HalleluYAH KOSHER ODORLESS Ram Horn Shofar - 14"-16", Smooth Mouthpiece, Velvet Bag, Clean Brush, Shofar Guide - Made In Israel

Takes a little getting used to,

VERY HAPPY WITH MY PURCHASE !

Amazing.

FIRST of all, you have to understand how all of this works. I have seen so many negative reviews for things that are just misunderstood. These are horns from animals. They will NOT look like the stock photo. They come in different sizes and colors and shapes. The man blowing the rams horn in the photo is a horn from one animal and they don’t all look alike so please don’t expect the shofar to look like the photo. SECOND, there is a correct way of measuring which is from the mouthpiece, along the outside curvature to the opening. You do NOT measure in a straight light. A 12-18” horn could only measure 8” in a straight line from mouth to end of it has enough curve. Too many people leaving negative reviews because of size and measuring it wrong. THIRD, it comes from an animal. There are some times it does in fact have a smell. Have you ever bought your dog cow hooves to chew on? They smell terrible, especially when wet! My particular rams horn doesn’t really have a smell, but it was missing some of the extra pieces so Amazon sent another one and set up a return and when the next one came, it did have a smell. My advice is to not stick your nose down into it to see if it smells. Lol LAST, I’ve read so many reviews that say they don’t make a sound. So they are returning. I don’t know if they just don’t know how or are getting their first one or what but you CANNOT just pick up a shofar and blow air. It is a hollow horn. There will be no sound, just air. There is a technique to making a sound. It takes practice. You can probably find YouTube videos to help you learn. I can pick it up and blow it with no problem whatsoever but my husband cannot. He’s gotten better with practice but it takes him several failed attempts before he can make a sound and even then he is still needing to try to perfect it.Please do not send these back. I am really afraid that Amazon (not HalleluYAH) takes them back and resends them for the next order. I’ve seen so many people on here say they are returning. My first one (sold and shipped) from Amazon, I believe, was a return. Little tell tale signs. Some lint and little hairs (like pet hairs) on the black velvet bag, literature bent and wrinkled and was missing the cleaning brush. These are heavy duty horns. They are fine to wash. So it was washed up really well.I also purchased a kudu shofar from this same seller (but from Etsy, not Amazon because they were having a sale on Etsy for the exact same thing) and it is actually hand personalized and sent from Israel so it will take about a month to get it but I’m very excited.

The media could not be loaded. Smells terrible but is super cool otherwise!! There is quite a learning curve but I will keep practicing 😆

Beautiful made , sounds good

I love it.

I've tried several shofar's crafted by "Holy Voice" and "ProShofar's", but both of these shofar's crafted by "HalleluYah" have the best polishing I've seen. Beautiful done.However, while the polishing is nicely done on the "HalleluYah" shofar's, what I want is a shofar that has nicely done polishing while also keeping all of the natural Ram horn growth rings and natural beauty intact. HalleluYah shofar's did keep some of the natural growth rings detail, but quite a bit of the natural growth rings were removed.Let's start with the good and the bad specific with the lighter color shofar.I loved the farther twisting of the shofar body which points the opening straight forward, and the remaining natural growth rings, and the polishing work was very nicely done. However, while this shofar was easier to blow, the mouthpiece was defective with a notch/split on the left side edge (deal killer). Additionally, it only measured 18.5" in length, when I paid for a 20"-24" shofar category (This shofar should have been in the next lower category of 18"-20", which was about $25.00 cheaper)Now for the good and bad specific to the darker colored shofar. This shofar was very similar to the lighter colored shofar in regards to the cosmetic finishing. Very nicely done with excellent polishing, all be is not enough natural textures kept intact, but still beautiful and my favorite of the two. The twist of the shofar isn't as much which unfortunately points the opening towards my left. While it would have been nice if the shofar size would have been at the top of the category I paid for (20"-24"), it measured only 19.5", which I do understand is considered 20" in regards to shofar measuring standards. However, this shofar was more difficult to get a good sound from.Positive characteristics shared by both shofar's;Beautiful finishing inside and outNo bad smellThe pipe cleaner, brush, and bag are very very nice.Negative characteristics shared by both shofar's;The most difficult shofar's I've tried to get a good sound from.At the larger opening of the shofar ends, they have been cut off to be flat and even all the way around the end, which is interesting but I've never seen that done before and you lose some size as a result. Both mouthpieces were rounded so as not to be sharp enough to cut you, but they are still way to thin and sharp to be comfortable against the lips when blowing.Subjective criticism:If you're looking for a basic shofar without any expectations, you may be happy with this one. However, the mouthpiece isn't comfortable and it still remains as the most difficult shofar's I've tried to blow.While these shofar's are cosmetically beautiful, I want a shofar that has all of its natural beauty and growth rings kept intact with only light cosmetic polishing performed for the finish. These shofar's almost meet that expectation, but unfortunately fall short for me. Lastly, there was no certified kosher label affixed on either of the shofar's, which would render it unusable for holy day festivals in many synagogues.Final thoughts:The defective mouthpiece is completely unacceptable, as is the smaller shofar than the size category I paid for.If the mouthpieces weren't so uncomfortable because of being so thin and sharp, all be it not sharp enough to cut, I may have considered keeping the darker shofar.Unfortunately, I will be sending these back and have to consider whether I will try again with HalleluYah shofar's or not.