Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days by S.Y. Agnon


Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days
Title : Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0805210482
ISBN-10 : 9780805210484
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 296
Publication : First published January 1, 1948

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."


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


  • Ari

    Modern classic. Nobel Prize for Literature author S.Y.Agnon pulls from over 300 texts to create this compilation of stories, traditions, and teachings regarding Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the days in between. I actually learned a lot from this. Agnon has a way of combining teachings to spin a few things in ways I hadn't put together before. Worth the technical and dated language to get the full effect.

  • rivka

    Read from the beginning to page 38; and from page 183 to 193. Maybe we'll go back to it next year.

  • Alex

    This is an incredible sourcebook for Jewish texts relating to the high holidays in English; it KILLS me that there isn't an index.

  • Martin

    This didn't fully blow my mind, but fully kept my attention during the Yom Kippur gaps and Cantoric torture.

    I would have wanted more parables and tales from the masters, but absent that, at least the book is incredibly thorough, front to back, missing exposition on nothing.

    And it was inspiring too, in both the Return sense, and in realizing what kind of dedication it took to put this together.

  • Bill Dauster

    A splendid anthology collecting the most illuminating sources on the High Holidays.

  • Yeedle

    This is a very interesting book, coming from Agnon. You would expect to find some extraordinary insight into the Days of Awe, but all it is is a collection of laws, customs and stories.

  • Patrick

    A rich compendium of traditions, anecdotes, and lore. Perfect to stick in your tallit bag and peruse when you have a few quiet minutes to reflect on the swirl of High Holy Day activities.

  • Mills College Library

    296.431 Y199 1995