of Creation),
• Atziluth (World of Emanation),
• Atziluth is also called the "Supernal World."
• It is rooted in the Sefirah Crown/Above and correlates with the letter Yod in the Name YHVH. In Atziluth, the twenty-two Hebrew letters are yet unmanifest,
In the sixteenth century, R. Isaac Luria (Arizal) (1534-72) and his fellow mystics of Safed were concerned about the Spanish expulsion (and its consequent mass conversions), and Messianic Redemption.
He overturned the Talmudic restriction that before studying mysticism one had to attain the age of 39. This led to spreading the word of a legitimate Jewish mysticism.
His fast-traveling doctrines included Tzimtzum (contraction); the breaking of the vessels: and Tikkun: (restoration and repair). Simply put, Luria ingeniously fashioned a metaphor of God’s contracting the universe to create the world, among other things.
Preconditions to the Rise of Hasidism
Although Jewish Lithuania retained its intellectual supremacy, sixteenth century Jewish Poland and its environs was a place of disillusion, pessimism and dismay. The failures of the Spanish Jewish mass conversions in the late 15th century stimulated a rigorous orthodox reaction in Europe. The failure of the messianic movement of Sabbatai Zevi; the decimation of the Cossacks’ uprising in 1648-60 and the general poverty made this region ripe for a radical change for Judaism to survive.
BeSht
In the mid-18th century, The founder of Hasidism was a man of the obscure Podolian Jewry, Israel b. Eliezer Ba'al Shem-Ṭob (BeShT). His personal fame as a healer spread not only among the Jews, but also among the non-Jewish peasants and the Polish nobles. He often cured the Jews by fervent prayer, profound ecstasies, and gesticulations. He also at times successfully prognosticated the future, and revealed secrets. Soon acquiring among the masses the reputation of a miracle-worker, he came to be known as "the kind Ba'al Shem" ("Ba'al Shem-Ṭob").
His teachings were simple and directed to the simple person. There was an omnipresent God who is inter-connected with humankind.
His focus was on emotion (spirituality), not on liturgy, leading to experiencing ecstasy and rejecting negativity.
In turn, Dov Baer of Mezirech, the foremost disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, congregated a missionary force to propagate the BeSHt’s uplifting teachings. As a result, many Hasidic leaders arose who ultimately led Hassidic regional movements: Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, Shneur Zalman of Liady, the "Seer" of Lublin, etc.
One of his foremost followers was Shneur Zalman of Liady who founded the Lubavitcher Dynasty. Called the Alter Rebbe (Old Rebbe), he accented the intellectual domain to appreciate Jewish mystical approach. His seminal intellectual output significantly contributed to Jewish scholarship. Among other things, he wrote a consequencial compendium on the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law published in 1565 by R. Yosef Caro), the gold standard of Jewish legal interpretation. Next, he wrote the Tanya , a foundational work which explained Hasidism for the everyday person. He established a new vocabulary to enable practically everyone to understand the esoteric ideas of Hasidism. Moreover, he wrote numerous Responsa and essays (including Torah Or and Likutei Torah on Chassidic concepts related to the Torah portion of the week) on various Jewish topics.
Using these documents, he materially influenced the movement of Hassidism in Southern Russia and the Ukraine during 1780-1820. Specifically, he legitimatized the Hasidic movement among the public. And he generated activities to the public good, including enhancing economic activities for his Jewish brethren.
The Shofar
One of his essays, “The High Holiday of Rosh Hashanah that falls on the Sabbath,” explains his understanding of the mystical qualities of the Shofar.
He begins with the paradox that Jewish law forbids the sounding of the Shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on the Sabbath. Yet using the etrog and lulav to celebrate Sukot on the Sabbath is not forbidden.
Explaining the mystical nature of the holidays, he develops the anthropomorphic concept that God experiences “delight” upon the hearing of the Shofar. A similar but not identical delight also occurs on the Sabbath. Therefore, we do not need the sound of the Shofar on the Sabbath when Rosh Hashanah falls on a Sabbath. (Yom Kippur can never fall on the Sabbath.)
