Through the shofar its sound, its passages and its blessing. If the shofar is the channel for our merits to soar upward to the throne of heavenly judgment, it also serves another purpose. Rabbi Yitzchak states that the reason for blowing the shofar both before and during mussaf is to confuse Satan. Rashi s explanation of this is that Satan s attempts to agitate against Israel are thwarted when he sees how much Jews love mitzvot such that they even sound the shofar twice. Tosefot draws on a section of the Jerusalem Talmud to explain that Satan becomes somewhat alarmed by the first sound of the shofar.
Incitement breeds agitation and results in execution.
Satan, in the context of Rabbi Yitzchak s statement, is the evil inclination. The sound of the shofar confuses Satan by instilling in the Jew who hears it a fear of Heaven which subdues the sinful passions the evil inclination tries to arouse, and thus gains for Jewry a good year. All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters.