{"id":54195,"date":"2016-09-20T14:25:16","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T19:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=54195"},"modified":"2016-09-20T14:25:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T19:25:16","slug":"put-awe-back-awesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/put-awe-back-awesome\/","title":{"rendered":"Put Awe Back in Awesome"},"content":{"rendered":"

The home of the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven has been preserved and serves as a museum in Bonn, Germany.\u00a0 One historical gem in the museum is the piano upon which Beethoven composed most of his renowned works.\u00a0 The piano is estimated to be worth more than $50 million and is understandably roped off and out of the reach of the thousands of visitors who pass it by each day.<\/p>\n

A group of students from Vassar College was once visiting the Beethoven museum.\u00a0 Matthew Kelly tells the story\u00a0of how one of the students came to the room that held the pian and couldn\u2019t resist the temptation to ask a museum guard if she could play it for a moment.\u00a0 The guard allowed himself to be influenced by her generous tip and let the young woman beyond the ropes for a few moments.\u00a0 She sat at the famed piano and knocked out several bars of Moonlight Sonata.\u00a0 When she finished, her classmates applauded.<\/p>\n

As she stepped back through the ropes, the young woman asked the guard, \u201cI suppose over the years, all the great pianists that have come here have played the piano?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo, miss,\u201d the guard replied.\u00a0 \u201cIn fact, just two years ago I was standing in this very place when Ignacy Paderewski visited the museum.\u00a0 He was accompanied by the director of the museum and the international press, who had all come in the hope that he would play the piano.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he entered the room he stood over there, where your friends are standing and gazed at the piano in silent contemplation for almost fifteen minutes.\u00a0 The director of the museum then invited him to play the piano, but with tears welling in his eyes Paderewski declined, saying that he was not worthy even to touch it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Non-human mammals get what we call goosebumps, the constriction of skin surrounding hair follicles, when they feel threatened or attacked.\u00a0 Only human beings get goosebumps for a different feeling: awe.\u00a0 Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of greatness, of being exposed to that which is transcendent or extraordinary.\u00a0 Paderewski was in a room with Beethoven\u2019s piano and was frozen with awe.\u00a0 The young student saw the piano and thought it would be cool to casually play it.<\/p>\n

Researchers\u00a0believe that we are living in a time of awe deprivation.\u00a0 Technological advances have made things once thought impossible not only real, but normal, expected, even mundane and unimpressive.\u00a0 We FaceTime with people on the other side of the globe without another thought, we have search engines that access millions of pages of information in nanoseconds, we instinctively use global positioning satellites to find the quickest route and avoid traffic.\u00a0 The result of the speed with which breakthrough, change, and advance happens leaves us struggling to be impressed with anything.<\/p>\n

We have gone from calling everything \u201cawesome,\u201d to reacting to everything by saying (or thinking) \u201ceh.\u201d\u00a0 The byproducts of being awe-deprived are increased arrogance, decreased empathy, greater challenge to find meaning, and even failing health.<\/p>\n

A Wall Street Journal article<\/a> describes how current research shows that the capacity to feel awe makes people more empathetic, generous, kind, and humble.\u00a0 The actual feeling of awe and the experiences that inspire it make us healthier, improve our relationships, and give more meaning to our lives.\u00a0 The author writes, \u201cAwe is an emotional response to something vast, and it challenges and expands our way of seeing the world.\u00a0 It might be triggered by an encounter with nature, a religious experience, a concert or a political rally or sports event.\u00a0 We\u2019re not likely to find it on a treadmill at the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

She goes on to describe that some experienced awe at the birth of a child, others watching a meteor shower, others visiting the Pine Forest in California, and interestingly, others who found it awe-inspiring to work with homeless people and witness their resilience and kindness.\u00a0 Dr. Dacher Keltner from UC Berkeley found that feeling awe can help fight depression and can even help reduce inflammation in the body.\u00a0 Dr. Paul Piff from UC Irvine explained that \u201cawe minimizes our individual identity and attunes us to things bigger than ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have officially begun Elul and with it the countdown towards the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe.\u00a0 On Rosh Hashanah we will coronate God as King of the Universe and remind ourselves of His awesome omnipotence and omniscience.\u00a0 On Yom Kippur, we will be evaluated and judged to determine if we are fulfilling our role in His renewed kingdom and the purpose for which we were created.\u00a0 As described in U\u2019nesaneh Tokef, these days are in fact, norah v\u2019ayom<\/em>, they are simply and literally awesome.<\/p>\n

But we will only be moved by the awesomeness of these days if we still have the capacity for awe, reverence, and veneration. \u00a0If everything is so utterly unimpressive, uninspiring, and ordinary, these days will be ritualistic and ceremonial, empty and devoid of meaning and transformation.<\/p>\n

