Days of Awe

Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the world and is a time for reflection and self evaluation. It is one of the Jewish tradition's holiest days, the days when Jews most commonly attend services at synagogue. Rosh Hashanah begins this year (2007) on the evening of September 12th.

A Sense of Your Presence.
by Ruth Brin

Among our many appetites
There is a craving after God.

Among our many attributes
There is a talent for worshipping God.

Jews who wandered in the deserts beneath the stars
Knew their hearts were hungry for God.

Jews who studied in candle-lit ghetto rooms
Thirsted longingly after God...

Help us, O God, to recognize our need,
To hear the yearning whisper of our hearts.

Help us to seek the silence of the desert
And the thoughtfulness of the house of study.

Bless us, like our ancestors in ancient days
With that most precious gift: a sense of Your presence.

Brush us with the wind of the wings of Your being.
Fill us with the awe of Your holiness.
We, too, will praise, glorify, and exalt Your name.

May we come to understand what being there really means, in these coming days of Awe. And may we be blessed with the awareness of God's permanent presence, and our own share in creating holiness.