OU TORAH Sukkot: From Fear to Festivities Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

Fear and trembling. Those have been our primary religious emotions during the past several weeks. Although Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are referred to nowadays as the High Holidays, traditionally they were known as the Days of Awe, Yamim Noraim. Frightful days, fearful days. During this recent time none of us escaped a sense of insecurity. Recognizing that these days are days of divine judgment, we could not help but wonder as to how we were being judged. We felt vulnerable, insecure, and anxious about what the coming year has in store for us. And this was as it should be. After all, the central theme of the prayers has been fear and trembling. We actually have asked of the Almighty that he “cast His fear over all of His handiwork, and His awe over all of His creatures.”