Rav Yitzchak Hutner z\u201dtl explains that Amalek is the archrival of the Jewish people because their philosophy is the very antithesis of ours. \u00a0When recounting Amalek\u2019s attack on the Jewish people, the Pasuk says, \u201cAsher karcha <\/em>baderech \u2013 they happened upon you.\u201d Amalek believes in mikreh<\/em>, in chance, randomness, and happenstance.\u00a0 They see nothing as chashuv<\/em>, nothing as significant, meaningful, or worthy of awe.\u00a0 As a result, Amalek\u2019s attitude is to denigrate, to knock down, to destroy, to be cynical, and sarcastic.\u00a0 Amalek mocks and makes fun, they look at something or someone others are in awe of and they seek to demolish, to degrade, to vilify.<\/p>\n

We, the Jewish people, are charged to live life with the opposite attitude and approach.\u00a0 Our mission is to live life with awe, to see ourselves as a small part of something much greater.\u00a0 Our charge is to see and create meaning and purpose, to lift up, to build, to admire, to revere, and to venerate that which is worthy and important in the world.<\/p>\n

Rav Hutner describes that the battle between the attitude of Amalek and the attitude of the Torah is the battle between what he calls the ko\u2019ach ha\u2019chillul<\/em> and the ko\u2019ach ha\u2019hillul<\/em>.\u00a0 The ko\u2019ach ha\u2019chillul<\/em>is the power of skepticism, the influence of that little voice inside each of us that, like Amalek, tries to get us to be cynical, to mock and belittle, rather than to respect and be filled with awe.\u00a0 Theko\u2019ach ha\u2019hillul<\/em> is the capacity to praise, honor, identify and admire the beauty and the greatness which is sometimes beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

Preparing for the Days of Awe includes working to defeat the Amalek inside us.\u00a0 It demands we weaken and eliminate the ko\u2019ach ha\u2019chillul<\/em>, our tendency or inclination towards cynicism and skepticism, and strengthen and build up our capacity for ko\u2019ach ha\u2019hillul<\/em>: to see that which is impressive, remarkable and praiseworthy in people, places, and things all around us.<\/p>\n

Awe is not only the result of being in the presence of, or exposed to, something worthy of awe.\u00a0 Awe results from an openness, willingness, and interest to see greatness and be moved by it.\u00a0 My brother Judah pointed out to me that when Yaakov Avinu first encounters Har HaMoriah he is unmoved and in fact goes to sleep.\u00a0 Only after his dream and epiphany does he awaken with a sense of \u201cMah norah ha\u2019makom ha\u2019zeh<\/em>, how awesome is this place?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Even a great person like Yaakov could encounter the holiest place in the world and at first find no meaning in it.\u00a0 Only with new insight and a changed attitude did he see beyond the ordinary stones and identify the place for what it truly was: norah<\/em>, awesome.<\/p>\n

The WSJ article suggests that to preserve and expand our capacity for awe, we must make an effort to have three awe experiences a week.\u00a0 This Elul, look at something, study something, contemplate something, admire someone, experience something that makes you feel \u201cWow! That is awesome.\u201d \u201cThat is incredible.\u201d \u201cThat is humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, \u201cThere are only two ways to live your life.\u00a0 One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle.\u201d\u00a0 As we prepare for the Days of Awe, let\u2019s choose to see everything as a miracle and be filled with awe as a result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The home of the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven has been preserved and serves as a museum in Bonn, Germany.\u00a0 One historical gem in the museum is the piano upon which Beethoven composed most of his renowned works.\u00a0 The piano is estimated to be worth more than $50 million and is understandably roped off and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":733,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-torah"],"yoast_head":"\nPut Awe Back in Awesome - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/put-awe-back-awesome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Put Awe Back in Awesome - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The home of the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven has been preserved and serves as a museum in Bonn, Germany.\u00a0 One historical gem in the museum is the piano upon which Beethoven composed most of his renowned works.\u00a0 The piano is estimated to be worth more than $50 million and is understandably roped off and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/put-awe-back-awesome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-20T19:25:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/put-awe-back-awesome\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/put-awe-back-awesome\/\",\"name\":\"Put Awe Back in Awesome - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-20T19:25:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f7905021c0f2a6e200f7cce16e4710\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/put-awe-back-awesome\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f7905021c0f2a6e200f7cce16e4710\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Efrem-Goldberg_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Efrem-Goldberg_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\"},\"description\":\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg is the Senior Rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS), a rapidly-growing congregation of over 650 families and over 1,000 children in Boca Raton, Florida. 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