Shofar

“ These correspond to order and disorder, for sound arouses intention, which is in the mind. This is the meaning of what our Sages said, "Blowing the shofar is wisdom and not a creative act" (Rosh Hashanah 29b) . The sound of the shofar corresponds to wisdom, to Mah, to sound that arises the intention of the mind. Sound itself cannot be grasped. One cannot understand a person by his voice alone, for sound corresponds to Mah, to the power of wisdom by itself. With the shofar we evoke only sound, which corresponds to Mah, to order, so as to empower order. ”

“ Similarly, one who hears somebody sounding the shofar without intention does not fulfill their obligation. Similarly, one who sounds the shofar for music and does not intend for the soundings to fulfill the obligation does not fulfill their obligation. If the hearer has intention and the blower does not have intention, or the blower has intention and the hearer does not have intention, the obligation is not fulfilled until both the hearer and the sounder have intention. ”

“ Blow the shofar on the new moon. Blow (TiK`U) this is the aspect of revelation of the glory, like: “And I will fasten him (weTeK`Atiw) as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne.” On the new moon this is like renewal of the world, like the new song mentioned above. And this is the aspect of shofar, like “raise your voice like a shofar” as mentioned above. ”

“ The ‘Amen’ response is treated similarly (it is not a personal obligation) , except for those in the ‘Mussaf Shemona Esrai’ of Rosh Hashana, where fulfilling the obligation of Shofar is connected to the order of the blessings. In our community, where we do not blow Shofar in the quiet ‘Shemona Esrai’ [of Mussaf] , the main prayer is the prayer leader’s repetition. This applies to his reciting of the ‘Mussaf’ of Yom Kippur as well, because the Yom Kippur Temple service is mentioned therein. ”

“ Section 12 'Tachanun' (prayers of supplication for forgiveness) are not said on the day before Rosh Hashana. Even though people say these prayers in the Slichos before down, including the act of 'falling on the face' (Heb. 'Nifellat Apayim') , and these prayers often last into the day, nevertheless they are removed from the morning prayers (Heb. 'Shacharit') as on every festival eve. The Shofar is not blown on this day as well, in order to separate bewteen Shofar blasts that were purely voluntary and those that are commandments. One can, however, practice with the Shofar in his home. ”

“ If it is an emergency situation where there is no other shofar available, it is kosher when patched with native material and the majority is intact, even if the voice does not return to its original sound. ”

“ And he got very excited, and especially at the statement brought there "Bitru`ah d'ihi rucha ith`avir el acher/ By Teruah, which is spirit, foreign gods are driven away" etc. And when he came to Rabbeinu z"l then Rabbeinu z"l told the the dream he saw, that he wanted to hear the shofar sound, and heard that in a certain house they sing and dance very loudly, and Rabbeinu z"l said, "Isn't it good to go in here and hear the shofar sound?" And someone came and said, "Isn't this hinted in your book Likutei Moharan #10 that the mitzvah of shofar is the aspect of clapping and dancing?" ”

“ Similarly, somebody who has already fulfilled his obligation can sound a shofar to fulfill women's obligations. However, they should not make a blessing, nor should others make a blessing for them. Rem"a: Given that the custom is that women bless on time-bound commandments, they also can bless for themselves here. However, others should not bless on behalf of women if the blower has already fulfilled his obligation and is just blowing for women. ”

“ The words ‏ראש השנה‎ in Ez. (xl. 1) denote the beginning of the year, including ten days or more, but do not signify “New-year.” ↑
104 The blowing of the shofar is preceded by the blessing: ‏... ברוך אשר קדשנו ... לשמוע קול שופר‎ “Blessed art thou ... who hast sanctified us by thy commandments and hast commanded us to hear the sound of the shofar.” This blessing is followed by ‏שהחינו‎. ↑
105 According to Saadiah, the shofar reminds us of the following ten things with which it is directly or indirectly connected:— (1) Creation; (2) Our duty to return to God ”

“ This because he had once passed the Shool early one Jewish New Year's Day, had peeped through the window, and seen the ram's horn blower standing in his white shroud, armed with the Shofar, and suddenly a heartrending voice broke out with Min ha-Mezar, and Maxim, taking his feet on his shoulders, had arrived home more dead than alive. There was very nearly a commotion. The priest wanted to persuade him that the Jews had tried to obtain his blood.
So the two children grew into youth as enemies. Their fathers died, and the increased difficulties of their position increased their enmity. ”

