Hear me! Yom Kippur 5768

The memory of Yom Kippur is fading, although the promises I've made to myself having lived through another year remain fresh in my mind -- remember to say Modeh Anee each morning when I awaken, to wash first thing (next up -- putting a basin by the bed along with a Negel Wasser...)

There was a D'var Torah that one of the young men at the shul delivered on the Shabbat preceeding Yom Kippur that sticks in my mind.

Every day, when Jews daven Sacharit (the morning minyan prayer), we start with the Akedah -- the story of the Binding of Isaac by Abraham. Typically, we view this as a test of man's faith in Hashem. Hashem wishes to judge if Abraham is worthy to be the patriach of the Jewish people. Isaac is not a problem, and we even read later in the service that Isaac allows this to happen willingly -- Sarah has raised Isaac well, imbuing him with complete trust in Hashem. Abraham, however, is different.

Abraham grew up in the world of idols and (more the point) the world of sacrifice. As offensive as we find it today, that included human sacrifice. For Abraham, sacrificing Isaac was easy, which brings us to the point of the young man's D'var Torah, that insomuch as Hashem was testing Abraham...

...Abraham was testing Hashem.

It's an interesting thought. Abraham has already banished Hagar and (more importantly) Ishmael, which could not have been easy for him. We know that Sarah was right to do this, to remove other influences from Isaac's life, and that is reflected in Isaac's trust of Abraham now, as he has absolute faith in Hashem. Now Abraham is putting Hashem to the test, by binding Isaac and rendering him immobile and defenseles, and raising a knife to sacrifice his son.