Blowing her own horn
Or rather, mine.
You see, today my sister, who has a talent for thinking up the most extraordinary gifts, gave me an early Chanukkah present -- a beautiful and rather large Shofar. If you're not familiar with this item, a Shofar is a ram's horn, traditionally blown during the Jewish High Holy Days at various points during the services. Blowing the Shofar and getting the right sound out of it isn't trivial. It can take years of practice to become an expert. I can't do it myself, at least not yet.
So you can imagine our surprise when Samantha picked it up and, on her second try, sounded a long, clear, beautiful note. We (me, my sister, Amy, my niece) were all flabbergasted. We just sat there staring at her. So she did it again, and again.
Her later attempts (when I had the presence of mind to shoot a quick video in our messy basement at home) weren't quite as good. But this is still darn impressive for a seven year old.
You see, today my sister, who has a talent for thinking up the most extraordinary gifts, gave me an early Chanukkah present -- a beautiful and rather large Shofar. If you're not familiar with this item, a Shofar is a ram's horn, traditionally blown during the Jewish High Holy Days at various points during the services. Blowing the Shofar and getting the right sound out of it isn't trivial. It can take years of practice to become an expert. I can't do it myself, at least not yet.
So you can imagine our surprise when Samantha picked it up and, on her second try, sounded a long, clear, beautiful note. We (me, my sister, Amy, my niece) were all flabbergasted. We just sat there staring at her. So she did it again, and again.
Her later attempts (when I had the presence of mind to shoot a quick video in our messy basement at home) weren't quite as good. But this is still darn impressive for a seven year old.
posted by Matt Landau | 11:33 PM
3 Comments:
Is it like blowing a trumpet?
As a longtime shofar user I can tell you it is nothing like a trumpet. There is no formed mouthpiece. Only the misshappen hole on the end which connected it to the rams skull. It takes copius ammounts of stray air to get a smooth sound. A large one takes more lip control than a trumpet and much more air flow than a trumpet as well. I'v seen large men loose their breath and gasp for breath without anything close to the proper sound. This is the sound that razed the walls of Jerico and struck fear in the hearts of the Canaanite.
The large shofar are truly an
n art form. The early Hebrews brought the horns into battle and their enemies fled before them in terror.
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