The folliowing is the first of three journal entries previewing this weekend’s Shabbatapalooza activities…

Dear Hevreh,

The other day during a break in the action of a local hockey game, I mentioned to our esteemed Executive Director Elliot Rubin that no matter what we do at the shul to “jazz” up services, nothing can beat the awe, the drama, the magnitude of a major sporting event. I mean, have you ever heard the deafening sound of a horn blown at a hockey game? It can’t even compare.

Since then I’ve been thinking about the ways in which our senses are overwhelmed, enraptured, and awed by our experiences. And then I came across this video from the very interesting, modern philosopher Jason Silva. In it he describes the “ontological awakening” caused by viewing pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope. Viewing something so breathtaking as the Deep Field forces us to expand our own minds to comprehend something which is far bigger than we could ever imagine. Or in Silva’s (quoted) words: “Gazing upon the Deep Field allows us to mainline the whole of time through the optic nerve; to fit something so impossibly large into something impossibly small.”

We are unique creatures that crave and yearn experiences in which we feel apart of things much bigger than ourselves and yet, with our singular ability to comprehend the world around us, we can feel uplifted as if we contain that which is bigger within us. That is the essence of having an awesome experience — to be surrounded by something so incredibly amazing and to feel like lt is apart of us.

Throughout history, religious experience has tried to help people experience those feelings, especially through prayer. While we may not have the thousands of bells and whistles at a hockey game, we have thousands of years old traditions that have tried to make us feel awed every single moment of the day. So let’s be awestruck by our tradition this weekend, and join us for Shabbatapalooza: What an Awesome weekend it will be.

Kol Tuv,

Rabbi Ari Saks

Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat Shabbatapalooza
Tag : awe rabbi rabbi's journal Shabbatapalooza shots of awe