I can hardly think of a more perfect thing to do today than to write about the shofar on this second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The shofar, a ram\u2019s horn, is blown on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (and in some communities during the morning services of the month of Elul). While certain aspects of my research on the shofar have proved fairly straightforward, pinning down facts from Hellenistic times has posed a challenge.<\/p>\n
In my research, I\u2019ve been trying to discover why, out of all possible instruments, the shofar has survived as the sole instrument used in Jewish religious services. I have found several general sources explaining its symbolism and role in Jewish faith, both historical and current. Jewish Musical Traditions<\/em> by Amnon Shiloah (author of \u201cMusic and Religion in Islam\u201d), Passport to Jewish Music<\/em> by Irene Heskes, and several other books that survey Jewish music have helped me justify the shofar\u2019s importance in Jewish tradition. According to Shiloah, the shofar has historically been used to scare enemies, make announcements, and convey messages from God. In Joshua 6:6-20, the wall of Jericho comes down with the blast of the shofar. Furthermore, Jewish mystics historically imbued it with special powers, for example awakening the \u201ccelestial shofar.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a> Reading specific passages from Exodus, Leviticus, and other parts of the Bible have also helped me to develop my perspective.<\/p>\n One part of my research has presented a particular challenge, however: I didn\u2019t anticipate having so much trouble nailing down when instruments were or weren\u2019t played in Jewish religious services. A citation in an article by Ethan Tucker (\u201cMusical Instruments on Shabbat and Yom Tov\u201d) led me to read fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Even within this single primary source, no consensus emerges on how instruments were used in religious services in Second Temple Judaism. This source encompasses a variety of opinions, and I have struggled to decide which ones should get my focus.<\/p>\n Narrowing in on why (or if) the Jewish perspective on religious instrumental music changed has also received a lot of my attention. Several sources indicate that most forms of sacred instrumental music were banned at some point around the destruction of the Temple. None of the sources I\u2019ve encountered, however, say who banned it. Many of them give convincing arguments for why instrumental music might be prohibited. For example, playing or fixing an instrument requires the use of tools (banned on Shabbat). Or music might make too much noise. Nevertheless, I am still looking for a good explanation of why these worries surfaced only after<\/em> the destruction of the Temple (or if that\u2019s what happened at all).<\/p>\n In order to understand these questions, I\u2019m planning to read about how Jewish communities changed after the destruction of the Temple. I hope that reading about non-musical religious shifts will help me assess how and why Jewish instrumental music nearly disappeared from religious contexts.<\/p>\n 1\u00a0Amnon Shiloah, Jewish Musical Traditions, <\/em>(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1992), 41, 42, 44, 86, 141-143.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I can hardly think of a more perfect thing to do today than to write about the shofar on this second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The shofar, a ram\u2019s horn, is blown on Rosh Hashanah and … Continue reading