The office of the Chief Rabbinate is warning Jews to make sure their shofar (ram's horn) is kosher for the celebration of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, which begins this Friday at sunset.
The Rabbinate said that not all of the shofars being sold in Israel are kosher; some have cracks, which invalidate the horn for use during the ritual blowing on the two-day holiday. Others turned out to have been produced by Arab manufacturers in a Samarian village; this, too, might invalidate the shofar for fulfillment of the commandment for Jews to hear its call on the New Year, due to the lack of reliable supervision while the shofar is being produced.
"It is so unfortunate that there are unscrupulous people, particularly before the High Holidays," said Rabbi Ariel Levine of northern Tel Aviv, who advised consumers Wednesday on Voice of Israel government radio to purchase only shofars with kosher certification.
No Shofar on Sabbath Since Temple Destruction
Because the first day of the holiday falls this year on the Sabbath, the Torah commandment to hear the sound of the shofar will only be fulfilled on Sunday. When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, the shofar was sounded even when the Rosh HaShanah holiday fell on the Sabbath.
The shofar was also blown on Rosh HaShanah on the Sabbath throughout the city of Jerusalem, in all areas within its municipal boundaries, while the First and Second Temples stood. Elsewhere in Israel, however, the shofar was not blown on the Sabbath, nor has it been blown on the Sabbath since the Second Temple was destroyed two millenia ago.
Ashkenazi and Sephardic Customs
It is the custom among Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews to sound the shofar 100 times on Rosh HaShanah in a combination of different types of notes called the tekiah, shevarim and teruah.
The 100 notes are said to symbolize all but one of the 101 letters contained in the lament of Sisera's mother as she awaited the return of her son from the battlefield, as recorded in the Song of Devorah (Judges, 4). Sisera was the cruel Caananite captain who oppressed the Jews for 20 years on behalf of the Canaanite king, Jabin. As she waited, the grieving mother imagined her son engaged in evil, slaughtering Jews and taking spoils.
Since the purpose of the sounding of the shofar is to arouse G-d's compassion for the descendants of Yitzchak (Isaac) who was offered like a sacrificial ram upon the altar, it is hoped that the 100 notes nullify all of the letters corresponding to her thoughts but one -- the sorrow of a grieving mother. (Sisera was killed by Yael, wife of Heber, after he fell asleep in her tent following his defeat in battle by a force of 10,000 Israelites led by Barak.)
Sephardic Jews (from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and the Middle East) add one more tekiah, for a total of 101 sounds of the shofar, before the recital of Alenu at the end of Musaf (the additional morning service).
The number 101 is also a favorite sum used for donations in the Sephardic world, as it corresponds to the numerical value of the letters of the name of the Angel Michael, the guardian angel of the the People of Israel who seeks mercy on their behalf.