THE SOUNDING OF THE GREAT SHOFAR

The shofar that is sounded at the end of the Neilah service is known as the ‘Great Shofar’ (Shofar HaGadol). The rabbis teach that the shofar inspires within us a yearning for the shofar that will herald our ultimate freedom, the ‘Great Shofar’ that will announce the coming of Messiah. This is also the reason for the custom to call out, ‘Next Year in Jerusalem’. (ArtScroll Mesorah: Yom Kippur Ashkenaz Machzor, page 765).

A single ‘Tekiah’ is sounded on the shofar.