“ Rem"a: Some say that there should be one set of tekiah-shevarim-teruah-tekiah for the kingship verses, and similar for the remembrance and shofar verses (Tur in the name of Rabbeinu Tam and Minhagim) , and this is the custom in these countries. The practice is to say "Hayom harat olam" after every series of blasts (Mahari"l) . Even on Shabbat, when there are no blasts, we say "Hayom harat olam" although not "Areshet" (Minhagim) . ”

“ Rather, they blow for him before he prays Mussaf and do not need to blow again (Kol Bo and Beit Yosef in the name of Orchot Hayim) .
סעיף ב
יחיד אינו מפסיק לתקוע בברכות ואפי' יש לו מי שיתקע לו: הגה אלא תוקעים לו קודם שיתפלל מוסף ואין צריכים לתקוע לו שנית: (כל בו וב"י בשם א"ח) :
592:3 Neither the shofar blower nor the community can talk between the sitting blasts and the standing blasts. (However, talking about the blasts or prayers is not considered an interruption) (Mordechai and Mahari"l) . If one spoke unrelated words, he does not need to repeat the blessing (Tur) . ”

“ Otherwise, it is not kosher.
סעיף כ
נתן שופר לתוך שופר אם הפנימית עודף על החיצון משני צדדין ונתן הפנימי בפיו ותקע בו כשר: הגה ולי נראה דאפי' אינו בולט בצד הרחב רק שוה לחיצון הואיל ובולט לצד הפה ותוקע בפנימי יצא כן נראה לי וכ"מ מלשון הרא"ש והוא שלא ישנה קולו במה שהוא נתון בתוך החיצון ואם לאו פסול:
586:21 We do not break the laws of Holidays for the Rosh Hashanah shofar, even something that is only rabbinically prohibited. How so? If there was a shofar at the top of a tree or across a river and there is no other shofar, one does not climb the tree or sail on the water. ”

“ This assumes that the latter blowers are there when the blessing is made. Even if the one who blesses is unable to blow at all, the second blower should blow with no blessing, and the first's will not be a wasted blessing.
סעיף ג
אם התחיל לתקוע ולא יכול להשלים ישלים אחר ואפי' ג' או ד' ודי בברכה שבירך הראשון והוא שיהיו שם התוקעים האחרונים בשעת ברכה ואפילו אם בירך ולא יכול לתקוע כלל השני תוקע בלא ברכה ולא הויא ברכה לבטלה:
585:4 Somebody who is not the prayer leader should blow the shofar so that he not get confused. If he is sure that he can return to his prayers, he is allowed to blow. ”

“ If the crack traverses the whole shofar, even on one side, it is not kosher, even if they heat it in the fire and attach the sides of the crack.
סעיף ח
נסדק לאורכו פסול י"א אפי' בכל שהוא פסול אלא אם כן הדקו הרבה בחוט או במשיחה ונשתייר שיעור התקיעה ממקום הקשירה ולמעלה לצד הפה (כל בו) וי"א דוקא ברובו ואם דבקו כשר אפילו אם דבקו בדבק ויש מי שאומר שאינו כשר אלא כשדבקו בעצמו שחיממו באור עד שנפשר וחבר קצותו זה עם זה ואם נסדק כולו אפי' מצד אחד פסול אפילו חממו באור וחבר סדקיו זה עם זה:
586:9 If it cracks widthwise, if the crack traverses the minority of the shofar, it is kosher. ”

“ A Persian cannot form any idea of our system of procedure, and the delays attendant on it: he prefers arbiry but speedy justice, to the tediousness of a regular investigation. Still less has he any conception of the equality of all men in the sight of the law, though it is inculcated in the Koran, and though despotim and venality alone have destroyed it. The protection which the law affords to the poor against the oppression of the rich, appears to him as but a dream: because in Persia the humbler classes are always sacrificed to the opulent and the powerful ”

“ Nothing can prevent the Persian from performing these devotions: he allows no human respect to stand in his way; on the contrary, the demonstrations of his piety assume a character of greater or less fervour, according to the notice taken of them by strangers. A Persian belonging to the suite of Asker-Khan, ambassador from Feth Ali Shah to the court of France, who affected an appearance of piety, was frequently seen spreading his carpet in the midst of an apartment where company was assembled, muttering his prayers, and making the same religious gestures as if he was alone. ”

