Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days

Compiled by S.Y. Agnon, one of the greatest Hebrew writers of the twentieth century and winner of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature, Days of Awe is the long-acknowledged classic companion to the High Holy Days prayerbook. Here in one volume are readings from the meditations from the Bible, the Talmud, the Midrash, and the Zohar, to deepen the spiritual experience of the holiest days of the Jewish year. More than three hundred texts. selected from the vast storehouse of Jewish literature from ancient to modern times, are arranged to follow the order of the synagogue service for the High Holy Days. "From the moment of its appearance," writes Judah Goldin in the Introduction, "[this] volume seemed as though it had always been here, as though it had always been the companion of the holiday prayerbook." SHMUEL YOSEF AGNON was a Nobel Prize laureate writer and was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew fiction. Agnon was born in Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (today Ukraine). He later immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, and died in Jerusalem, Israel. His works deal with the conflict between the traditional Jewish life and language and the modern world. They also attempt to recapture the fading traditions of the European shtetl. In a wider context, he contributed to broadening the characteristic conception of the narrator's role in literature. Agnon shared the Nobel Prize with the poet Nelly Sachs in 1966. FOREWORD BY Arthur Green vii INTRODUCTION BY Judah Goldin xix PREFACE: The Argument of the Work xliii BOOK ONE: ROSH HA-SHANAH I. The Motive of Rosh ha-Shanah 11 II. Elul: A Month of Preparation 16 III. The Sabbath before Rosh ha-Shanah 26 IV. Selihot: Penitential Prayers 30 V. The Eve of Rosh ha-Shanah: "Remember the Covenant: 38 VI. The Evening and Its Service 48 VII. The Morning and Its Service 56 VIII. The Blast of the Ram's-Horn 64 IX. The Additional Prayer: Kingships, Remembrances, Ram's-Horns 81 X. The Afternoon: The Casting 92 XI. The Second Day of Rosh ha-Shanah 100 BOOK TWO: THE DAYS BETWEEN ROSH HA-SHANAH AND YOM KIPPUR I. Seek Ye the Lord 109 II. The Laws and Customs of the Ten Days of Teshuvah 122 III. The Fast of Gedaliah 130 IV. The Sabbath of Return 130 V. The Thirteen Qualities 141 VI. The Eve of Yom Kippur 147 VII. The Afternoon Prayer for the Eve of Yom Kippur 165 VIII. The Final Preparations for Yom Kippur 167 BOOK THREE: YOM KIPPUR I. The Significance of the Day 183 II. Restriction 190 III. Before Kol Nidre 203 IV. Kol Nidre and the Night of Yom Kippur 210 V. The Gates of Compassion 225 Vi. The Morning Service and the Memorial Prayer 237 VII. The Additional Prayer: The Service of the High Priest 237 VIII. The Afternoon Prayer 261 IX. Neilah: The Closing of the Gates 265 X. 'Hear O Israel' and the Final Blast 267 XI. The Close of Yom Kippur 272 BIBLIOGRAPHY 281 PUBLISHER'S NOTE 296