The distinguished company we keep on Rosh Hashanah always provides meaning and inspiration. In shul, we spend quality time with Avraham and Sarah, and even make a side trip into the desert with Hagar and Yishmael. We climb a mountain with Avraham and Yitzchak and wait with bated breath for an angel to intervene with אַל־תִּשְׁלַ֤ח יָֽדְךָ֙ אֶל־הַנַּ֔עַר וְאַל־תַּ֥עַשׂ ל֖וֹ מְא֑וּמָה, Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. We observe our mother Rachel crying for her children, and we enter the Mishkan with Chanah as she pours out her heart before Hashem. Maybe we even leave prison with Yosef on Rosh Hashanah. The beginning of the year would simply not be the same without the Torah readings and Haftaros that bring lofty concepts such as judgment, prayer, and sacrifice down to earth for us.

But Rosh Hashanah also features a minor character lurking in the shadows. He is rarely seen on the page but nonetheless exerts an outsize influence on the way we conduct ourselves. And so, we must reluctantly add him to the list of Rosh Hashanah Dramatis Personae: Avraham, Sarah, Yitzchak, Rachel, Chanah, and... the Satan. The Satan hides in plain sight in our Machzor.

Who is the Satan? He is the Accuser, the prosecutor of our sins and layer of obstacles in our path. The Satan does not wish for Bnei Yisrael to merit the goodness Rosh Hashanah has in store for us, and so he attempts to subvert our efforts (Rosh Hashanah 16b):

לָמָּה תּוֹקְעִין וּמְרִיעִין כְּשֶׁהֵן יוֹשְׁבִין

וְתוֹקְעִין וּמְרִיעִין כְּשֶׁהֵן עוֹמְדִין — כְּדֵי לְעַרְבֵּב הַשָּׂטָן

Why does one sound a tekiah and then a teruah while the congregation is still sitting before the silent prayer, and then sound again a tekiah and a teruah while they are standing in the Amidah prayer? In order to confuse the Satan.

One would expect that the Satan would catch on every year, but we keep beating him to the chase by blowing the shofar well before Mussaf instead of only in the middle of it. This way, the Satan cannot preemptively accuse us of neglecting the shofar. We hint to this via the pesukim that immediately precede Tekias Shofar. Perhaps you never noticed that they form an acrostic at the second pasuk:

מִן הַמֵּצַר קָרָֽאתִי יָהּ עָנָֽנִי בַּמֶּרְחַב יָהּ

קוֹלִי שָׁמָֽעְתָּ אַל תַּעְלֵּם אָזְנְךָ לְרַוְחָתִי לְשַׁוְעָתִי

רֹאשׁ דְּבָרְךָ אֱמֶת וּלְעוֹלָם כָּל מִשְׁפַּט צִדְקֶֽךָ

עֲרוֹב עַבְדְּךָ לְטוֹב אַל יַעַשְׁקֻֽנִי זֵדִים

שָׂשׂ אָנֹכִי עַל אִמְרָתֶֽךָ כְּמוֹצֵא שָׁלָל רָב

טוּב טַֽעַם וָדַֽעַת לַמְּדֵֽנִי כִּי בְמִצְוֹתֶֽיךָ הֶאֱמָֽנְתִּי

נִדְבוֹת פִּי רְצֵה נָא יְהֹוָה וּמִשְׁפָּטֶֽיךָ לַמְּדֵֽנִי

The first letters of these six pesukim in the Hebrew text form the words קְרַע שָׂטָן, cut off the Accuser. Every Friday night, we also allude to this in the Ana B'Koach prayer before Lecha Dodi: 

קַבֵּל רִנַּת עַמְּ֒ךָ שַׂגְּ֒בֵֽנוּ טַהֲרֵֽנוּ נוֹרָא

We desire to overcome this force that deters us from our duties, and at first blush we employ a "trick" in order to do so: Blowing the shofar earlier than expected. Why does the Satan fall for this year after year? Perhaps he is still exhausted from his exertions at the Akeidah.

