Days of Awe

Compiled by one of the greatest Hebrew writers of the 20th century and first published in 1948,Days of Aweis the long-acknowledged classic companion to the High Holy Days prayer book. Here in one volume are readings and meditations from the Bible, the Talmud, the Midrash, and the Zohar, to deepen the spiritual experience of the holiest days of the Jewish year.

SHMUEL YOSEF AGNON was a Nobel Prize laureate writer and was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew fiction. Agnon was born in Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (today Ukraine). He later immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, and died in Jerusalem, Israel. His works deal with the conflict between the traditional Jewish life and language and the modern world. They also attempt to recapture the fading traditions of the European shtetl. In a wider context, he contributed to broadening the characteristic conception of the narrator's role in literature. Agnon shared the Nobel Prize with the poet Nelly Sachs in 1966.

FOREWORD BY Arthur Green • vii
INTRODUCTION BY Judah Goldin • xix
PREFACE: The Argument of the Work • xliii
 
BOOK ONE: ROSH HA-SHANAH 
I. The Motive of Rosh ha-Shanah • 11
II. Elul: A Month of Preparation • 16
III. The Sabbath before Rosh ha-Shanah • 26
IV. Selihot: Penitential Prayers • 30
V. The Eve of Rosh ha-Shanah: “Remember the Covenant: • 38
VI. The Evening and Its Service • 48
VII. The Morning and Its Service • 56
VIII. The Blast of the Ram’s-Horn • 64
IX. The Additional Prayer: Kingships, Remembrances, Ram’s-Horns • 81
X. The Afternoon: The Casting • 92
XI. The Second Day of Rosh ha-Shanah • 100
 
BOOK TWO: THE DAYS BETWEEN ROSH HA-SHANAH AND YOM KIPPUR
I. Seek Ye the Lord • 109
II. The Laws and Customs of the Ten Days of Teshuvah • 122
III. The Fast of Gedaliah • 130
IV. The Sabbath of Return • 130
V. The Thirteen Qualities • 141
VI. The Eve of Yom Kippur • 147
VII. The Afternoon Prayer for the Eve of Yom Kippur • 165
VIII. The Final Preparations for Yom Kippur • 167

BOOK THREE: YOM KIPPUR
I. The Significance of the Day • 183
II. Restriction • 190
III. Before Kol Nidre • 203
IV. Kol Nidre and the Night of Yom Kippur • 210
V. The Gates of Compassion • 225
Vi. The Morning Service and the Memorial Prayer • 237
VII. The Additional Prayer: The Service of the High Priest • 237
VIII. The Afternoon Prayer • 261
IX. Neilah: The Closing of the Gates • 265
X. ‘Hear O Israel’ and the Final Blast • 267
XI. The Close of Yom Kippur • 272
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY • 281
PUBLISHER’S NOTE • 296