by Cindy Hopper

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown on Friday, September 18th and lasts through Sunday, September 20th.  During Rosh Hashanah a Shofar, traditionally made from a hollowed out rams horn, is blown to awake and inspire.  The Shofar is such an important part of this holiday that sometimes Rosh Hashanah is called Yom Teruah, which means “day of the Shofar blast” in Hebrew.

With a few supplies you can make your own Shofar horn. Gather 3 toilet paper rolls per horn, a party horn, masking tape, glue, paint brush, scissors and white and brown paint.

Cut all they way across one roll lengthwise.

Remove fringe or cardboard from the party horn so you are only left with the plastic noise maker.  Wrap the cut cardboard tube around the plastic noisemaker.

Fasten cardboard to plastic noisemaker securely with masking tape.

With the other two rolls fold the edge to make a pleat in the bottom side. You are  making the bottom small enough to fit inside another roll. This will give the Shofar a nice curve.

Place the tubes inside each other.

Paper mache the toilet paper rolls with long strips of paper and a mixture of equal parts water and glue (use can also use equal parts flour and water). If you want to forgo the mess, simply wrap the toilet paper rolls with masking tape.

Allow the paper mache to dry completely. Paint with white paint. While white paint is still wet, sponge on some bits of brown and mix and smudge lightly to give the horn “realistic” color and dimension.

Finished! Now you can listen to your Tokea (which literally means ‘blaster’ and is the name for person who blows the horn), celebrate.

You can learn more about Rosh Hashanah and the Shofar at Torah Tots.

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