* The Shofar is a musical instrument that hasn't changed in over 5000 years.

* The first mention of the Shofar is in the biblical story of the Akeda, the binding of Isaac. Abraham sacrificed a ram in place of his son.

* The shofar is blown 100 times on Rosh Hashanah.

* "Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down!" Joshua had 7 priests with 7 ram's horns circle the city walls for 7 days and then they blasted the Shofar. And the walls came tumbling down.

* Thousands of years ago, a Shofar was sounded to annouce the beginning of Shabbat.

* A Shofar must be at least 4 inches long.

* The average length of a Shofar is about 15 inches.

* It's a mitzvah to hear the Shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

* A Shofar should be made from the horn of a Kosher animal that chews it's cud and has cloven hoofs.

* Shofarot are commonly made from the horn of a goat, ram, sheep, antelope, and gazelle.

* A Shofar cannot be made from the horn of the cow, in deference to the incident of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32).

* The Ashkenazi Jewish community commonly uses a curved horn while the Sephardi commonly use a spiral shaped horn.

Check out http://www.shofarshop.com/ for all of your Shofar needs!

Click here for a Shofar vocabulary and coloring page!