(16) On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
(13) And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son.
אמר רבי אבהו למה תוקעין בשופר של איל אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא תקעו לפני בשופר של איל כדי שאזכור לכם עקידת יצחק בן אברהם ומעלה אני עליכם כאילו עקדתם עצמכם לפני
Says R' Abahu why do we blow with the horn of a ram? Said the Holy One: blow before me with a ram's horn in order that I remember for you the binding of Isaac son of Abraham, and I will consider it as if you bound yourselves before me.
The length of the Teru’ah is equal to the length of three Yevavot (wails). But it has been taught: the length of the teru’ah is equal to three shevarim! Abaye said, “Here there is really a difference of opinion. It is written: ‘It shall be a day of teru’ah unto you’ and we translate [in Aramaic], a day of yevava (wailing), and it is written of the mother of Sisera, ‘Through the window she looked forth vateyavav.’ One authority thought that this means drawing a long sigh and the other that it means uttering short, piercing cries.
(ב) קֹדֶם שֶׁיִּתְקַע יְבָרֵךְ: לִשְׁמֹעַ קוֹל שׁוֹפָר, וִיבָרֵךְ: שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ; הַגָּה: וְאֵין חִלּוּק בֵּין אִם יְבָרֵךְ לְעַצְמוֹ, אוֹ שֶׁכְּבָר יָצָא וּמְבָרֵךְ לְהוֹצִיא אֲחֵרִים, אֲפִלּוּ הָכֵי מְבָרֵךְ הַתּוֹקֵעַ שְׁתֵּי בְּרָכוֹת הַנִּזְכָּרוֹת (בֵּית יוֹסֵף וּתְרוּמַת הַדֶּשֶׁן); וְיִתְקַע תַּשְׁרַ''ת ג' פְּעָמִים, וְתַשַׁ''ת ג' פְּעָמִים, וְתַרַ''ת ג' פְּעָמִים; הַגָּה: וְטוֹב לִתְקֹעַ בְּצַד יָמִין, אִם אֶפְשָׁר לִתְקֹעַ בְּכָךְ (מִנְהָגִים), וְכֵן יַהֲפֹךְ הַשּׁוֹפָר לְמַעְלָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: עָלָה אֱלֹהִים בִּתְרוּעָה (תְּהִלִּים מז, ו') (רוֹקֵחַ וּמַהֲרִי''ל).
(2) 2 Before one blows one makes the blessing "to hear the sound of the shofar" and makes the blessing "shehecheyanu." Rema: And there is no distinction between blessing for oneself or if one has already fulfilled [the obligation of blessing] and blesses to fulfill the obligation of others. Either way, the one blowing makes the two aforementioned blessings (based on Beit Yosef and Trumat HaDeshen). And one blows Tekiyah Shevarim Truah Tekiyah three times; and Tekiyah Shevarim Tekiyah three times; and Tekiyah Truah Tekiyah three times. Rema: And it's best to blow on the left side if possible to blow this way (Minhagim). And also to direct the shofar upwards as it is said "Raise up G-d with the shofar" (Rokeach and Maharil).
The 17th century Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz taught that each group of sounds begins with a tekiah, a whole note and is followed by a shevarim, a broken note, divided into three parts or a even to a teru’ah an entirely fragmented sound. But each broken note is not left in its brokenness, it is followed by another tekiah, a whole sound. Rabbi Horowitz taught that when we hear shofar we hear this message -
I started off whole, I became broken, even splintered into fragments, but I shall become whole again! I shall become whole again!”
According to the Talmud, a shofar may be made from the horn of any animal from the Bovidae family except that of a cow although a ram is preferable. Bovidae horns are made of a layer of keratin (the same material as human toenails and fingernails) around a core of bone, with a layer of cartilage in between, which can be removed to leave the hollow keratin horn. An antler, on the other hand, is made of solid bone, so an antler cannot be used as a shofar because it cannot be hollowed out.
There is no requirement for ritual slaughter (shechita), and theoretically, the horn can come from a non-kosher animal because under most, but not all, interpretations of Jewish law the shofar is not required to be muttar be-fikha (literally: permissible in your mouth); the mitzvah is hearing the shofar, not eating the animal it came from. The shofar falls into the category of tashmishei mitzvah, objects used to perform a mitzvah that do not themselves have inherent holiness. Moreover, because horn is always inedible, it is considered afra be-alma (mere dust) and not an unkosher substance. However, the minhag has arisen that, if possible, the animal should not be
killed to take the shofar.
The Elef Hamagen (586:5) delineates the order of preference: 1) curved ram; 2) curved other sheep; 3) curved other animal; 4) straight—ram or otherwise; 5) non-kosher animal; 6) cow. The first four categories are used with a bracha (blessing), the fifth without a bracha, and the last, not at all.
In practice two species are generally used: the Ashkenazi and Sefardi shofar is made from the horn of a domestic ram, while a Yemeni shofar is made from the horn of a kudu. A Moroccan Shofar is a flat Shofar with no curves besides the main curve. A crack or hole in the shofar affecting the sound renders it unfit for ceremonial use. A shofar may not be painted in colors, but it may be carved with artistic designs (Shulkhan Arukh, Orach Chayim, 586, 17). Shofars (especially the Sephardi shofars) are sometimes plated with silver across part of their length for display purposes, although this invalidates them for use in religious practices.
The horn is flattened and shaped by the application of heat, which softens it. A hole is made from the tip of the horn to the natural hollow inside. It is played much like a Europeanbrass instrument, with the player blowing through the hole, causing the air column inside to vibrate. Sephardi shofars usually have a carved mouthpiece resembling that of a European trumpet or French horn, but smaller. Ashkenazi shofars do not.