The Days of Awe
On Rosh Hashanah, New Year’s Day, we acclaim the kingdom of heaven. It is a day when this world fades into the background, and the kingdom of heaven becomes a tangible reality. The whole period of the Days of Awe is animated by this truth. During these ten days, we put aside all our physical desires and our material concerns, and we focus our hearts and minds on eternal questions. There is no other comparable time of year when God is so close and our attachment to the Eternal One so great.
In Jewish communities around the world, there is a turning inward in self-introspection and a turning upward to look towards God for help and forgiveness. There is a powerful aspiration to start anew; to clear away our past mistakes and animosities, and begin the New Year with a clean slate. On the Day of Atonement, even many people who do not think of God the rest of the year go to synagogue. There are millions of people with goodwill in their minds and contrition in their hearts. It is an extraordinary phenomenon that creates a tremendous opening for God to intervene.
On higher planes, the kingdom of heaven is mobilized to respond to this outpouring. From way up into the Soul of Israel there is a focusing of mind and energy towards those on this plane of existence. There is a great organization that works to see that those who turn towards God with sincerity are answered. Consolation and inspiration are poured forth upon Israel to strengthen and uphold the people in the year ahead. Those individuals who are capable of receiving guidance in the direction of their lives are overshadowed and put in touch with the Universal Mind of God. Where there is purity and humility, energy is poured through to wipe away the stains of past sins on the soul. Love and protection, wisdom and illumination, flow down from the Kingdom of Souls to the Kingdom of Humanity.
It is the power and majesty of this event that the Rabbis express to us through the concept of God as Sovereign on Rosh Hashanah. More than simply God as Ruler, it is an imagery that awakens us to awareness of the divine kingdom. God is sovereign, and only the divine kingdom is eternal. All else is transitory.
In the Sephardic prayer service, when the ark is opened and the Torah is taken out, the following phrase is repeated twelve times, “Your Word, O Lord, stands in the Heavens.” This phrase is an affirmation that in the heavens, in the kingdom of God, there is an eternal reality that stands in wholeness and power. The divine plan and purpose are engraved in the kingdom of heaven. Those who live in this kingdom are ever present to watch over the events of human history. The eternal plan will come to fruition on this plane no matter what mistakes we make, despite the setbacks our actions create. They are an immovable truth that we attest to on New Year’s Day.
These central themes are expanded upon in the Rosh Hashanah musaf or additional service. The Musaf prayer is divided into three parts: malkhiot, zichronot, and shofarot or sovereignty, memory, and the sounding of the shofar:
The first section is Malkhiot, Sovereignty. This section portrays to us the revelation of the kingdom of heaven upon earth. In this vision, the Will of God overpowers the will of man so that all of humanity recognizes the existence of the higher spiritual planes. As a result of this new reality, the whole world turns to God and His service, and all hearts are lifted up in praise of the holy Sovereign and the divine kingdom.
The second section, zichronot reminds us that the all-seeing Eye of God records and remembers everything that happens in the world, and He/She oversees all that is yet to come. Zichronot, therefore, is an affirmation of our belief in the existence of an all-encompassing, eternal divine plan. On Rosh Hashanah, this plan becomes alive and vibrant in our minds, and we find ourselves urgently asking the question: what is our place in the Divine scheme? Suddenly all other matters seem unimportant, and discovering the purpose of our life becomes the only worthwhile endeavor.
On Rosh Hashanah we rise above the petty concerns of the moment. We are lifted up into the universal mind of God and given a small glimpse of the heavenly blueprint. The Days of Awe present a unique opportunity for us to link into the plan. It is a time when our individual role within the greater whole stands revealed.
The last part of the prayer is shofarot — trumpet blasts. The blowing of the shofar is the call of the soul. Its sound has the intensity of an urgent appeal. It is a rising note, striving upward that awakens the yearning for the divine that lies in our heart. It is a call to see beyond material existence and recognize the one true reality that lies behind this physical world.
The sounding of the shofar heralds the moment of revelation. It stirs the divine spark that lies buried inside each of us. It begins in the depths of the soul and reaches out towards our consciousness awareness. Its influence builds and builds, until finally it shatters our material consciousness and the higher reality comes flooding in.
The blasts of the shofar build a bridge of sound and energy upon which we can ascend into the spiritual realm. The sincere invocation of our hearts combines together with the responding approach of the kingdom of heaven to make this holyday a time of tremendous spiritual potential.
Because the Soul of Israel draws closer to us on the Yamim Noraim — the Days of Awe — there is a special livingness to its presence. We can receive enormous spiritual benefit from this time period, if we make a conscious effort to link up with this great soul. Meditation is a powerful spiritual tool that we can use to connect with this vast vortex of energy and consciousness. If we reach out with our minds to those who dwell in the higher realms, their immense power will flow toward us to fill our hearts and minds.
This time of great approach is a tremendous spiritual opportunity. If we seek God with sincerity and intention, then this holyday will transform ourselves. It will align our lives with the vibration of our soul and the eternal pattern that emanates from the heart of the kingdom of heaven.
Copyright © 2023, by Yoel Glick