The “delight” idea xx that Jews have the ability to interact with God; to arouse and strength Gods attribute of Kingship .
He states:
A shofar is made of the horn of a docile animal, symbolizing a willingness to go along with G-d’s will over our own. In addition, a shofar¬-blast is a piercing cry that reaches to the very depths of a person’s heart and soul; this represents, and in fact helps to stimulate, our heartfelt repentance – a repentance that is also rooted in the very deepest depths of the soul. Only this deep level of commitment to G-d, embodied in the mitzvah of shofar, is capable of evoking a correspondingly deep response from G-d, a response on the level referred to above as “delight.”
(Der Alter Rebbe, Yom Tov Shel Rosh Hashanah Shechal Lih’yose BaShabbes, (An adaptation of Maamar found in Likutei Torah. http://www.likuteitorah.com/47%20Rosh %20Hashanah% 20pamphlet%20web.htm. Accessed July 5, 2009.)
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (z’l) made another analogy that the High holy Days are based on coronation, repentance and Shofar.
Coronation refers to the Kingship that humankind establishes with God, both reaching up and its reaching down to embrace humankind. Repentence (tshuvah) is a major part of the High Holy Days. Indeed, during these ten days, Jews are obligated to atone for their sins and to purifiy their souls. There is also an obligation (mitzvah) for sounding the Shofar.
The mitzvah of the day is the sounding of the shofar."( Rosh HaShanah 27a.)] That is to say, not only does Rosh HaShanah contain characteristics that are exclusive to the theme and conception of Rosh HaShanah alone, and not only does Rosh HaShanah include shared features common to all the Ten Days of Repentance, but it also possesses its own "mitzvah of the day" - sounding the shofar.
http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/chassidic-dimension-festivals-1/03.htm. ACCESSED jULY 5, 2009.
Basically, he equates the sound of the Shofar with God’s voice, on a mystical level! Such a voice is awesome is bespeaks the solemnity and grandiosity of the High Holidays in the lives of the Jewish People.
He then resolves the lulav and etrog paradox on the Sabbath by indicating that Sukkot does not require the Godliness of “delight,” which is only reserved for the Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the announcement of the Messiah!
Moreover, the voice of God is mentioned in the Bible as God’s voice and as God’s voice cessation
[In Sedra Yitro, Gen. 18:1-18], The sound of the shofar grew increasingly stronger; Moses would speak and God would answer him with a voice. יט. וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשּׁוֹפָר הוֹלֵךְ וְחָזֵק מְאֹד מֹשֶׁה יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֱ־לֹהִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל: grew increasingly stronger:
Rabbi Larry Freedman http://www.templesinaipgh.org/Door-columns/sermons/HH2005/RH1-LF.pdf
For more information about Shofar and other Holy Temple instruments.
We have three websites
1) Shofar Sounders WebPage
http://shofar221.com
2) Joint Effort with Michael Chusid,an expert Shofar sounder and commentator
http://www.hearingshofar.com
3) Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com
If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to ask.
Navigation by WebRing.
Art Finkle and Michael Chusid
Arthur L. Finkle
Several articles address the religious, social, political, cultural and philosophical meaning of Shofar. No articles currently in circulation address the mystical tradition of Shofar.
Jewish mysticism is rich in tradition, citing Shimon Bar Yochai as a founder. In 1176, the Bahir was published by the Provence (Southern France) School of Kabbalists). However, it is ascribed to R. Nechuniah ben HaKana, a disciple of bar Yochai. It is mentioned by the Ravaad, the Ramban and the Zohar. Then xx’ Moses De Leon in the 13th century claims to have found the Zohar, a masterly mystical treatise. Then mystics flourished in Spain during its Jewish Golden Age (Ramban, Abulafia, R. Moshe Cordevero, etc.).
