Submission #254 by Or Tzion Men's Club - Scottsdale, AZ (1074)
I have read the General Guidelines, "Nuts and Bolts" and Program Advanced Planning (Excel Spreadsheet) Documents
Build (and Blow) a Shofar
Hebrew Literacy / Ritual Literacy
Page 1
The intent of this program was to teach participants how to build and blow their own shofar. There were four components to this event. On the program day we had 1) a group 'building' session, 2) a group educational program, and 3) smaller group sessions to learn to blow the shofar. Finally, participants returned to the Neilah service at the conclusion of Yom Kippur to blow their shofarot together in a congregational Tekiah Gedolah.
In April 2012 we decided to design and implement a 'Build (and Blow) a Shofar" program. The program was intended to be a family (parent & child) event, in which participants would build their own shofar from a horn, learn about the historical significance of the mitzvah of sounding the shofar, and actually learn to blow their shofar. Our desire was that participants would participate in a congregational group Tekiah Gedolah at the conclusion of Yom Kippur services.
We researched the availability of various types of horns used to create shofarot and the laws of kashrut governing this process. The two main types of horns used are rams horns (for small shofarot) and African kudu horns (for long shofarot). These can both be obtained from taxidermists, with the bone (central) portion already removed.
After sending out a preliminary email to our membership to determine interest levels, we identified a vendor in Florida who could provide us with bulk pricing for both ram and kudu horns. Costs were in the $15-20 range per horn. Given the cost of professionally prepared shofarot, we felt that participants would be willing pay a little more for a 'large' shofar.
Pricing for the event was initially set at $45 to build a large (kudu) shofar, and $25 to build a small (ram) shofar. As a brand new club, we decided to link this program to a strong membership drive, and discounted the price of participation to $36 for a large shofar and $18 for a small shofar for paid club members ($36 membership). As a result, in addition to having over 50 participants in the event, we had 20 new paid members by the event date.
We ordered our horns from a wholesale taxidermist (Atlantic Coral Enterprise, Inc, www.atlanticcoralenterprise.com). Multiple vendors are available - can find other options readily by searching Ebay for "horns to make shofar." It is important to note that in order for the shofar to be kosher, there cannot be any holes or defects that pass through the thickness of the horn. For this reason, we ordered a few extra horns in the event of damage in transit or defects in the horns.
Our club (and congregation) is paperless, and promotion of this event was via email, congregational e-Bulletin, and calls to our membership. All paid and potential Men's club members were called directly by members of our Men's Club board to invite them to participate.
In contacting our membership, we identified several members who had power tools (jigsaws, power drills, and safety glasses) that could be used for the event.
Prior to the event, we purchased additional supplies including:
drill bits (1/16, 1/8, 1/4")
jigsaw blades (fine)
metal grinding bits (Vermont American #16701 3/4 inch Round Pointed Tree Metal Grinding Point worked best)
sandpaper (coarse, fine), with 2x4" lumbar scraps cut into 1" blocks to wrap the sandpaper around
plastic drop cloths
painters tape and Sharpies to label people's horns at the event
Food (pizza, veggie trays, soda) - it's a Men's Club event!
The following actual shofar build process was tested prior to the event date to make sure there would be no surprises on the day of the program.
1) Plastic drop cloths were put down at the beginning to catch the debris from the cutting and drilling process.
2) Wearing safety glasses, cut a few inches off the narrow (closed) end of the horn with a jigsaw. The actual amount cut varies, but the diameter of the horn at the cut location will generally be about 1". You should either see a small hole connecting to the open (inside) part of the horn, or the white (inner) part of the horn. If you do not see a hole, or if the white part is less than 1/2" in diameter, cut a little more off of the horn before proceeding. If you cut too much off, you will have a larger hole. This is not problematic, though the shofar will have a larger mouthpiece, and will sound at a lower pitch.
3) If there is no hole present, use the drill bits to drill a hole to the inside portion of the horn. Start with the smallest bit possible. If you start with too large a bit, the drill bit may break off in the horn. Go back through the same hole a few times with increasing bit sizes to get to at least a 1/4" hole.
4) Use the grinding point bit to gently shape the mouthpiece. There is no 'correct' shape or size, but slightly larger and deeper holes may be a little easier for people that have not blown a shofar before (or do not play a brass instrument).
5) Using coarse, then finer sandpaper, carefully remove all rough edges from the mouthpiece and subsequently from the sides of the horn. This will not look like a polished, store bought shofar, but will sound just as good, be just as kosher, and will have a much greater personal significance as you've made it yourself!
6) In order to create a polished appearance to the shofar, a much more detailed (time-consuming) sanding / polishing approach is necessary. One of our congregants has worked with jewelry / stone polishing and recommended starting with steel wool, then progressing through a series of sandpapers starting with very course to very fine, followed by working with a polishing cloth to put a finished 'shine' on the horn. This could take many hours of work at home, if participants were so inclined.
Note - our event was geared towards family participation, and there were many children present. For this reason, all of the cutting / drilling was done on one side of the room with adults and older children only. Sanding was done on the other side with all kids free to participate. The importance of power tool safety was emphasized, and all power tool use was supervised by responsible adults.
