User:Louisehaker/Submit a site

We sometimes fail to realize how even everyday objects, which we feel are normal can be of huge significance. Many of our everyday activities are what keep us alive and well. One such object with seemingly no special importance is the Shofar. But its importance and significance is known by few. The Shofar is a horn, usually made from a ram’s horn that is used in Jewish religious rituals. Shofar-blowing is a tradition of synagogue services during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The importance of shofar in religious services is immense. It has been in use since the Biblical times when it was used to declare holidays, the Jubilee year, as a musical instrument and the start of a war. In modern days shofar is still used as a musical instrument but most prominently in religious rituals. Shofar-blowing is an essential part of the rituals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It marks the end of fast during Yom Kippur and is blown on four different occasions during Rosh Hashanah. But apart from its religious uses, it has a very important effect as a way of strengthening respiratory and cardiac systems of the shofar-blowers. Shofar blowing is an excellent way of increasing respiratory volume which is extremely good for health. Respiratory volume is a measure of the amount of air being breathed in by the body as a result indicates vitality and fitness. Shofar-blowing is also very good for the heart and cardiac system. Great results have been seen of shofar –blowing helping in cure of respiratory and chest related diseases, especially in the case of hollowed chest deformity. Pectus excavatum, meaning hollowed chest in Latin, is a congenital defect in which manifests itself such that the anterior wall of the chest is deformed and the sternum and some of the ribs grow abnormally inward. Apart from giving an embarrassing cosmetic appearance, if left untreated, it can have detrimental effects on the heart and lungs as well as cause neck and back pain. The treatment of this defect is done by the Nuss method, in which a bar is introduced inside the rib cage to stop the growth of the sternum inwards towards the heart. This bar is removed after a period of about two years or so after which the ribs grow normally. The Shofar is of great use to a child after the removal of the Nuss bar. Shofar-blowing after the removal of the Nuss bar makes lungs stronger and increases the chest capacity. It also strengthens the ribs and sternum. The importance of Shofar has thus been heavily underestimated.