Primary Jewish Mystical Texts
Sefer Yetzirah ("book of creation") was the first historically recorded book on Kabbalah. Meaningless to those not schooled in mysticism, it was written for those schooled in mysticism who had discipled under a mentor.
The second of the important Jewish mystical works is the Bahir ("the illumination"), also known as "The Midrash of Rabbi Nechuniah ben haKana". It is some 12,000 words long. First published in Provence in 1176, many Orthodox Jews believe that the author was Rabbi Nehuniah ben haKana, a Talmudic sage of the first century. Historians have shown that the book was likely written not long before it was published.
The Zohar (זהר "the radiance") is arguably the most important book written on Jewish mysticism. Attributed to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, a 2nd century Talmudic commentator, it is generally assigned to a 13th century Spanish Jew, Moshe de Leon. There are those (mostly non-religious) who doubt that the Zohar was written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Moshe de Leon was in possession of the manuscript and claimed it was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s work. Other sages authenticated this (possibly Abulafia, or Rabbi Levi ben Gershon aka Ralbag).
The Zohar contains and elaborates upon much of the material found in Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer Bahir, and without question is the Kabbalistic work par excellance.
Kabbalistic teachings about the human soul
The Zohar posits that the human soul has three elements, the nefesh, ru'ah, and neshamah. The nefesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature. The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but are slowly created over time; their development depends on the actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually. A common way of explaining the five parts of the soul is as follows:
• Nefesh (נפש) - the lower part, or animal part, of the soul. Is linked to instincts and bodily cravings.
• Ruach (רוח) - the middle soul, the spirit. It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
• Neshamah (נשמה) - the higher soul, or super-soul. This separates man from all other lifeforms. It is related to the intellect, and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. This part of the soul is provided both to Jew and non-Jew alike at birth. It allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God.
• Ha’tah – Higher spiritual plane
• Yichuda – unite with HaKOM
In addition, there are five “realms” through which the “soul” travels. From lowest to highest:
• Asiyah (World of Activity, Making or Physical Manifestation).
• Yetzirah (World of Formation), and
• B'riyah (World of Creation),
• Atziluth (World of Emanation),
• Atziluth is also called the "Supernal World."
• It is rooted in the Sefirah Crown/Above and correlates with the letter Yod in the Name YHVH. In Atziluth, the twenty-two Hebrew letters are yet unmanifest,
In the sixteenth century, R. Isaac Luria (Arizal) (1534-72) and his fellow mystics of Safed were concerned about the Spanish expulsion (and its consequent mass conversions), and Messianic Redemption.
He overturned the Talmudic restriction that before studying mysticism one had to attain the age of 39. This led to spreading the word of a legitimate Jewish mysticism.
His fast-traveling doctrines included Tzimtzum (contraction); the breaking of the vessels: and Tikkun: (restoration and repair). Simply put, Luria ingeniously fashioned a metaphor of God’s contracting the universe to create the world, among other things.
Preconditions to the Rise of Hasidism
Although Jewish Lithuania retained its intellectual supremacy, sixteenth century Jewish Poland and its environs was a place of disillusion, pessimism and dismay. The failures of the Spanish Jewish mass conversions in the late 15th century stimulated a rigorous orthodox reaction in Europe. The failure of the messianic movement of Sabbatai Zevi; the decimation of the Cossacks’ uprising in 1648-60 and the general poverty made this region ripe for a radical change for Judaism to survive.
BeSht
In the mid-18th century, The founder of Hasidism was a man of the obscure Podolian Jewry, Israel b. Eliezer Ba'al Shem-Ṭob (BeShT). His personal fame as a healer spread not only among the Jews, but also among the non-Jewish peasants and the Polish nobles. He often cured the Jews by fervent prayer, profound ecstasies, and gesticulations. He also at times successfully prognosticated the future, and revealed secrets. Soon acquiring among the masses the reputation of a miracle-worker, he came to be known as "the kind Ba'al Shem" ("Ba'al Shem-Ṭob").
