An ancient instrument made from a hollowed-outram’s horn, to commemorate the ram that Abraham sacrificed instead of his son Isaac. There are three basic sounds or blasts of the shofar: tekiah, one long straight blast; shevarim, three broken wailing sounds, and teruah, nine or more quick blasts in short succession. The shofar is sounded a total of one hundred times during Rosh HaShanah prayer services. It is also blown, though with fewer sounds, to mark the end of Kippur and to remind Jews of their commitment to G-d. In Israel it is also used for other solemn civic celebrations.