This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation

by Lew, Alan

• ISBN13: 9780316739085
• ISBN10: 0316739081
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-08-27
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Summary

There are times in life when we are caught utterly unprepared: a death in the family, the end of a relationship, a health crisis. These are the times when the solid ground we thought we stood on disappears beneath our feet, leaving us reeling and heartbroken as we stumble back to our faith. Viewed broadly, the Days of Awe encompass the weeks preceding Rosh Hashanah as well as the days leading up to Yom Kippur. They are a period during which Jews take part in a series of rituals and prayers that reenact the soul's journey through the world from birth to death. This is a time of contemplation and repentance, comparable to Lent and Ramadan. Yet for Rabbi Alan Lew, the real purpose of this annual passage is for us to experience brokenheartedness and open our hearts to God. In This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared, Lew has marked out a journey of seven distinct stages, one that draws on these rituals to awaken the soul and wholly transform us. Weaving together Torah readings, Buddhist parables, Jewish fables, and stories from his own life, Lew lays bare the meanings of this ancient Jewish passage. He reveals the path from terror to acceptance, confusion to clarity, doubt to belief, and from complacency to awe. In the tradition of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared invites believers of all faiths to reconnect to their faith with a passion and intimacy that will resonate throughout the year. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Rabbi Alan Lew has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco since 1991. He is the author of One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi, which won the PEN Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence, and numerous works of poetry

Table of Contents

The Soul Stretches Out to Contain Itself: A Map of the Journey	p. 3
Everywhere He Went, He Was Heading for Home: Teshuvah	p. 19
I Turned, the Walls Came Down, and There I Was: Tisha B'av	p. 35
The Horn Blew and I Began to Wake Up: Elul	p. 64
This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: Selichot	p. 93
The Horn Blows, the Gates Swing Open, and We Feel the Winds of Heaven: Rosh Hashanah	p. 113
What the Soul Does While the Gates Are Still Open: The Ten Days of Teshuvah	p. 151
The Soul Hears Its Name Being Called: Kol Nidre	p. 176
Death and Yom Kippur Atone	p. 212
The Gates Clang Shut: Neilah	p. 256
Epilogue: The Stars Are Shining on My Head: Sukkot	p. 263
Acknowledgments	p. 275
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