Days of Awe

The flight of time, captured by Avi Nahum.

This morning the Weather Channel reporters were standing in the beautiful sunshine of the Florida coast with remnants of the hurricane named Milton scattered about in the background. It’s a far cry from the frenetic scenes last night as fully grown men, who should know better, were proving their balance skills in 60 mph winds being pelted by punishing rains. It appears right now that Milton was far less destructive to Florida than Helene was to Western North Carolina and that is truly something to be thankful for.

And that’s what this week has been – a time to reflect on the year past. To assess the damage of the year’s awful events while seeking salve of gratitude for those that were awesome.

We are in the midst of the period called the Days of Awe, and this week of hurricane images are somehow a perfect metaphor for the year that was. For those unfamiliar, the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a reflective period of time when many Jews assess all of the ways we can do a better job in our relationships with family and friends, in relationship to world events, and ultimately with God. The idea is to determine what our role is in repairing this world of ours.

This year, the word “awe” has taken on an expanded meaning for me. Those who’ve kept up know that there was a six month aw(e)ful period of painful waiting and recovery from hip replacement surgery, followed by an all too brief release back into the wild of driving and independence. Then whammo – an Achilles snap that threw me back into repair and recovery mode.

There were moments of awesome in all of that recovery. I know some awesome orthopedic surgeons and am ready with referrals if need be. I met some truly spunky octogenarians in one of The Homes who are great fun on outings. And learned an important lesson in how to ask for help when I truly need it.

Now I’ve moved back to physical independence and am even working with a trainer to regain lost strength and stamina. The human body is truly remarkable in its ability to heal from a range of health challenges - another of the awesome reflections of this week.

Planning and attending a 50-year class reunion also provided some awesome moments. It’s truly remarkable how comforting it is to pick up connections with classmates one hasn’t seen for 50 years as if we just had 5th period English. Even though none of us could remember the words to our high school fight song, we were able to pluck episodes of adolescent pranks out of the ether.  

We also demonstrated to ourselves that some relationships supersede time and difference. Yes, our class reflects the nation at large with widely divergent views of the state of the country. Some see the impending doom of our nation while others see hopeful progress in our country’s direction. Despite that, we all seemed to relish what we had in common rather than any differences in our thinking. And we could all agree that the world, the nation, our hometown has changed dramatically since we graduated in 1974.

When we walked out of high school, none of us imagined the power of the Internet to both connect and divide. Heck – we were still using typewriters so had no concept of a computer, much less the powerful handheld devices that have replaced the need for newspapers, radio, TV, cameras, letters, and even princess phones.

The pace of that technological change has been matched by cultural change that has replaced sheer ignorance with broadening acceptance. Today we would be much more sensitive to the weird kid in class who was probably struggling with undiagnosed and little understood autism. And our gay friends are living in a society and world that largely supports their right to loving relationships as they choose. For me, these are awesome and welcome changes.

In the aw(e)ful category of this year is everything that began with and resulted from October 7th in Israel. So much devastation and destruction beginning with a massacre of civilians, leading to revenge and ongoing vengeful war. Added to Russia’s acquisitive desires beginning with Ukraine and tribal battles in African nations, it’s hard to find my role in repair amidst these struggles for survival and/or dominance.

I do defend Israel’s right to exist as a free democratic society. And that includes defending itself from Hamas, Hezbollah, and those radical Islamic groups set on its destruction. I also weep for Palestinian families living under the rule of radical regimes that are so focused on Israel’s destruction that they ignore the very real needs of their people. This is one of those world issues that will require a full measure of prayer this season.

And that’s how these Days of Awe will end – in the company of my religious community in meditation and prayer as we prepare to launch from this period of reflection into the year 5785, set on doing those actions we humans can take to repair what’s broken.