Blasting and Breaking

The sound of the Shofar known as a תרועה is a broken sound. The Sefer Hachinuch tells us this alludes to breaking the Yetzer Hara. Rosh Hashana is referred to as יום תרועה, a day to break the Yetzer Hara, Satan.

The Satan is known as the ס -ם. Adding up these two letters we arrive at a total of 100. On Rosh Hashana we blow 100 Shofar blasts. These are to overcome the power of Satan.

The purpose of the 100 Shofar blasts is to get us closer to Hashem, to live a more spiritual life. The Gematria of the word שופר is 586. Tallying another 100 to this (for the 100 Shofar blasts), we arrive at 686, the precise sum of ובחרת בחיים! This is telling us that through the Shofar, we are empowered to choose real life, spirituality.