By Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman: As Appeared in 12 Tishrei (Sukkos Issue) of Hamodia Prime

As appeared in 12 Tishrei (Sukkos Issue) of Hamodia Prime
AWE
By Rabbi Ilan D. Feldman
I write to plead the case for awe.

As the am hanivchar, we must be capable—no, skilled—at awe. An am yisrael without awe would be a nation failing its mission.
A society that has mastered technology will use technology to explain things. A scientist will resort to science to make things make
sense. And a person who knows Torah will use Torah to interpret everything, even the incomprehensible.
But then we think we understand everything. All becomes comprehensible. And then there is no awe.
Before dismissing this assertion as equating Torah with science or technology, or maintaining that Torah should not be brought to bear
to understand the world, some elaboration is in order.
*************
A well-known medrash about the four species we bundle on Succos includes a puzzling note:
Rabbi Avin said, "[There is a relevant] parable about two that went into a judge and we do not know who was victorious.
Rather we know that the one that [comes out] carrying a palm branch is the winner. So [too] Israel and the nations of the world
come and prosecute [each other] before the Holy One, blessed be He, on Rosh Hashanah and we do not know who won.
Rather when we see that Israel is coming out from in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, with their lulavim and esrogim in
their hands, we know that Israel are the winners.”(Vayikra Rabba 30:2)
What is surprising about the parable is that we are not accustomed to thinking of the judgment on Rosh Hashana as a case involving
two litigants. Rather, we think of it as an assessment of our behavior, from which we emerge either meritorious or guilty, not as winners
or losers to an antagonist. What is the intent of the medrash’s parable?
Evidently, the verdict of Rosh Hashana involves an argument between Israel and the nations of the world as to whether Yisrael should
be chosen—again. Just as creation itself is renewed from scratch, so does Yisrael’s being chosen happen annually. The nations of the
world argue against it, claiming that they are primary, that Klal Yisrael should not be, and Klal Yisrael argues to be chosen again. The
lulav, according to the medrash, is the victory wreath awarded us, indicating that we won that argument.
Indeed, throughout our history, our mortal enemies have been spiritual or genetic descendants of our avos (Yishmael, Esav, Amalek)
who, rather than mocking our status of choseness as worthless, have claimed it for themselves, and have argued that Yisrael is
rejected by Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Rivers of Jewish blood have flowed at the hands of those who prosecuted their case for choseness
against our claim.
The question then becomes: now that we carry the lulav on Succos, signifying that Hashem has chosen us as a “kingdom of kohanim
and a holy nation”, what does Hashem count on us for? What are the responsibilities that go with being chosen by HKBH? What is our
mission?
In a word, our mission is to be in awe.
*****************************
Go to the edge of the Grand Canyon alone, and you will likely see G-d, because what you see there is beyond words. If you had not
already seen pictures and become inured to it, the first time you encountered it you would almost surely exclaim, “Oh, my G-d!”,
because when we are in the presence of things we don’t understand, we start to see Hashem. Stand in that same place with a
As appeared in 12 Tishrei (Sukkos Issue) of Hamodia Prime
geologist, and you will see a big ditch caused by eons of erosion exposing layers of iron-laced limestone and sedimentary rock. He
sterilized it by explaining it with something he already knew.
“Indeed, there is Hashem in this place!” says Yaakov Avinu, “and I didn’t know it! … How awesome is this place…” Awe never comes
with knowledge. We are the people who stand in awe of Hashem because we know Him as unknowable. And this is the paradox: The
more we know we don’t understand, the more we can see Him, sense Him, and be in awe of Him. On the other hand, to have Him
figured out, to claim that, somehow, because we have and love His Torah we are the G-d experts, is to reduce Him. To claim to
understand anything about Him beyond what He tells us about Him is to avoid amazement.
Whatever we know about Hashem is so much less than what we don’t know about Him; we are in awe when we are firm about that and
we allow ourselves not to know, to be wowed! The moment we try to explain Him, we lose awe. And when we lose awe, we lose its vital
partner-- humility. We then become arrogant observers of His actions, immune to the transformative experience watching Him act can
be.
***********************
What has the world done with Covid 19? An epidemic spread across the world in a few short weeks, paralyzing world economies that
were thriving, turning bustling metropolitan areas into ghost towns, sending millions into isolation, grounding airliners, confounding
leaders who could not agree on what steps should be taken to reduce its spread, overwhelming hospitals, puzzling doctors on what
medications and methodologies to use as remedies, and, most unthinkable, closing movie theaters (and, in our world, unprecedented
shuttering of yeshivos and shuls and minyanim). What was humanity’s reaction to all this? A multi-billion dollar lunge to invent a
vaccine, lock-downs, mask wearing requirements, travel bans.
Was there wonder at a Power that could bring all this on without a bomb or a war or a cataclysmic natural event? Was there awe? Was
there humility? Unless I missed it, no one stopped long enough to admire a G-d that could pull this off so dramatically and effectively. A
humanity drunk on its own power and technological know-how resorted to whatever it already knew in reaction to the unknowable,
trying desperately to assert its control over that which would not allow itself to be controlled, and nothing changed. In our country, a
society already defined by alienation and pursuit of convenience seemed to disintegrate into anger, recrimination, riots, and an assault
on authority figures. No awe brought us together here.
If ever the world needed a clan modeling an awe-filled response to an act of G-d, it was during Covid 19. The nation delivered from
Egypt with the exclamation “Who is like You among the heavenly powers, Hashem! Who is like You, mighty in holiness, too awesome
for praise, Doer of wonders!”—that nation certainly possessed the traits called for when Hashem exposed Himself to humanity. Did we
rise to the occasion? Did the marvels of Covid lead to awe, and awe to humility, and humility to re-evaluation of our actions?
One kind of reaction, expressed early on, is uncannily misleading in this regard, and is an example of how elusive awe is. When the
overwhelming reach and impact of the pandemic began to be comprehended, some in our community strongly suggested that its
biblical proportions meant that i was coming. While rooted in a fundamental principle of emunah—Moshiach definitely is coming---and
is exciting and hopeful, such a reaction/prediction allows for no mystery or wonder. Before we try to interpret what Hashem is doing,
there exists the possibility of being awed that He is doing, because it is awesome and humbling and overwhelming and can only come
from Hashem. Amazement occurs when one confronts something too large to absorb and admires it without explaining it. For those
who were drawn to see Moshiach coming, the possibility of astonishment was trounced, replaced with an explanation. A nation skilled
in awe steers clear of explanations. Hashem is experienced most powerfully in the quiet, in the “still, small voice” that precedes
explanation and comprehension.
Another reason awe is avoided is because it calls for action on one’s part. When everything can be explained, it merely confirms what
we knew before the event, and supports complacency. Being in wonderment, observing without explaining, leaves me confronted with
something so huge it demands a change in my very being. When in awe, I tremble. When I understand, I relax.
Succos is a week devoted to celebrating hashgacha pratis, Divine Providence. Let us look at the schach and see clouds of glory,
clouds that defy understanding, clouds that, rather than cover Hashem’s presence, reveal Him in all His wonder. May Succos restore
us to the role we were chosen to model—a nation in awe of Hashem.

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As appeared in 12 Tishrei (Sukkos Issue) of Hamodia Prime

I write to plead the case for awe.

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