I posted this on another thread, but I think it should also be posted here:
Satan is sent to test us. The greater the Soul, the greater the test. We should take a little comfort in knowing that Satan cannot test us more than we are capable of surviving. We need to rise up, as we learn in our repentence, to the challenge which Satan has placed before us. The Jewish people operate on many levels, one such level is the level individual versus national challenges. We are being challenged as a nation... I hope that the Rabbis in the conservative and Orthodox shuls out there will give strength to Israel. The Rabbis I have watched most recently have certainly been exhibiting much more Zionism and support for Aliyah to Israel.
As we listen to the call of the Shofar in a little over a week from now {10 more days!} let us remember why we are in shul. We are there to give praise to the Awesome, Great, and Strong King {HA MELECH!}. We praise him and we sing to him and we regret not loving him more during the year. Rosh Hashanna is a time for Simcha {Joy} and yet we are also being judged by the Master of the Universe, the Holy One Blessed is he! We are happy to be judged. We should be happy that the King has come out to the field to be with us.
It is a wonderful balancing act that we try to perform. Trepidation, fear, and anxiety fill the week. We try to ask forgiveness from those who we have done wrong to. We get white clothes, or some a Kittel, so that we can be wrapped in white, the color of purity, as we are going before the King. There are so many wonderful things we do as we prepare for this period... There is the famous minhag of eating Apples and Honey as a sign for a good and sweet year. There are signs such as eating the head of the fish, and not the tail... Eating pommegranets because they are rumoured to have 613 seeds.
We blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanna to drive away the Satan. According to Talmudic sources, the Satan is confused for a moment when the Shofar is blown on the day of Rosh Hashana... This year we will wait till Sunday {Rosh Hashanna starts on Friday night through Saturday this year} to hear the Shofar... But when we hear those 100 blasts of the Shofar we should tremble a bit, we should feel the strength enter our souls, we should grow inside...
So in conclusion... I would like to say that while I agree that Islam is a manifestation of Satan it is also true that Satan is in my home. Satan is everywhere where the challenge exists... So the answer to defeating Satan is the same. We work on ourselves, to become better people, and then we will be able to have more control over the Satan. We will be able to see the enemy for who it is. Right now the majority of Jews and Christians have their eyes blinded by the allure of the Western physicality. Some are blinded by false ideologies invented by men during the early years of the church... Some are blinded by invented religions such as reform 'judaism'.
Let us strengthen ourselves, our families, our extended families, our neighborhoods, and eventually we will strengthen our country.
May all JTFers read my words and make a complete teshuva so that we can celebrate in Jerusalem with Moshiach!
Tricks of the Satan :
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/1375http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/Parasha/eylevine/5764roshhashanah.htmhttp://www.ou.org/shabbat_shalom/article/mm_accuser1
A theme which we encounter repeatedly in the mitzva of Shofar is "confusing the accuser" (Satan). For instance:
1. The gemara tells us that we blow the shofar on Rosh HaShana both sitting and standing "in order to confuse the accuser" (Rosh HaShana 16b).
2. In the siddur of Rav Amram Gaon and in Machzor Vitry, this is given as one reason for the wide variety of different shofar calls we sound on the holiday.
3. The Tur (OC 581) gives it as one reason for blowing the shofar every day in Elul;
4. While the Maharil gives it as a reason why we stop sounding the shofar on the last day before Rosh HaShana.
Let us study the simple meaning and some deeper insights of this concept.
The word satan in the Bible seems to mean merely "opponent". For instance, the angel who obstructs Bilaam's progress is described as a satan (Bamidbar 22:22), and the captains of the Philistines are afraid that if David fights by their side he will not be an ally but rather a satan, an opponent (Shmuel I 29:4).
But many times we find it has a more specific meaning: an angel who is specially designated by G-d to act as a prosecuting attorney when He judges men (Zekharya 3:2, Iyov 1,2). Although G-d already knows all of our thoughts and actions, Divine judgment is described to us in Scripture as following equitable and transparent procedures, with advocates making claims and counterclaims, in order to educate us that this judgment it is not arbitrary but rather fair and balanced.
In the Talmud, we find an additional dimension: Satan is sometimes presented not merely as an accuser, but also as a tempter, someone who confronts our righteousness with trials in order to test us.
While we certainly try to avoid Satan and his judgment and adhere stead- fastly to the mitzvot, the Gemara also teaches us that we have to respect his mission which is after all a necessary part of the administration of justice in the world. When the sage Palemo cursed Satan, Satan came to embarrass him and then rebuked him for his curses. It's enough to ask Hashem to keep Satan far away; it's not necessary to curse him (Kidushin 81b).
Let's return to confusing Satan by blowing the shofar. The Ran brings an explanation related to the idea of Satan as tempter, identified with "the evil urge": The stirring sound of the shofar instills awe in the listeners and subdues their urges and temptations.
But most commentators seem to associate "confusing Satan" with the idea of Satan as accuser. For example, Rashi writes that sounding the shofar when the congregation is both sitting and standing impresses him with our devotion to the mitzvot; the result is that he is timid in his accusations. Tosafot explains that when he hears the persistence of the shofar (because it is blown so often) he will think that he is hearing the shofar of the final Redemption, when his job comes to an end (because righteousness will reign) (Rashi, Tosafot and Ran on Rosh HaShana 17b).
The Maharil (a Rishon who wrote a compendium of customs) gives a slightly different explanation: The shofar announces the day of judgment, which enables Satan to know when he is summoned to "court" to present his case against men. But when the shofar is blown so many times, he may become confused and "miss his court date". Of course Satan is a loyal public servant and will keep coming back each time the shofar is blown in Elul, but then the shofar is omitted on Rosh HaShana eve and he may conclude that the case is over and he can just pack up.
Satan has shown himself to be a remarkably devoted and resourceful functionary, and it is probably not so easy to fool him. But we also must remember that his function is not to cause us suffering, but rather to create accountability in the world in order to motivate us to righteousness.
When we hear the shofar in Elul, it's not only Satan who remembers that judgment day is approaching; we ourselves are reminded. We allow ourselves to be fooled into seeing the Prosecutor right away; thus we subdue our urges (as the Ran states) and are stirred to repentance. When we hear the shofar blast numerous times and ways on Rosh HaShana, staying in shul hours beyond what we are accustomed yet without impatience, we are astounded at our own devotion to mitzvot; this truly silences the accuser. (As we find in Rashi.) When we reach Rosh HaShana in a state of perfect repentance, we may find that our righteousness is so complete that we don't win our case, we actually find it dismissed "for lack of public concern". After all, the purpose of the judgment itself is only to give an incentive for right conduct; when we find ourselves independently motivated to act rightly the trial is superfluous and the prosecutor can go home. (As we find in Tosafot and the Maharil.)
The various customs of blowing the shofar have the effect of "tricking" us into preparing for judgment well in advance; thus we find ourselves well prepared on the Days of Awe and the prosecution will be muted and confused.
Rabbi Asher Meir is the author of the book Meaning in Mitzvot, distributed by Feldheim. The book provides insights into the inner meaning of our daily practices, following the order of the 221 chapters of the Kitzur Shulchan Arukh.
Topic: Regarding the Accuser (Read 2138 times)