Ethical and Restored Shofarot

Here at Exotic Shofars, we take special care to consider the ethics of shofar making. While, by their nature, a shofar is an object derived from an animal that has passed away, this doesn't mean that the animal has to have been killed for its horns. For the most part, typical shofarot are sourced from animals slaughtered for their meat or even for their horns themselves. At Exotic Shofars, all of our regular horns come from antique or discarded pieces, already making our shofarot more ethical and sustainable than most. Additionally, below you can find a small selection of shofarot that have come from animals that have died of natural causes (rather than being killed by humans), as well as number of restored horns. 

If you have a shofar that you need restoring please do get in contact with us here. 

Two ethically sourced Rambam-style ram's horn shofarot

£75 each. Horn on left sold. Horn on right available to purchase from our Etsy store here.

Sourced locally from East Anglia, these two lovely little horns came from animals that had reached the end of their natural lives and passed away of natural causes. To help respect the deceased animal and maintain the beauty of the horns, in keeping with the teaching of Maimonides (the Rambam), these shofarot haven't been heat treated and bent, nor covered in a plastic lacquer as is usual for shofarot of this type. The left shofar measures some 12" around the curve of the horn, while the right piece measures 15.5". 

Why not have a listen here.

As will all our shofarot, these peices are hand made and finished with a natural, oil-based coating. On these particular horns, a combination of beesewax, boiled linseed oil and vegetable oil has been used to get the best finish possible, while also keeping the shofar safe to play. We take care to boil all our horns before production to ensure they are fully sterile and take every precaution to make sure they are 100% kosher.

Our signature natural finish retains the beauty of the horn while keeping it still somewhat smooth to the touch. Unlike other, mirror polished shofarot, you can see the grain, the imperfections, the ridges and valleys on every one of our horns.

All our shofarot make perfects gitfts, be they wedding presents, bar/batmitzvah presents or any other special occasion. 

SOLD

Sourced locally in north London form an antiques dealer, this striking shofar was in a sorry state when bought. A new mouth piece had to be fashioned and the exterior varnish sanded away. Sadly, the horn had already been worked down quite a bit before being restored, so most of the natural contours and grain of the horn had been lost. All straight edges, however, were smoothed down and by removing the varnish and oiling the horn instead, a more natural finish was gained. Thus, while not up to our usual standards, this shofar retains much more of its natural finish than it did when it first arrived with us. 

Its sound is typical of a ram's horn an example of which can be found here. It measures 23" from end to end and has a deep black colour with hints of brown and ivory in places.