After the shofarot were built, everyone convened in the sanctuary for a 20 minute presentation by the Rabbi, who led an educational program discussing the history of the shofar and the significance of the mitzvah of the blowing of the shofar.
We then broke into small groups of 3-5 participants, each led by a member that was experienced in blowing a shofar, and we taught the basic mechanics of buzzing the lips together into the mouthpiece to sound the shofar.
Finally, we reconvened at the Neilah service at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, and our 50+ participants blew a collective Tekiah Gedolah to help conclude the congregational service.
We researched the availability of various types of horns used to create shofarot and the laws of kashrut governing this process. The two main types of horns used are rams horns (for small shofarot) and African kudu horns (for long shofarot). These can both be obtained from taxidermists, with the bone (central) portion already removed.
After sending out a preliminary email to our membership to determine interest levels, we identified a vendor in Florida who could provide us with bulk pricing for both ram and kudu horns. Costs were in the $15-20 range per horn. Given the cost of professionally prepared shofarot, we felt that participants would be willing pay a little more for a 'large' shofar.
Pricing for the event was initially set at $45 to build a large (kudu) shofar, and $25 to build a small (ram) shofar. As a brand new club, we decided to link this program to a strong membership drive, and discounted the price of participation to $36 for a large shofar and $18 for a small shofar for paid club members ($36 membership). As a result, in addition to having over 50 participants in the event, we had 20 new paid members by the event date.
We ordered our horns from a wholesale taxidermist (Atlantic Coral Enterprise, Inc, www.atlanticcoralenterprise.com). Multiple vendors are available - can find other options readily by searching Ebay for "horns to make shofar." It is important to note that in order for the shofar to be kosher, there cannot be any holes or defects that pass through the thickness of the horn. For this reason, we ordered a few extra horns in the event of damage in transit or defects in the horns.
Our club (and congregation) is paperless, and promotion of this event was via email, congregational e-Bulletin, and calls to our membership. All paid and potential Men's club members were called directly by members of our Men's Club board to invite them to participate.
In contacting our membership, we identified several members who had power tools (jigsaws, power drills, and safety glasses) that could be used for the event.
Prior to the event, we purchased additional supplies including:
drill bits (1/16, 1/8, 1/4")
jigsaw blades (fine)
metal grinding bits (Vermont American #16701 3/4 inch Round Pointed Tree Metal Grinding Point worked best)
sandpaper (coarse, fine), with 2x4" lumbar scraps cut into 1" blocks to wrap the sandpaper around
plastic drop cloths
painters tape and Sharpies to label people's horns at the event
Food (pizza, veggie trays, soda) - it's a Men's Club event!
The following actual shofar build process was tested prior to the event date to make sure there would be no surprises on the day of the program.
1) Plastic drop cloths were put down at the beginning to catch the debris from the cutting and drilling process.
2) Wearing safety glasses, cut a few inches off the narrow (closed) end of the horn with a jigsaw. The actual amount cut varies, but the diameter of the horn at the cut location will generally be about 1". You should either see a small hole connecting to the open (inside) part of the horn, or the white (inner) part of the horn. If you do not see a hole, or if the white part is less than 1/2" in diameter, cut a little more off of the horn before proceeding. If you cut too much off, you will have a larger hole. This is not problematic, though the shofar will have a larger mouthpiece, and will sound at a lower pitch.
3) If there is no hole present, use the drill bits to drill a hole to the inside portion of the horn. Start with the smallest bit possible. If you start with too large a bit, the drill bit may break off in the horn. Go back through the same hole a few times with increasing bit sizes to get to at least a 1/4" hole.
4) Use the grinding point bit to gently shape the mouthpiece. There is no 'correct' shape or size, but slightly larger and deeper holes may be a little easier for people that have not blown a shofar before (or do not play a brass instrument).
5) Using coarse, then finer sandpaper, carefully remove all rough edges from the mouthpiece and subsequently from the sides of the horn. This will not look like a polished, store bought shofar, but will sound just as good, be just as kosher, and will have a much greater personal significance as you've made it yourself!
6) In order to create a polished appearance to the shofar, a much more detailed (time-consuming) sanding / polishing approach is necessary. One of our congregants has worked with jewelry / stone polishing and recommended starting with steel wool, then progressing through a series of sandpapers starting with very course to very fine, followed by working with a polishing cloth to put a finished 'shine' on the horn. This could take many hours of work at home, if participants were so inclined.
Note - our event was geared towards family participation, and there were many children present. For this reason, all of the cutting / drilling was done on one side of the room with adults and older children only. Sanding was done on the other side with all kids free to participate. The importance of power tool safety was emphasized, and all power tool use was supervised by responsible adults.
After the shofarot were built, everyone convened in the sanctuary for a 20 minute presentation by the Rabbi, who led an educational program discussing the history of the shofar and the significance of the mitzvah of the blowing of the shofar.
We then broke into small groups of 3-5 participants, each led by a member that was experienced in blowing a shofar, and we taught the basic mechanics of buzzing the lips together into the mouthpiece to sound the shofar.
Finally, we reconvened at the Neilah service at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, and our 50+ participants blew a collective Tekiah Gedolah to help conclude the congregational service.
Page 2
Original Program