Rosh Hashana Prayers: Avot

From an unedited transcript of a shiur: We have in this beracha a number of names of Hashem, but each one of these names is associated with a human being. Elokei Avraham – G-d is the Lord of Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak – G-d is the Lord of Yitzchak. That means that G-d is now defining G-d’s self, so to speak, by associating with a human being. What Avraham gave to the world in terms of expanding Hashem’s presence in the world was so precious that now Hashem can, now we can actually refer to Hashem as Elokei Avraham, because of Avraham’s contribution to Hashem’s presence in the world. This is what the Avos did, and when we speak of Avos we’re speaking about our spiritual DNA and that means that each and every one of us has the same capacity, so that we can actually reach a point, any one of us can reach a point that Hashem would say Elokei Jennifer, Elokei Jill, or Elokei Simcha, as hard as that would be to believe, because you can actually accomplish so much in the world. We’re celebrating the potential that Hashem has given us. That is the beracha of Avos.