His teachings were simple and directed to the simple person. There was an omnipresent God who is inter-connected with humankind.
His focus was on emotion (spirituality), not on liturgy, leading to experiencing ecstasy and rejecting negativity.
In turn, Dov Baer of Mezirech, the foremost disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, congregated a missionary force to propagate the BeSHt’s uplifting teachings. As a result, many Hasidic leaders arose who ultimately led Hassidic regional movements: Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, Shneur Zalman of Liady, the "Seer" of Lublin, etc.
One of his foremost followers was Shneur Zalman of Liady who founded the Lubavitcher Dynasty. Called the Alter Rebbe (Old Rebbe), he accented the intellectual domain to appreciate Jewish mystical approach. His seminal intellectual output significantly contributed to Jewish scholarship. Among other things, he wrote a consequencial compendium on the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law published in 1565 by R. Yosef Caro), the gold standard of Jewish legal interpretation. Next, he wrote the Tanya , a foundational work which explained Hasidism for the everyday person. He established a new vocabulary to enable practically everyone to understand the esoteric ideas of Hasidism. Moreover, he wrote numerous Responsa and essays (including Torah Or and Likutei Torah on Chassidic concepts related to the Torah portion of the week) on various Jewish topics.
Using these documents, he materially influenced the movement of Hassidism in Southern Russia and the Ukraine during 1780-1820. Specifically, he legitimatized the Hasidic movement among the public. And he generated activities to the public good, including enhancing economic activities for his Jewish brethren.
The Shofar
One of his essays, “The High Holiday of Rosh Hashanah that falls on the Sabbath,” explains his understanding of the mystical qualities of the Shofar.
He begins with the paradox that Jewish law forbids the sounding of the Shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on the Sabbath. Yet using the etrog and lulav to celebrate Sukot on the Sabbath is not forbidden.
Explaining the mystical nature of the holidays, he develops the anthropomorphic concept that God experiences “delight” upon the hearing of the Shofar. A similar but not identical delight also occurs on the Sabbath. Therefore, we do not need the sound of the Shofar on the Sabbath when Rosh Hashanah falls on a Sabbath. (Yom Kippur can never fall on the Sabbath.)
The “delight” idea xx that Jews have the ability to interact with God; to arouse and strength Gods attribute of Kingship .
He states:
A shofar is made of the horn of a docile animal, symbolizing a willingness to go along with G-d’s will over our own. In addition, a shofar¬-blast is a piercing cry that reaches to the very depths of a person’s heart and soul; this represents, and in fact helps to stimulate, our heartfelt repentance – a repentance that is also rooted in the very deepest depths of the soul. Only this deep level of commitment to G-d, embodied in the mitzvah of shofar, is capable of evoking a correspondingly deep response from G-d, a response on the level referred to above as “delight.”
(Der Alter Rebbe, Yom Tov Shel Rosh Hashanah Shechal Lih’yose BaShabbes, (An adaptation of Maamar found in Likutei Torah. http://www.likuteitorah.com/47%20Rosh %20Hashanah% 20pamphlet%20web.htm. Accessed July 5, 2009.)
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (z’l) made another analogy that the High holy Days are based on coronation, repentance and Shofar.
Coronation refers to the Kingship that humankind establishes with God, both reaching up and its reaching down to embrace humankind. Repentence (tshuvah) is a major part of the High Holy Days. Indeed, during these ten days, Jews are obligated to atone for their sins and to purifiy their souls. There is also an obligation (mitzvah) for sounding the Shofar.
The mitzvah of the day is the sounding of the shofar."( Rosh HaShanah 27a.)] That is to say, not only does Rosh HaShanah contain characteristics that are exclusive to the theme and conception of Rosh HaShanah alone, and not only does Rosh HaShanah include shared features common to all the Ten Days of Repentance, but it also possesses its own "mitzvah of the day" - sounding the shofar.
http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/chassidic-dimension-festivals-1/03.htm. ACCESSED jULY 5, 2009.
