Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 6, 2017 6:00 – 9:00 pm
 

When did you last find yourself wonderstruck, humbled, maybe even a little afraid? When did you last feel a sense of awe? It seems that our contemporary lifestyles leave little room for moments of awe. In an attempt to control even acts of G-d, we monitor the rhythms of nature with sophisticated machinery to predict everything from the weather and earthquakes to polar melting. Somehow we think if we can monitor these phenomena, we can control them. However, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods happen as we watch them build and release their destructive force on our communities. In these moments, we realize, we have no control. These are moments of awe. 

In smaller, quieter moments of awe when we are speechless in the face of the incredible beauty of life such as when we hold a new born child, when the new leaves begin to emerge from their buds in the spring, when we watch a spider spinning a delicate web, or witness a grizzly bear frolicking with her cubs in a mountain meadow. These too are moments of awe. 

During the Days of Awe, Jews return to a state of awe in their relationship to themselves, their lives, the world, and G-d. We remember to be in awe of life and the power of G-d in the world. We return to a state of reverence, wonder, humility, and even fear of the Creator.