by Rabbi Yair Hoffman in the zechus of a refuah shleimah for yehudis bas yitta What follows is a summary and overview of the laws of Shofar blowing compiled by Rabbi Shmuel Fink.  There are a number of Baalei Tekiyah and Baal Makrihs that could use this review.  There are also a number of people that are blowing for others in hospitals who could use this review as well. This summary is not intended to be a comprehensive collection of all of the הלכות of תקיעת שופר.  The intent is only to provide a summary of the basic הלכות found in the משנה ברורה and, to a lesser degree, other similar sources that could be universally accepted and relied upon.  Any מנהג ,הלכה, or advice for which an authoritative source could not be found, was intentionally omitted.  This approach should enable every בעל תוקע and מקריא who is comfortable relying on the משנה ברורה to follow all of the הלכות listed in this summary.  For each הלכה, the exact source is cited, so that if there is any question, the source can be looked up and evaluated.  Of course, the actual הלכות that are followed in each Shul should be determined solely by the Rav of the Shul. Before תקיעות Even though we don’t blow שופר on ערב ראש השנה, a בעל תוקע may practice on ערב ראש השנ ה in a closed room.1 A בעל תוקע may practice on ראש השנה itself for that day, but it is אסור to practice after תקיעות on the first day for the second day.2 This is true because we only apply the principle that the two 3.לקולאand not  ,לחומרא  – קדושה אחתare  ראש השנהdays of When practicing on ראש השנה, a בעל תוקע should stipulate that he does not want to be יוצא the מצוה while practicing.4 This helps, even according to the opinion that מצות אין צריכות כוונה.5 Any foreign object or material (i.e., dry blood6) on the inside of the שופר is considered a חציצה,7 and invalidates the sounds. Although on the outside of the שופר there is no problem of חציצה, there is a concern that anything stuck or attached to the outside of the שופר could alter – and thereby invalidate – the sounds. Such items should, therefore, be removed before ראש השנה.8  If something on the outside of the שופר changes the sound, the שופר is פסול.9 בדיעבד, if the שופר was blown with something stuck or attached to the outside of the שופר and it cannot be determined whether this material changed the sound, it can be assumed that the sound was not modified and the קולות can be considered כשר.10 1            משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”א ס”ק כ”ד 2            משנה ברורה סימן תקצ”ו סק”ד 3            משנה ברורה סימן תק”ג סק”ד 4            משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ט ס”ק י” א 5            שער הציון סימן תרנ”א ס”ק כ”ט 6            שערי תשובה סימן תקפ”ד סק”ד 7            שלחן ערוך סימן תקפ”ו סעיף ט”ז 8            משנה ברורה סימן תקפ”ו ס”ק ע”ב 9            שלחן ערוך סימן תקפ”ו סעיף ט”ז 10          שלחן ערוך הרב סימן תקפ”ו סעיף ט”ז Nowadays, since the שליח ציבור uses a מחזור, the שליח ציבור can be the בעל תוקע, even for the 11.חזרת הש”ץduring  תקיעות An אבל (within 12 months for a parent or 30 days for another relative) […]

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