Questions on the shofar:

1. What does the word “shofar” mean?
2. What animal can a shofar be taken from and why not from others?
3. When is a shofar blown?
4. Why do we blow from a shofar more than from trumpets?
5. What are the different sounds blown from the shofar and why these types of sounds?
6. What is the purpose of hearing the shofar?
7. When during Jewish history do we find the shofar being blown? What does this tell us about the power of the shofar?
8. Why do we blow the shofar each day during the month of Elul? Why is it not enough for blowing simply on the first and last day?
9. What lies behind the tekia being always the first and last sound with the shevorim and terua being sandwiched between them?

Ideas for answers on the shofar:

1. The word “shofar” is related to the word shefoifores that means a tube. A tube comes to connect two different things and the shofar is blown to connect the person to Hashem. (See further on for further ideas of the shofar.) It is also connected to the word “shapir” that means “to beautify”. …
3. The shofar is blown at several different times in the year. There is a positive mitzva to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashana and also on Yom Kippur during a Yovel year. Other than this, there is a custom to blow the shofar throughout the month of Elul.  Other times it can be blown are during the fast days for danger like no rainful (see Gemora Taanis). The shofar was also blown at least twenty-one times every day in the Beis Hamikdosh (see Mishna Sukka 53b). Every Erev Shabbos the shofar was blown six times to stop various acts as preparations for the coming of Shabbos (see Gemora Shabbos 35b).
4. The difference between a shofar and a chatzozerus, trumpets, is seen in their shape. The shofar is bent in shape whilst the trumpet is straight. This reflects the nature of the time it is used. Rosh Hashana, we must bend ourselves in submissiveness davening for a good year. (See Gemora Rosh Hashana 26b)
5. There are three names given to the different types of sounds. The straight sound is known as the tekia. The sighing three sounds is known as the shevorim while the sobbing and crying sound of at least nine short noises is known as the terua.
7. When the Jews entered Eretz Yisroel, led by Yehoshua, they went to conquer the city of Yericho. They were told to go around the walls blowing the shofar and after doing so for seven days, the walls miraculously sunk into the ground and they then went onto plundering the city. We see from here the power behind the shofar of breaking down barriers that stop us from getting near to our goals. In the same way we use the shofar throughout the month of Elul to express the desire to remove the spiritual walls of sin that surround us and stop us from connecting to Hashem.

Questions on the shofar of Rosh Hashana:

1. Why do we not blow the shofar on Erev Rosh Hashana?
2. Why blow the shofar by the bima, where we read from the Torah?
3. Why blow one hundred sounds?
4. Why do women only hear thirty sounds?
5. What lies behind the positioning of the shofar in the mouth of the blower?
6. Why blow the shofar in Mussaf as usually we do the mitzva at the earliest possible time in the day?
7. Why are the one hundred sounds split into different groups?
8. What lies behind the different names for the different sets of sounds – תקיעות דמיושב ותקיעות דמעומד?
9. Why do we need someone to call out the sounds as just simply let the blower look inside his machzor and blow?
10. What shape is the best for the shofar and why?
11. Which animals can you not take a shofar from?
12. What is the best animal to have a shofar from and why?
13. What is the significance of the halachos of the shofar appearing in Shulchan Oruch, Oruch Chaim, Siman 586?
14. What lies behind the blowing of the shofar specifically on the day of Rosh Hashana?
15. In what way is the blowing of the shofar different from the regular davening?
16. The Gemora Rosh Hashana says that blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashana is to confuse the Soton. What does this mean and how does it do it?
17. Why is Rosh Hashana called in the Torah as Yom Terua as opposed to Yom Tekia? Why emphasis the sound of the terua and not the tekia?

Ideas for answers on the shofar of Rosh Hashana:

