Yemenite shofarshofar not from sheep
msh210 asked:1 I've heard that Yemenite Jews follow the Rambam for halacha generally, and Wikipedia concurs.2
The Rambam writes that one must use a sheep's horn as the shofarshofar on Rosh Hashana. Shulchan Aruch is less strict, but emphasizes that a sheep's horn is best.
Why do Yemenites (famously3) use an antelope horn as a shofar?
HodofHod responded: It seems to me from the quote from the last Chief Rabbi of Yemen, Rabbi Amram Korach, that they didn't follow the Rambam in this regard because they found the kudu horn more beautiful for the mitzvahmitzvah.
The shofarshofar of Rosh HaShanah, that they were accustomed to blowing, was long and twisted, two or three twists, and its sound was pure and eerie. Some said that it was from an animal that was similar to sheep. Therefore, they did not concern themselves with [Rambam’s] stringency that only sheep horns are kosher, since they saw that this shofar beautifies the mitzvah in its stature, and its sound was greater than that of a sheep’s horn, and until this very day they blow the mitzvahmitzvah blasts with this shofarshofar, according to the rulings of the Geonim that all twisted shofarsshofars are kosher from the outset.
(Sa’arat TeimanSa’arat Teiman, Jerusalem 1954, p. 99)
TwoSee "Exotic Shofars - Halachic Considerations," by R' Natan Slifkin, for an interesting articlesarticle on this topic, in general, and section C/II - "The Yemenite Kudu Shofar" (pages 11 - 13) in particular.4 discuss this further.
- Original question: mi.yodeya.com/q/9878
- http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%94%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%9F See the Hebrew Wikipedia entry for "יהדות תימן."
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shofar See the English Wikipedia entry for "Shofar."
- http://www.zootorah.com/assets/media/essays/ExoticShofars.pdf (search for "II. The Yemenite Kudu Shofar") and http://shofar-sounder.com/history-of-the-kudu-shofar
Contributors:
HodofHod mi.yodeya.com/u/883
msh210 mi.yodeya.com/u/170