Basically, he equates the sound of the Shofar with God’s voice, on a mystical level! Such a voice is awesome is bespeaks the solemnity and grandiosity of the High Holidays in the lives of the Jewish People.
He then resolves the lulav and etrog paradox on the Sabbath by indicating that Sukkot does not require the Godliness of “delight,” which is only reserved for the Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the announcement of the Messiah!
Moreover, the voice of God is mentioned in the Bible as God’s voice and as God’s voice cessation
[In Sedra Yitro, Gen. 18:1-18], The sound of the shofar grew increasingly stronger; Moses would speak and God would answer him with a voice. יט. וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשּׁוֹפָר הוֹלֵךְ וְחָזֵק מְאֹד מֹשֶׁה יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֱ־לֹהִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל: grew increasingly stronger:
Rabbi Larry Freedman http://www.templesinaipgh.org/Door-columns/sermons/HH2005/RH1-LF.pdf
For more information about Shofar and other Holy Temple instruments.
We have three websites
1) Shofar Sounders WebPage
http://shofar221.com
2) Joint Effort with Michael Chusid,an expert Shofar sounder and commentator
http://www.hearingshofar.com
3) Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com
If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to ask.
Art Finkle and Michael Chusid
Monday, December 14, 2009
Shofar Websites - Great
For more information about Shofar and other Holy Temple instruments.
We have three websites
1) Shofar Sounders WebPage
2) Joint Effort with Michael Chusid,an expert Shofar sounder and commentator
3) Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com
4) Shofar Uses
http://thewarfarejournal.blogspot.com/
If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to ask.
Art Finkle and Michael Chusid
Shofar19067@hotmail.com & michael@chusid.com
Navigation by WebRing.
We have three websites
1) Shofar Sounders WebPage
| https://web.archive.org/web/20091026135103/http://geocities.com/afinkle221/ |
2) Joint Effort with Michael Chusid,an expert Shofar sounder and commentator
| www.hearingshofar.blogspot.com |
3) Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com
4) Shofar Uses
http://thewarfarejournal.blogspot.com/
If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to ask.
Art Finkle and Michael Chusid
Shofar19067@hotmail.com & michael@chusid.com
Blast From the Past
Blast From the Past
“Nothing so much enhances a good as to make sacrifices for it”.
George Santayana (1863-1952) American philosopher and poet
Arthur L. Finkle
Early Horn Uses
Pre-historic humankind utilized whatever was useful in their environment. Wherever the primitive lived, they utilized the available materials to signal. Those in the Indian and Caribbean Seas used the Conch shell. The Australian aborigines, the didjeridoo (a bamboo hollowed out by fire ants).
Hindus also utilize the Conch Trumpet. In ancient China, the primitives played the Yu – a reed wind instrument made of bamboo.
Where is the Shofar in the Bible?
Commentators have tracked the word “Shofar” in 7 parts of the Hebrew Scripture: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua Chronicles and 5-psalms
In the first five books of Moses, Shofar is cited:
Exodus 19:12-14
13 . . . Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."
In Leviticus 23 and 24, there is a priestly commandment:
"In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts" (Lev. 23:24).
There are references to the Shofar in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, that Gabriel will announce the Messiah with the sound the Shofar. (16;Matthew 24:29-31; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; I Corinthians 15:51-52 .
Temple Sacrifices
The burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offering composed the basic sacrificial system of Israel. These sacrifices were commonly used in conjunction with each other and were carried out on both an individual and a corporate basis. The sacrificial system taught the necessity of dealing with sin and, at the same time, demonstrated that God had provided a way for dealing with sin.
1. Burnt offering (olah). The burnt offering of certain animals was offered both in the morning and in the evening, as well as on special days such as the Sabbath, the new moon, and the yearly feasts (Numbers 28-29; 2 Kings 16:15; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 31:3; Ezra 3:3-6).