“ Now, if traced, what, I ask, of the Kaffir slave?"
"By the soul of the Prophet!" exclaimed Zohrab, in great and sudden perplexity, "what can I do, but leave her here?"
"Sell her to the young Shah: she is worth a thousand mohurs," suggested the Hindoo banker.
"The coward has fled," said Zohrab.
"She is beautiful as the one he lost, and whom he mourned so much that it required the whole seraglio to console him."
"Poor fellow!" sneered Zohrab.
"I will buy her of you for two hundred tomauns, paid down," said the Khond. "Money is useful to those who are fugitives." ”

“ Death then appears a blessing of heaven; and those who perish in the combats which take place, are accounted martyrs. On the last day of the festival, their bodies are deposited in sepulchres, which are profusely decorated, and carried with great pomp to the cemetery. Many Persians even inflict voluntary wounds on themselves, in commemoration of the sufferings of the Imams, and in expiation of their own sins.
On the 28th of Jefer, the death of the Imam Hassan, brother of Hossein, is celebrated, but with less pomp, though with the same ceremonies. ”

“ The present sovereign, Feth Ali Shah, enjoys the affection of his subjects; and travellers relate of him but few of those acts of barbarity which were so frequent under most of his predecessors. It ought moreover to be observed, that the people are seldom the victims of the cruel caprices of the monarch, which generally reach only such grandees as are about his person. At the court of Persia, a man frequently goes to sleep in prosperity, and awakes stripped of every thing ”

“ Feth Ali Shah, the present king of Persia, was the son of the same Hussain, on whom Kerim conferred the government of Asterabad, after the downfall of Mohammed Khan, and who perished in consequence of his rebellion, if that term may be applied to the attempts of a number of ambitious men to seat themselves on a throne to which there was no rightful owner. Feth Ali, who, prior to his elevation, was called Baba Khan, held a command in the army of his uncle Aga Mohammed, who also invested him with the dignity of governor of Shiraz, which he held at the time of Mohammed's death. ”

“ White were the result of an unbalanced mind. No other enemy, even those who were shrewd and clever, made this foolish accusation! The case of Aḥmad Sohrab is, for one who has had any experience of orientals and of psychology, easily understandable. He was, for some years the secretary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and enjoyed, as a result of this and the fact that he accompanied Him to America, (to be sure with a number of other Persians) , a great deal of attention from the Bahá’ís who looked up to him and admired him. ”

“ O Sohrab, wherefore wilt thou rush on death?
Be governed: quit the Tartar host, and come
To Iran, and be as my son to me,
And fight beneath my banner till I die!
There are no youths in Iran brave as thou."
⁠So he spake, mildly. Sohrab heard his voice,
The mighty voice of Rustum, and he saw
His giant figure planted on the sand,
Sole, like some single tower, which a chief
Hath builded on the waste in former years
Against the robbers ”

“ He seated himself on a throne raised by his uncle Aga Mohammed, who, however, was unable to extend Iran to its ancient limits: for the present dynasty of the Cadjars, a wandering tribe which roves with its numerous herds in the vast uncultivated plains of Persia, does not possess the whole of the countries subject to the unfortunate dynasty of the Sofys, which became extinct in 1739, in the person of Abbas III. whom Nadir Shah put to death after making a tool of him to promote his own ambitious views. ”

“ Since Feth Ali Shah has filled the throne, he has had no opportunity for the display of military qualities: the Persians would probably hold him in higher estimation, had he spilled more blood. His expeditions have been confined to a few excursions into Khorasan, rather with a view to keep up the good opinion of his subjects respecting his bravery, and to inure his troops to the fatigues of war, than to subdue that province. ”

“ One day, in the month of January 1807, a Persian belonging to the household of the prince-royal thought fit to insult publicly an Armenian merchant of the city of Tabreez, and to abuse him in the grossest manner, for no other reason than the difference of their religions, the Armenian being a Christian. The latter hoped at first to silence Iris aggressor, by addressing to him some pretty sharp reproofs: but a zealous Musulman, acknowledging no other legitimate right than that of his own strength, despises the eternal principles of justice. ”

“ The poet Achsa had made verses in honour of Muhammed, and was once on his way to visit him, but the Koreish, fearing lest his verses might encourage the Arabs to fight in the cause of their enemy, prevailed on him to return. [19] Chofah ibn Nadijah, another poet of celebrity, was slain in the war between Muhammed and his native tribe. [20] Caab ben Zohair, as well as his father Zohair, were among the most celebrated of the Arabian bards, and belonged to the family of Kais Ghilan, of the tribe of the Masenites. His grandfather, uncle, and many of his kinsmen, had also excelled in the same art. ”