For the source text click/tap here: Rosh Hashanah 16
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The Gemara earlier (10b) quotes the dispute between Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Yehoshua with regard to whether the world was created on the first of Tishrei (the day on which Adam ha'Rishon was created) or whether it was created on the first of Nisan. If the world was created (and Adam ha'Rishon was granted atonement for his sin) on the first of Tishrei as Rebbi Eliezer maintains, it is clear why the inhabitants of the world are called to task on that day every year (see Vayikra Rabah 29:1). However, if the world was created in Nisan as Rebbi Yehoshua maintains, then why was the first of Tishrei designated as the Day of Judgment for the year's deeds?
One of the most enigmatic reasons given for blowing the shofar is to confuse the Satan. How foolish can Soton benot to realize after thousands of years that the preliminary sounding of the shofar is only a ruse?
We struggle with a number of interpretations.