Foto Friday – Sound the Shofar

September 17, 2010 - 4:35 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Pop Culture, Religion, Travel 

Is the shofar — the ram’s horn instrument sounded in the Jewish High Holy Day ceremonies — an ancient form of vuvuzela? Is the vuvuzela a shofar? This question has been plaguing Jewish football (that’s soccer to us Yanks) fans and non-fans alike since we first heard the annoying but compelling buzz during the World Cup Finals this past summer.

The issue’s been discussed roundly by writers at The Jerusalem Post, The Washington Post, and of course, the authoritative Vuvuzela South Africa blog, as well as by rabbis and church clergy alike, to no obvious conclusion (except that the vuvuzela is annoying but here to stay).

Photo by Zoltan Kluger, National Photo Archive of the State of Israel

Image left: shofar; right: Shofar by Alphonse Lévy. All courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Bible, most famously in the Book of Joshua , but one of the earliest depictions we have also comes from Jericho: a 6th century synagogue mosaic floor.

They say that the Yemenite Jews procured their shofarim from the horn of the African Kudu, with its dramatic twists and exaggerated size. But this photo from the 1930s of a Yemenite Jew would prove otherwise.


Photo by Matson Photo Service. The G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Nonetheless, this style of exotic shofar has become extremely popular. Once they were quite unusual but nowadays you can buy them in bulk — likely made of more common stock like the local Nubian Ibex or mountain goat — in the open market.


Photo: Wikimedia Commons

There’s no doubt that there’s something extremely macho about this type of shofar… we’ll just leave it at that.


Photo by Martin Kozák, Wikimedia Commons

The shofar may not be sounded on Shabbat, because blowing it might be construed as work. So we won’t get to hear its call till sundown tomorrow. At that time, the Yom Kippur fast will be broken and we’ll truly be able to begin our New Year.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Old/New Cards for the New Year

September 13, 2009 - 4:00 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Art, General, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

Israelis love their nostalgia and nowhere is that more evident than the Jewish New Year.
New Year 1

There’s something about starting a new year that brings out the child in us…
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Perhaps our wishes for health, prosperity and peace will not be in vain and will this year be granted…
new_year-11

…as we look forward… and never backwards…
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…in the hopeful belief that this time, this year, things will be different!
Shana_tova_Yael_Bar

That last image – new and nostalgia-inspired rather than actually old — was created by graphic designer Yael Bar, a member of the Israeli Community of Designers who this past Friday held a New Year’s greeting card event at the Israel Cartoon Museum in Holon. More images from that event — and of their work — can be found here.

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