Rabbi Joseph Dweck
Why are the Days of Awe so Awesome?
Summary
The Days of Awe are a time when many Jews around the world are thinking about, in some capacity or another, their religious lives. Rabbi Joseph Dweck presents a beautiful exploration of the Days of Awe, namely what we call Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which literally mean “the new year.”
Rabbi Joseph Dweck
Rabbi Joseph Dweck is the Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community of the United Kingdom. Rabbi Dweck is American born and has lived in Los Angeles, California, and Brooklyn, New York. He studied in Jerusalem at Yeshiva Hazon Ovadia under the tutelage of former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef ZL. He also studied psychology and philosophy at Santa Monica College in California and received a BA in liberal studies from Excelsior College. Rabbi Dweck received his Semikha (rabbinic ordination) from Rabbi Ovadia Yosef under the auspices of the Sephardic Rabbinical College of Brooklyn, New York. He received a MA in Jewish Education from Middlesex University at the London School of Jewish Studies. Rabbi Dweck currently resides in London with his wife, Margalit, and five children.
Yes, absolutely they are. The Torah prompt us to do this, that we have a sense of what it means to be downtrodden, persecuted, and harmed, and that we should absolutely fight for that when we’re able to see it, when we see it, and are able to address it.
It’s a very good question, and it’s a terribly painful situation, and I’m sorry for that. I say, in that situation, it is where faith comes in, and I understand that others might not find that meaningful or valuable, but I say that it is where faith comes in for me because of this. There are certain things in our lives that we do not have control over. And one of the great elements of wisdom in life is to know the difference between what we can control and what we can’t. And when we cannot control, we give it to one who can. So I don’t deal with the plumbing in my house, because I know that I have zero knowledge or control over it, so I do that, I give it to a plumber. And in religious life, when we experience situations like that, Torah, we give it up to God, because it’s not in our hands to address, because we cannot control other people. It’s one of the things that we can’t control. And so we ask for guidance and help with it when it is not something that we can do on our own, in our own hands.
I wouldn’t say it’s only circumstantial, but it has a great deal to do with how it is we interpret, and what it means to us. There is a fantastic book by Eviatar Zerubavel called “Time Maps”, that I would suggest you read in relation to that question.