2. Grain offering (minchah; “meat offering” in KJV). An offering from the harvest of the land is the only type that required no bloodshed. (Leviticus 2:13),
3. Peace offering . This consisted of the sacrifice of a bull, cow, lamb, or goat that had no defect. As with the burnt offering, the individual laid a hand on the animal and killed it. The priests, in turn, sprinkled the blood around the altar. The priest received the breast and the right thigh (Leviticus 7:28-36), but the offerer was given much of the meat to have a meal of celebration (Leviticus 7:11-21).
4. Sin offering was designed to deal with sin that was committed unintentionally. The sacrifice varied according to who committed the sin.
5. Guilt offering. This is hard to distinguish from the sin offering (Leviticus 4-5). In Leviticus 5:6-7, the guilt offering is called the sin offering.
Interestingly the sacrifice system is found in the New Testament.Hebrews portrays Jesus as the sinless high priest who offered himself up as a sacrifice for sinners (Leviticus 7:27). The book ends with an encouragement to offer sacrifices of praise to God through Jesus.
After the Romans destroyed the Holy Temple, the sacrificial cult terminated. During this time, moreover, the early Church also disbanded the sacrificial rites because Christianity began to differ materially form Judaism.
The Sounds
Thereafter, two Priests stood atop of a marble stand near the altar signaling trumpet blasts: tekiah, tekiah and teruah. A long note followed a series of short notes; then another long note.
In the Mishnah (gathering the laws of the Bible, written in 200 CE by great-grandchildren of those who worshipped at The Temple in Jerusalem) there is a difference of opinion when reciting the manner of Shofar sounding in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Sages indicate that on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) Two Shofars and one trumpet are sounded at the sacrifices. The remainder of the year, two trumpets and one Shofar. There are others who contend that the Shofar was sounded only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur during the Jubilee Year (every 50-years when debts and servitude is forgiven). The fact is that whatever was the system was forgotten in three generations.
There is also a dispute as to what the Shofar sounds should be. The Sages agreed on the “Teki'ah" blast) but differed in “Teruah" note. Some of the Rabbi’s indicated that Teruah was 9 staccato sounds; others, three weeping wounds. The Rabbis compromised by adding all both sounds in the service.
Reasons for Sounding the Shofar
The Saadiah Gaon (10th century CE, head of a famous Babylonian university) offers ten reasons, two of which are cited below:
(1) as a reminder to be faithful to the teachings of the Torah, since the Shofar was heard at the giving of the Torah;
(2) as a reminder of the prophets, the teachers of righteousness, who raised their voices desire the Shofar to touch our consciences (Abudarham [Jerusalem, 1959 ed.], 269f.).
“Nothing so much enhances a good as to make sacrifices for it”.
George Santayana (1863-1952) American philosopher and poet
Arthur L. Finkle
Early Horn Uses
Pre-historic humankind utilized whatever was useful in their environment. Wherever the primitive lived, they utilized the available materials to signal. Those in the Indian and Caribbean Seas used the Conch shell. The Australian aborigines, the didjeridoo (a bamboo hollowed out by fire ants).
Hindus also utilize the Conch Trumpet. In ancient China, the primitives played the Yu – a reed wind instrument made of bamboo.
Where is the Shofar in the Bible?
Commentators have tracked the word “Shofar” in 7 parts of the Hebrew Scripture: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua Chronicles and 5-psalms
In the first five books of Moses, Shofar is cited:
Exodus 19:12-14
13 . . . Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."
In Leviticus 23 and 24, there is a priestly commandment:
"In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts" (Lev. 23:24).
There are references to the Shofar in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, that Gabriel will announce the Messiah with the sound the Shofar. (16;Matthew 24:29-31; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; I Corinthians 15:51-52 .
