Don’t Have a Cow!

By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER

Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 3:2 stipulates: “All Shofars are kosher for performing the Mitzvah – except the horn of a cow.” The reason given by the Mishnah is that the horn of a cow is referred to as a “Keren” – as distinguished from other animal horns to which the term “Shofar” is applied. (See Rosh Hashanah 26a.)

Others suggest that the cow horn is disqualified because its layered anatomical structure – bony core, surrounded by connective tissue, all within a keratin sheath – constitutes a series of nested horns, not a single horn as required for a kosher Shofar.

Disqualification of the cow horn may simply reflect the close association of the Shofar with the ram caught by its horns in a thicket, and sacrificed instead of Isaac during the Akeidah (see Genesis 22), read from the Torah on Rosh Hashanah. Though the specific species of ram is unknown, it was certainly not a cow Abraham sacrificed!

The most popular explanation for rejection of the cow horn is that it would serve as an ill-timed reminder of the sin of the Golden Calf. In our collective quest for divine forgiveness, we ought not introduce incriminating evidence!!

Species permitted for Shofar abound: ram (ovis aries), mountain goat, African antelope, ibex, oryx, eland, gemsbok, gazelle, etc. So…

Don’t have a cow!

Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the editor of “Masorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism.” The latest edition of Masorti published in the summer of 2026 and honors the American Sestercentennial. A subscription is $18 per annum. Print copies are available from Ben Yehuda Press and Amazon.