The Shofar, a horn, was used in ancient Israel to call assemblies, in war signaling, to announce important events, and at holidays such as Rosh Hashanah.

The Shofar is usually fashioned from ram's horn, but it can also be made from the horns of other animals, including antelope, gazelle and goats, provided only that the animal is kosher, and the horn is hollow and curved, and that the animal is not of the bovine family. Cow horn cannot be used for a Shofar, as it is considered to be a Keren, which has a different purpose. The horn is heated to soften it, and flattened and worked. A hole is bored from the tip of the horn to the natural hollow inside. It is played like a European trumpet or other brass instrument. The player purses his or her lips and applies them to the hole, making the air column inside vibrate. In Ashkenasi Jewish worship, the Shofar usually has no carved mouthpiece, while Sephardic Jewish Shofarot often have a carved mouthpiece, similar to a European trumpet or French horn.

The Shofar is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament Hebrew Bible, from Exodus to Zechariah, and in the Talmud and later rabbinic literature. The Shofar was used for the announcement of the new moon, and for religious observances including the Sabbath, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. After destruction of the temple, it was forbidden to play musical instruments. The Shofar, however, was permitted since the rabbinical authorities ruled that it is not a musical instrument.

On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the Shofar is blown according to a prescribed ritual. Three sounds are created in ritual use of the Shofar: Tekiah, Teruah and Shvarim. The Tekiah is a bass sound and Teruah is a treble sound. The tekiah is a plain deep staccato sound, and the teruah is a trill between two tekiot (plural of Tekiah). The Shevarim are made up of three connected short sounds. The sequence of blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah is Tekiah, Shevarim,Teruah, Tekiah; Tekiah, Shevarim, Tekiah; Tekiah, Teruah, and then a final blast of "Tekiah gedola," a long Tekiah, held as long as possible. This formula is repeated twice more, making thirty sounds in all, with Tekiah being one note, Shevarim three, and Teruah nine. This series of thirty sounds is repeated twice more, making ninety sounds in all.

The Ram's horn Shofar is usually considered to be the classical Hebrew ritual Shofar. The ram's horn Shofar was a very common motif in ancient Jewish art. It was shown in reliefs, capitals, floor mosaics and various implements. It was often depicted near the base of the seven-branched menorah, sometimes shown with the incense-bowl, the palm branch (lulav) and the citron etrog. Rambam ruled that a Shofar made from the horn of any other animal is not suitable for ritual purposes. The ram's horn Shofar is said to symbolize the ram that was caught in the thicket and served as a substitute when Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Most Yemenites use a special, very long Shofar that is made of the horn of the greater African kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, a large striped animal of the antelope family. The kudu reputedly has the biggest horns of any creature. Some believe that the kudu horn of the Yemenite Shofar was the original Shofar, which was brought from Africa to the land of Israel. The Yemenite Shofar is typically longer than the Ram's horn Shofar and is often exquisitely polished. Longer Shofars allow the playing of more notes.

The Gemsbok or Gemsbuck, is an animal of the antelope family, the Southern African Oryx, Oryx Gazella. Gemsbok is coming into wide use for Shofars. Gemsbok are widely hunted in Africa for their spectacular horns that may reach over 85cm in length. The horns of males are straight. Females have longer thinner horns. Gemsbok Shofars are straight and long and do not smell as some others are wont to do.