the good impulse and to good deeds, and bend our will to submit to thee. Grant us today, and every day, grace, favor and mercy, both in thy sight and in the sight of all men, and bestow loving-kindness on us. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who bestowest loving kindness on thy people Israel.
May it be thy will, Lord my God and God of my fathers, to deliver me today, and every day, from impudent men and from insolence; from an evil man, a bad companion, and a bad neighbor; from an evil occurrence and from the destructive adversary;[1] from an oppressive lawsuit and from a hard opponent, be he a man of the covenant or not.
Our God and God of our fathers, remember us favorably,[2] and visit us with mercy and salvation from the eternal high heavens. Remember in our favor, Lord our God, the love of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Israel thy servants. Remember the covenant, the kindness, and the oath which thou didst swear to our father Abraham on Mount Moriah, and the binding of Isaac his son on the altar, as it is written in thy Torah:
Genesis 22:1-19
And it came to pass after these things that God put Abraham to the test,[3] and said to him: “Abraham”; and he answered: “Here I am.” Then he said: “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love; go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took with him his two servants and his son Isaac; he cut wood for the burnt-offering and started for the place about which God had told him.
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place at a distance. Then Abraham said to his servants: “You stay here with the ass while I and the boy go yonder; we will worship and
- ↑ משטן המשחית is an allusion to the corrupting influence of Satan, the great adversary of man, who is often identical with the lower passions.
- ↑ זכרנו בזכרון טוב and רבונו של עולם which immediately follows the biblical account of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son are both taken from the Musaf service for Rosh Hashanah. The Akedah, the intended sacrifice of Isaac, is regarded as a symbol of Israel's martyrdom.
- ↑ נסה את אברהם Abraham's faith was put to the supreme test when he was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. This was the tenth and the greatest of the trials he had to face, to prove that he was worthy of being the founder of the Jewish people. This narrative portrays also the faith and obedience of Isaac
