One of the reasons we blow the shofar is to remind us of the story of the akeida. The
Torah tells us that God tested Avraham by ordering him to offer his son
Yitzhak as a sacrifice. Although Avraham was very upset by this, he did
exactly what God told him. He took Yitzhak to a lonely mountain and bound
him on an altar (akeida means “binding” in Hebrew). Just as he took
out his knife, an angel appeared and told him not to harm his son. God
never intended him to sacrifice Yitzhak and only wanted to see if Avraham
would obey. Not far from the altar, Avraham noticed a ram tangled in a
thorn bush. He removed Yitzhak from the altar and offered the ram instead.
Today, we read about the akeida every Rosh HaShana to remind us how
Avraham was willing to do whatever God told him. We also blow the shofar,
to remind us of the ram that Avraham offered instead of his son.
One of the reasons we blow the shofar is to remind us of the story of the akeida. The
Torah tells us that God tested Avraham by ordering him to offer his son
Yitzhak as a sacrifice. Although Avraham was very upset by this, he did
exactly what God told him. He took Yitzhak to a lonely mountain and bound
him on an altar (akeida means “binding” in Hebrew). Just as he took
out his knife, an angel appeared and told him not to harm his son. God
never intended him to sacrifice Yitzhak and only wanted to see if Avraham
would obey. Not far from the altar, Avraham noticed a ram tangled in a
thorn bush. He removed Yitzhak from the altar and offered the ram instead.
Today, we read about the akeida every Rosh HaShana to remind us how
Avraham was willing to do whatever God told him. We also blow the shofar,
to remind us of the ram that Avraham offered instead of his son.