Crowning Hashem as King

Insight of the Week

A quick review of the text of the Rosh Hashanah prayers shows us that the theme of this day is מלכות – Hashem's kingship over the world. This is the day when we crown Hashem as King over the universe, and we reaffirm our loyalty to Him as His subjects. Another theme that features prominently on Rosh Hashanah is עקידת יצחק – the story of Avraham Avinu's willingness to sacrifice his son in fulfillment of Hashem's command. We read the story of עקידת יצחק from the Torah, we mention it several times in our tefilot , and one of the explanations for the symbolism of the shofar is that it brings to mind the ram which Avraham sacrificed instead of Yitzhak (after Hashem told him not to kill Yitzhak). Furthermore, it is customary to eat meat from the head of a sheep on Rosh Hashanah, and one reason given for this practice is that sheep closely resemble rams, and we thus wish to invoke the ram of עקידת יצחק . How are we to understand the significance of עקידת יצחק on Rosh Hashanah, and its connection to the theme of מלכות ? Yitzhak represented Avraham's spiritual ambitions. His dream was to transmit his faith to his son, who then carry his legacy and form a nation that would represent Hashem in this world. This was Avraham's aspiration, his plan. But the moment Hashem commanded him to offer Yitzhak as a sacrifice, Avraham prepared to sacrifice this dream, to forego on his plan. It was very painful, and he didn't understand, but being Hashem's loyal servant means making difficult sacrifices for the sake of submitting to Hashem's authority and obeying Him. Too often, we want to have the best of both worlds. We want comfort and ease, and to then include Hashem. We want a lot of money, some of which we will donate to charity. We want to be very successful during the week so we can close on Shabbat without losing anything. We want to have amazing, well-behaved kids who are easy to raise and educate to be religiously observant. We want to do what Hashem wants – but in the way that we want. Being a faithful servant of Hashem means serving Him under conditions which aren't the way we want. Proclaiming Hashem as King means serving Him not only when we are in good health, but with whatever health He decides we should have. Proclaiming Hashem as King means serving Him happily even if we're struggling financially. Proclaiming Hashem as King means having a Torah home even with challenging children. On Rosh Hashanah, we draw our attention to עקידת יצחק because this is what crowning Hashem as King is all about – being willing to sacrifice, being willing to serve Hashem and obey His will under difficult conditions, when things aren't going our way. Crowning Hashem as King means turning to Him and saying, "Whatever it is that You want from me – I'm ready to do." And this is precisely the lesson of עקידת יצחק . The Gemara derives the details about the mitzvah of shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah from the sounding of the shofar on the yovel (jubilee year). Every 50 years, the shofar would be sounded, proclaiming the release of all servants, setting them free. The Torah uses similar words in the context of the Rosh Hashanah shofar blowing and the shofar blowing on the yovel , indicating that the halachot that apply on yovel apply also on Rosh Hashanah. When we truly crown Hashem as king, we attain freedom – freedom from anxiety, from frustration, from anger, and from disappointment. When we see ourselves as servants of Hashem, and understand that we are here to live the life He wants us to live, and not the life that we think we want to live, then we will spare ourselves so much stress and aggravation. When life doesn't go the way we planned, we will just accept it as Hashem's will, realizing that He wants us to serve Him under the conditions that He gives us. There is no greater feeling than this mindset. When we live this way, we aren't worried about what may happen or not happen, because we know that everything that happens is Hashem's will. And we won't be frustrated or angry when things don't go our way, because we will understand that this is what Hashem wants for us. Let us take advantage of the precious opportunity Rosh Hashanah offers us to truly proclaim our loyalty to Hashem, so we can experience the unparalleled freedom of being His servants.