Temple Sacrifices
The burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offering composed the basic sacrificial system of Israel. These sacrifices were commonly used in conjunction with each other and were carried out on both an individual and a corporate basis. The sacrificial system taught the necessity of dealing with sin and, at the same time, demonstrated that God had provided a way for dealing with sin.
1. Burnt offering (olah). The burnt offering of certain animals was offered both in the morning and in the evening, as well as on special days such as the Sabbath, the new moon, and the yearly feasts (Numbers 28-29; 2 Kings 16:15; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 31:3; Ezra 3:3-6).
2. Grain offering (minchah; “meat offering” in KJV). An offering from the harvest of the land is the only type that required no bloodshed. (Leviticus 2:13),
3. Peace offering . This consisted of the sacrifice of a bull, cow, lamb, or goat that had no defect. As with the burnt offering, the individual laid a hand on the animal and killed it. The priests, in turn, sprinkled the blood around the altar. The priest received the breast and the right thigh (Leviticus 7:28-36), but the offerer was given much of the meat to have a meal of celebration (Leviticus 7:11-21).
4. Sin offering was designed to deal with sin that was committed unintentionally. The sacrifice varied according to who committed the sin.
5. Guilt offering. This is hard to distinguish from the sin offering (Leviticus 4-5). In Leviticus 5:6-7, the guilt offering is called the sin offering.
Interestingly the sacrifice system is found in the New Testament.Hebrews portrays Jesus as the sinless high priest who offered himself up as a sacrifice for sinners (Leviticus 7:27). The book ends with an encouragement to offer sacrifices of praise to God through Jesus.
After the Romans destroyed the Holy Temple, the sacrificial cult terminated. During this time, moreover, the early Church also disbanded the sacrificial rites because Christianity began to differ materially form Judaism.
The Sounds
Thereafter, two Priests stood atop of a marble stand near the altar signaling trumpet blasts: tekiah, tekiah and teruah. A long note followed a series of short notes; then another long note.
In the Mishnah (gathering the laws of the Bible, written in 200 CE by great-grandchildren of those who worshipped at The Temple in Jerusalem) there is a difference of opinion when reciting the manner of Shofar sounding in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Sages indicate that on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) Two Shofars and one trumpet are sounded at the sacrifices. The remainder of the year, two trumpets and one Shofar. There are others who contend that the Shofar was sounded only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur during the Jubilee Year (every 50-years when debts and servitude is forgiven). The fact is that whatever was the system was forgotten in three generations.
There is also a dispute as to what the Shofar sounds should be. The Sages agreed on the “Teki'ah" blast) but differed in “Teruah" note. Some of the Rabbi’s indicated that Teruah was 9 staccato sounds; others, three weeping wounds. The Rabbis compromised by adding all both sounds in the service.
Reasons for Sounding the Shofar
The Saadiah Gaon (10th century CE, head of a famous Babylonian university) offers ten reasons, two of which are cited below:
(1) as a reminder to be faithful to the teachings of the Torah, since the Shofar was heard at the giving of the Torah;
(2) as a reminder of the prophets, the teachers of righteousness, who raised their voices desire the Shofar to touch our consciences (Abudarham [Jerusalem, 1959 ed.], 269f.).
Monday, September 21, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
"And the Shofar Blew"
From http://joeyhill.blogspot.com/, reviewing fiction.
Hearing Shofar
Navigation by WebRing.
For full explanation of Shofar, its influence on prayer and
its historical antecedents going back to the Temple sacrifices,
go to:
WebPage
For full explanation of Shofar, its influence on prayer and
its historical antecedents going back to the Temple sacrifices,
go to:
Shofar Webpage
Hearing Shofar
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Welcome to the Shofar Sounders' Reference
I created this blog to discuss anything about the shofar: history, sounding, music, purchasing, etc.
Art Finkle
Navigation by WebRing.
I created this blog to discuss anything about the shofar: history, sounding, music, purchasing, etc.
| https://web.archive.org/web/20091026135103/http://geocities.com/afinkle221/ |
Art Finkle
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