I was asked by my Rabbi this year to give the congregant d'var torah before the Torah reading for the second day of Rosh Hashana. Subject: The Akedah - the Binding of Isaac. Degree of Difficulty: 10. I hope the Judge upstairs gave me good marks.

On this, the second day of Rosh Hashana, we read the story of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, which we find in Chapter 22 of Breishit. Most of us are familiar with the story. G-d asks Abraham to make a burnt-offering of his son - “his only son, the one he loves”. As Abrahams’ knife is about to come down to take Isaac’s life, an angel calls out to him. Abraham answers, “Hineni. (Here I am)” and he is told not to harm Isaac, thus preserving G-d’s covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people.

Our sages have suggested that we read this story today because of the connection between the ram’s horn that we use for the shofar and the ram that was offered as a sacrifice by Abraham as a replacement for Isaac. This may be true, but what additional lessons can we take from the story of the Akedah on Rosh Hashana that we may not get when we read the story in parsha Vayera during the general cycle of torah readings?

I think we can find the answer by looking more closely at one of the minor characters in this great drama – the angel that calls on Abraham to stay his hand and preserve the life of Isaac.

When we talk about angels, we often use the phrase “guardian angels” since we believe that they always act to protect us. And what exactly do these angels protect us from? Only the most terrible of dangers. If you’re having dinner and some food falls from your fork onto the napkin on your lap, you don’t thank an angel that you didn’t soil your suit or dress. However, if you were rushing to get home to that particular meal and a car ran a red light that barely missed you, THEN you would think that an angel might have interceded on your behalf. So it’s safe to say that we believe that angels tend to appear in special situations, usually related to life and death.

That is exactly the situation we find ourselves in now. The Yomim Noraim, the Ten Days of Repentance, is a time of intense prayer and introspection when we pray to G-d to forgive us for not always doing what is best and what is right. We do this because we know that on the other side of the New Year lies potential danger and trouble. However, now is the time to reflect on our actions and pray for the strength and wisdom to do better. And with these prayers we hope that G-d will indeed hear us in these last moments before the Gates of Heaven close so that we may be inscribed in the Book of Life.

But how do we know what G-d wants us to do so that we can avoid a decree against us on Yom Kippur? Can even the best of us avoid any sin; any wrongdoing during the course of an entire year? Here is where the lesson of the Akedah gives us hope.

Let’s go back to Abraham. Nowhere is it mentioned that he had an innate ability to determine what was right or wrong in the eyes of G-d – Abraham was just the first person to recognize Him as the unique creator of the universe. He didn’t have the Torah or the Talmud to guide him – and as we all know even these sources have not resolved every argument as to what’s right and wrong. Abraham could only do what he thought G-d wanted him to do. So, Abraham made his decision to sacrifice Isaac with complete confidence that it would by pleasing to G-d. Yet he was mistaken, and before a tragedy could occur the angel appeared, as they often do, to prevent a possible catastrophe and to teach a lesson that comes down to us today.

This lesson is not simply about the evils of child sacrifice as many say. The additional lesson is that as long as we always strive to do what we think is best according to the Torah, we will earn merit when the time of judgment comes. And if we should ever make a wrong decision, one that might affect us negatively at this critical time of the year, a time where life and death hangs in the balance, G-d will send an angel to protect us and ultimately lead us in the right path.

If we only try to make all our decisions based on the love of G-d and his Torah, we have nothing to fear from the New Year and can live our lives with the same sense of enthusiasm, expectation and success as did Avraham Avinu, Abraham our forefather.