Oh my gosh! I always thought Eastern European shofarot (I have one myself, my grandfather's) were rams' horns and looked that way because they had been straightened out! I never knew they were from goats!
Also note that back then they used to carve their shofarot. You never see that these days. You often see shofarot that haven't even been polished. I don't know why that is, apart from maybe some "frumkeit."
I don't want to be too pedantic, but "Eid" is Arabic for "holiday"- it has the same root as the Hebrew מועד- and is used for multiple holidays. The one in question is Eid al-Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice. (I'll add more in response to the comment below.)
And I also don't want to be too annoying, but "not taken from a Yemenite" should perhaps be phrased "not taken from a Yemenite animal" to be a bit more respectful. My question is, what did Yemenites use before importing from South Africa became common? Did they get kudu from Ethiopia? Did they use another animal?
"Not taken from a Yemenite" was a joke, because a ram shofar comes from a ram, and a goat shofar from a goat. "Not from the horns of a Yemenite animal" wouldn't be funny or informative, because it's not called a Yemenite animal shofar. I don't think any Yemenites were harmed by the joke, as we all know Yemenites don't have horns.
No, that would imply that Moshe was NOT Yemenite: "we all know Yemenites don't have horns/only Moshe had horns." If Yemenites truly don't have horns, but Moshe does, than logically Moshe cannot be Yemenite.
Interestingly, the Quran does not specify which son it was that Abraham was to sacrifice. Some early Islamic scholars said that it actually was Yitzchok. So, maybe some of them got it right after all.
Just to fill it in: The specifics are addressed only in the Hadith, the sayings of Mohammed, and there are two contradictory ones: One says the near-sacrifice was of Isaac, in "Syria" (which was how Israel was referred to in Arabic, meaning in this case the Har HaBayit), and the other says it was Yishmael, in the area of Mecca.
It doesn't take much to guess that the former Hadith is from when Mohammed was still focusing on converting the Jews, and the latter is from when he'd given up on (and turned on) them. About a thousand years later the same thing would happen with Martin Luther: He thought his new religion would be perfect for the Jews, and when they proved less than receptive, he turned on them viciously.
In any event, not that long after Mohammed, Islamic scholars declared unequivocally that anyone who believes the first and not the second is a heretic.
By the way, the sacrifice is marked during the Hajj (when Eid al-Adha takes place) in a manner that draws heavily on Jewish Midrashim about the Akedah.
Regarding the video, something especially interesting about the Yemenite minhag is that generally their practices follow Rambam. However, in this case, Rambam doesn't just say it's ideal to use a ram horn, he says that it's the only kind that one can use to fulfill their obligation! (Rambam hilchos shofar, suka velulav, perek 1, halacha 1. Of course, most rishonim disagree and hold that other shofars are kosher bediavad, see raavad and magid mishne on Rambam there and shulchan aruch orach chaim 586,1. This also relates to an earlier post, the one about non kosher animal horns, Rambam would also hold they're not kosher, but he didn't need to say it.)
Rabbi Machpud actually says no Talmud Chacham in Yemen allowed anything but a rams horn to be blown in on Rosh Hashanah, and the long shofar was used during elul and fast days. But he does admit there were less learned people who blew the long shofar on Rosh Hashana as well.
Oh my gosh! I always thought Eastern European shofarot (I have one myself, my grandfather's) were rams' horns and looked that way because they had been straightened out! I never knew they were from goats!
Also note that back then they used to carve their shofarot. You never see that these days. You often see shofarot that haven't even been polished. I don't know why that is, apart from maybe some "frumkeit."
I don't want to be too pedantic, but "Eid" is Arabic for "holiday"- it has the same root as the Hebrew מועד- and is used for multiple holidays. The one in question is Eid al-Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice. (I'll add more in response to the comment below.)
And I also don't want to be too annoying, but "not taken from a Yemenite" should perhaps be phrased "not taken from a Yemenite animal" to be a bit more respectful. My question is, what did Yemenites use before importing from South Africa became common? Did they get kudu from Ethiopia? Did they use another animal?
Thanks for the additional information.
"Not taken from a Yemenite" was a joke, because a ram shofar comes from a ram, and a goat shofar from a goat. "Not from the horns of a Yemenite animal" wouldn't be funny or informative, because it's not called a Yemenite animal shofar. I don't think any Yemenites were harmed by the joke, as we all know Yemenites don't have horns.
Right, only Moshe had horns. :-)
You know, I nearly added that to my comment, but wasn't sure if everyone would get the joke!
Are you implying that Moshe was Yemenite?
No, that would imply that Moshe was NOT Yemenite: "we all know Yemenites don't have horns/only Moshe had horns." If Yemenites truly don't have horns, but Moshe does, than logically Moshe cannot be Yemenite.
Fascinating video!
Interestingly, the Quran does not specify which son it was that Abraham was to sacrifice. Some early Islamic scholars said that it actually was Yitzchok. So, maybe some of them got it right after all.
Just to fill it in: The specifics are addressed only in the Hadith, the sayings of Mohammed, and there are two contradictory ones: One says the near-sacrifice was of Isaac, in "Syria" (which was how Israel was referred to in Arabic, meaning in this case the Har HaBayit), and the other says it was Yishmael, in the area of Mecca.
It doesn't take much to guess that the former Hadith is from when Mohammed was still focusing on converting the Jews, and the latter is from when he'd given up on (and turned on) them. About a thousand years later the same thing would happen with Martin Luther: He thought his new religion would be perfect for the Jews, and when they proved less than receptive, he turned on them viciously.
In any event, not that long after Mohammed, Islamic scholars declared unequivocally that anyone who believes the first and not the second is a heretic.
By the way, the sacrifice is marked during the Hajj (when Eid al-Adha takes place) in a manner that draws heavily on Jewish Midrashim about the Akedah.
Reports said 181 rockets actually
181 is the gematria of כי אהיה עמך (I will be with you) in parshat Shemos
כתיבה וחתימה טובה!
Regarding the video, something especially interesting about the Yemenite minhag is that generally their practices follow Rambam. However, in this case, Rambam doesn't just say it's ideal to use a ram horn, he says that it's the only kind that one can use to fulfill their obligation! (Rambam hilchos shofar, suka velulav, perek 1, halacha 1. Of course, most rishonim disagree and hold that other shofars are kosher bediavad, see raavad and magid mishne on Rambam there and shulchan aruch orach chaim 586,1. This also relates to an earlier post, the one about non kosher animal horns, Rambam would also hold they're not kosher, but he didn't need to say it.)
Rabbi Machpud actually says no Talmud Chacham in Yemen allowed anything but a rams horn to be blown in on Rosh Hashanah, and the long shofar was used during elul and fast days. But he does admit there were less learned people who blew the long shofar on Rosh Hashana as well.