Avraham Avinu contended with the Satan at several junctures along his mission. The very commandment to sacrifice his son began at the Satan's behest (Sanhedrin 89b):

אָמַר שָׂטָן לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, זָקֵן זֶה חֲנַנְתּוֹ לְמֵאָה שָׁנָה פְּרִי בֶטֶן, מִכׇּל סְעוּדָה שֶׁעָשָׂה לֹא הָיָה לוֹ תּוֹר אֶחָד אוֹ גּוֹזָל אֶחָד לְהַקְרִיב לְפָנֶיךָ? אָמַר לוֹ: כְּלוּם עָשָׂה אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל בְּנוֹ? אִם אֲנִי אוֹמֵר לוֹ ״זְבַח אֶת בִּנְךָ לְפָנַי״ מִיָּד זוֹבְחוֹ. מִיָּד ״וְהָאֱלֹהִים נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם״

Satan said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, this old man, you favored him with a product of the womb, i.e., a child, at one hundred years of age. From the entire feast that he prepared, did he not have even one dove or one pigeon to sacrifice before You as a thanks-offering? God said to Satan: Did Avraham prepare the feast for any reason but for his son? If I say to him: Sacrifice your son before Me, he would immediately slaughter him. Immediately, after these matters, the verse states: “And God tried Avraham.”

And along the three-day journey, the Satan created multiple obstacles in Avraham's path, including forming a mighty river to give him an excuse to turn around (Midrash Tanchuma). But Avraham proceeded anyway, and did not let the river stop him. Is it any wonder that we recite a prayer each night during Maariv to neutralize this insidious force which is the Satan:

וְהָסֵר שָׂטָן מִלְּ֒פָנֵֽינוּ וּמֵאַחֲרֵֽינוּ וּבְצֵל כְּנָפֶֽיךָ תַּסְתִּירֵֽנוּ 

Remove the Accuser from before us and from behind us, and shelter us in the shadow of Your wings.

The Satan's modus operandi is to minimize the significance of the mitzvah we are about to perform, convincing us that all of the other diversions which tantalize us cannot be missed. There are so many other "important" things to take care of that we simply "have no time" to fulfill our responsibilities to Hashem. This is really an internal battle waged decision by decision. The Satan within confuses our priorities before we make that choice (מִלְּ֒פָנֵֽינוּ), and then convinces us to proceed guilt-free afterwards (מֵאַחֲרֵֽינוּ).

There is only one day a year when the Satan remains impotent, unable to cast us in a negative light: Yom Kippur. The Gemara (Yoma 20a) teaches us that the word הַשָּׂטָן has a numerical value of 364, leaving one day of the year on which his license to prosecute is suspended. This is confirmed by the Midrash Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 46: On Yom Kippur, The Holy One, blessed be He, hears the prayers of Israel rather than (the charges brought by) their Accuser, and He makes atonement for the altar, and for the sanctuary, and for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation both great and small, as it is said, "And he shall make atonement for the holy place."

But on Rosh Hashanah, we have no such protection from the Satan. And so we blow a premature set of shofar blasts, before Mussaf even begins. How does this silence the Satan? Rashi (on Rosh Hashanah 16b) explains that the Satan cannot accuse us when he sees us cherishing the mitzvos, running to do them with great alacrity and excitement, as did Avraham at the Akeidah. If we approach our responsibilities with joy and enthusiasm, our Accuser is muzzled. Even if he were to mention our faults, God will turn them into merits. This is what happens when we treasure our heritage.

We stand at a crossroads, with a new year beginning, cognizant that our choices in life matter deeply. For us, the Satan is not some external force or a strange mythological creature with horns and a pitchfork, nor was it for Avraham. The Satan resides in that sacred space between thought and action. It is the all-too-human struggle to make smart choices amid a bedazzling kaleidoscope of temptations. And it can be conquered by demonstrating our attachment to God.

What does this look like in shul on Rosh Hashanah? It is evidenced by running, not procrastinating. By coming early, not moseying in late. By raising our voice in responsive prayer, not observing from the sidelines. By entering the room as an active participant, not as the audience for a performance. By concentrating our sustained energies on the tefillah, not taking unnecessary breathers every half hour, and not reading extraneous material that distracts from the day. It means cultivating our sense of purpose, and reminding ourselves why exactly we are scheduled to spend all this time in each other's company, that we have gathered to crown our King. 

On Rosh Hashanah, we use the machzor to reacquaint ourselves with our mission. It is big and it is bold and we are worthy of it. May we overcome all our adversaries with determination and unity as we run into 5786.