1. In order to pause and show that the blowing of the shofar during the month of Elul was only voluntary while the shofar on Rosh Hashana is mandatory, obligated by the Torah. Another reason is to confuse the Soton as then he will think that Rosh Hashana has already passed. (Why?)
2. The bima is where we read the Torah from. We want to therefore blow from there since the Torah should act as a merit for us. (Rema, O.C. 585:1) The question is how does simply standing in that place assist as a merit and link to the blowing of the shofar?
3. Tosfas Rosh Hashana 33b from the Oruch that we blow one hundred sounds from the shofar to oppose the one hundred sounds of crying done by the mother of Sisra. The question is why should this make us do it? …
4. Women only hear the minimum to satisfy the required amount by the Torah. This works out to be thirty…
5. The best position is by the right side of the mouth and facing upwards (Rema, O.C. 585:2). This is because the right is the side that represents chesed and with the shofar we are looking for Hashem’s kindness to grant us mercy. It is facing upwards based on the possuk עלה אלקים בתרועה, the idea is that we want the sounds to go upwards and bring mercy from Above.
6. The Gemora Rosh Hashana brings that since there was a time in Jewish History when they decreed not to blow the shofar and stood guard in the morning to ensure that they did not blow it and then left. Therefore they started to blow later, in the afternoon, by the Mussaf and this custom stayed in place. The reason why we do not nowadays revert back to blowing it early now that the danger has passed is in case the same decrees come back into practice. (Tosfas) The Yerushalmi brings that the problem was that when they blew it in the morning, first thing, the enemy thought that they were gathering and blowing the shofar as a call to arms to fight. However, when it was moved to later then the enemy understood that it was part of they prayer being first preceded by prayer.
7. The splitting of the shofar sounds into different groups is to show that they are for different things and different obligations. The first thirty is to fulfil the Torah requirement and therefore they are grouped together. The next thirty are split into ten each and are done during the Shemona Esra (either the silent or the repeat one depending if Sefard or Ashkenaz), ten for Malchiyos, ten for Zichronos and ten for Shofros – at the end of the their respective brochos. Then comes the last set at the end of the Mussaf davening…
8. תקיעות דמיושב refers to the first thirty sounds of the shofar before Mussaf. Since they can be done and heard sitting down therefore there were named, מיושב, sitting. However, the other thirty blown during Mussaf are called תקיעות שמעומד since they were done during the Shemona Esra when people stand up.
9. This is as a safeguard to ensure that the blower will not make any mistake. (Rema, O.C. 585:4)
10. The best is a bent shofar as opposed to a straight one. This is a sign that the work of this day is to have a bent heart in submissiveness to Hashem. (O.C. 586:1)
11. You cannot take a shofar from non-kosher animals, cow, or certain wild animals whose horn is one bone as opposed to being hollow inside. (O.C. 586:1)
12. The best animal to take a shofar from is a ram to remember that ram sacrificed in place of Yitzchok by the Akeida to act as a merit for us. (O.C. 586:1)
13. Perhaps this number of Siman 586 is significant in that it is the gematria of the hebrew word Shofar – שופ”ר=586!
14. In most machzorim it brings ten different reasons for the shofar…
15. Davening is done by forming a sound into words. The shofar is a stage before that. It is just making the sound before it manifests into words. …
16. Rashi learns that when the Soton sees the Jews loving the mitzvos then his case of prosecution is stopped. (Here is it the Jews doing the mitzva of the day of Rosh Hashana, the blowing of the shofar – חביבה מצוה בשעתה.) The Beis Yosef (O.C. 585) in the name of the Zohar brings that through the actual blowing of the shofar it has the spiritual effect of confusing and stopping the Soton. Tosfas in the name of the Oruch brings that the Soton thinks that the blowing of the shofar is heralding in the time of Moshiach when the Soton will cease to function. The question then is why is he fooled again next year as he already has seen that this does not do that? Perhaps the idea is that since there is the possibility that this year it might happen, this thought is enough to scare the Soton.
17. We find that the shofar sound of tekia is always at the beginning and end while the shevorim and terua is sandwiched in the middle. Perhaps the idea is that the emphasis is the centre sound. The tekia is a straight sound while the terua is a broken sound. Terua is also related to the hebrew word of Hisorirus, arousal. The main point of listening to the shofar is to arouse us to repent and be broken and thereby come close to Hashem. The name Yom Terua with the terua sound is therefore the emphasis.

Questions on the tefillos said with the shofar:

1. Why before the blowing of the shofar to we say Tehilim 47 and why say it seven times?
2. Why do we then follow Tehilim 47 saying aloud together seven pesukim? Why seven and why these pesukim?
3. Why after hearing the first thirty sounds do we say aloud four pesukim?
4. After hearing each of the ten sounds during Mussaf we say Hayom Haras Olom. Why does this mean and why say it?
5. After hearing each of the ten sounds during Mussaf we say Areshes Sefoseinu. Why does this mean and why say it?