וּבַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם כל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ י֥וֹם תְּרוּעָ֖ה יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶֽם
“In the seventh month, on the first of the month, you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no work. It shall be for you Yom Teru’a, a day of the sound of the Teru’a.” (Bamidbar 29:1)
Hearing the Shofar is the central and most characteristic mitsva of Rosh HaShana. In the Bible, shofar refers to a horn used as an instrument to produce a sound. The Torah also mentions another wind instrument, the chatsotserot, trumpets made of metal.
The question for today is this. Many animals have horns, and many of those horns can be used to produce sound. Which one do we need for the mitsva of Shofar on Rosh HaShana? Will any animal horn that makes the right sound do, or does it have to come from a specific animal?
The ram’s horn
For centuries the characteristic Shofar of Rosh HaShana has been the ram’s horn, qeren hakebasim.
Our Sages debated this almost 2,000 years ago. The Mishna examines which horns qualify for this mitsva, and the halakha excludes, among others, the horn of a cow or a bull (qeren shel para). The Gemara (Rosh HaShana 26a) gives several explanations. One of the best known is the principle אין קטיגור נעשה סניגור, en kategor na’ase sanegor, “the prosecutor cannot become the defense attorney.” The bull inevitably evokes the sin of the Golden Calf, and we do not want to bring up that memory precisely when we are seeking HaShem’s favor.
With the ram it is the reverse. Its horn calls up one of the most positive memories we can invoke: the ‘Aqedat Itschaq, the binding of Itschaq Abinu.
After our patriarch Abraham passed the hardest test of his life and showed he was willing to sacrifice what he loved most in order to do HaShem’s will, he lifted his eyes and saw a ram whose horns were caught in a thicket. Abraham took that ram and offered it in place of his son Itschaq (Bereshit 22:13).
Our Sages tied this episode directly to the Shofar. The Gemara says (Rosh HaShana 16a): why do we blow a ram’s horn on Rosh HaShana? So that HaShem will remember for our sake the ‘Aqedat Itschaq ben Abraham, and count it as though we ourselves were prepared to make such a sacrifice.
After the ‘Aqeda, Abraham received an extraordinary blessing: “I will bless you and multiply your descendants like the stars of the sky and like the sand of the sea… and because you listened to My voice, all the nations of the earth will be blessed through your descendants” (Bereshit 22:17-18).
The ram’s horn, then, does not only produce the sound of the Shofar. It also brings to our memory, and so to speak before HaShem, the merit of Abraham Abinu and the ‘Aqedat Itschaq. It is hard to imagine a more fitting memory for Rosh HaShana, the day our actions and our merits are weighed.
The popular “Yemenite Shofar”
A different kind of Shofar has become very popular in our day: the kudu horn, from a large African antelope, commonly called the “Yemenite Shofar.” It is impressive to look at. It can be three or four times longer than a ram’s horn, has a distinctive twist, and produces a deep, powerful sound.
Now that we understand why the ram’s horn matters, a practical question follows. Can we use a kudu Shofar, or one from another animal, on Rosh HaShana? Or must we use a ram’s horn and nothing else?
For Selichot and during the month of Elul, those who blow the Shofar may use a kudu horn without the same difficulty, since there we are not fulfilling the biblical mitsva of hearing the Shofar of Rosh HaShana.
On Rosh HaShana itself, the answer depends on an important difference between the halakhic authorities.
Maimonides and the Shulchan Arukh
Maimonides is strict. He opens the laws of Shofar this way:
שׁוֹפָר שֶׁתּוֹקְעִין בּוֹ… הוּא קֶרֶן הַכְּבָשִׂים הַכָּפוּף, וְכָל הַשּׁוֹפָרוֹת פְּסוּלִין חוּץ מִקֶּרֶן הַכֶּבֶשׂ
“The Shofar we blow is the curved horn of a ram, and all other shofarot are invalid except the ram’s horn” (Mishne Torah, Hilkhot Shofar 1:1).
For Maimonides, the ram’s horn is not simply the preferred option. It is the Shofar required to fulfill the mitsva.
The Shulchan Arukh (Orach Chayim 586:1) is less restrictive. It rules that ideally, lekhatechila, the mitsva should be fulfilled with a curved ram’s horn. But bedi’abad, if none is available, other shofarot that meet the remaining halakhic conditions may be used. Cow and bull horns remain excluded, along with other horns whose structure disqualifies them.
In short: according to Maimonides, on Rosh HaShana we must use a ram’s horn specifically. According to the Shulchan Arukh, the ram’s horn is the first and best option, but if it is not available, another halakhically valid Shofar will do.
So the preference for the ram is not a matter of taste or mere custom. When we hear that horn on Rosh HaShana we are not hearing only a sound. We are also calling up one of the most extraordinary moments of our history, the ‘Aqedat Itschaq, Abraham Abinu’s surrender and the merit of our patriarchs, on the very day we most need that merit to be remembered by God.
