He writes: "Ultimate meaning and ultimate wisdom are not found within the world but in God, and the only way to wisdom is, as said above, through our relationship to God.  That relationship is awe.  Awe, is this sense, is more than an emotion; it is a way of understanding.  Awe is itself an act of insight into a meaning greater than ourselves...The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe."

Who has not had a moment of awe before a towering mountain, the swells of the ocean, the smile of a grandchild, or the love of another?  These are times when thought ceases and we intuit that there is more than the schedule of our days, the chores of our home, and the work of the office.  Awe, for Heschel, is the gateway to the divine and the beginning of wisdom.  With awe and wisdom our sacred teachings come to life and teach us that there is meaning to our days and that there is something greater than ourselves.

Heschel continues: "The meaning of awe is to realize that life takes place under wide horizons, horizons that range beyond the span of an individual life or even the life of a nation, a generation, or an era.  Awe enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine, to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple; to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal."

Heschel’s words "to feel the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal" is poetic and alluring.  Even though time goes by, way, way too fast there is an oasis to be experienced anywhere and at any instance.  This sacred respite gives us a glimpse of eternity and even allows us to sense the holiness even in ordinary moments.  Heschel’s words appear to invite us to open our minds, to sense the breath of our Neshamot (our souls), and to understand we are part of the glory of creation with sparks of God everywhere to be discovered. If the years go by too fast, perhaps there are still seconds if not minutes, that we can move doors rusted with too many burdens and fears. We can push them open if only to glimpse at the stillness and beauty of life and of God.  With openness to the possibilities beyond our senses, we begin to experience awe and with awe comes wisdom and with wisdom comes God.

And so let us pray for many awe inspiring moments, for wisdom, for meaning and holiness.