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This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation » (First Edition)

Book cover image of This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation by Alan Lew

Authors: Alan Lew
ISBN-13: 9780316739085, ISBN-10: 0316739081
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Date Published: August 2003
Edition: First Edition

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Author Biography: Alan Lew

Book Synopsis

There are moments in life when one is caught utterly unprepared. Drawing on both his rabbinical training and his scholarship in Buddhism, Lew leads readers on a journey from confusion to clarity, from doubt to belief, as he opens a path to self-discovery that is accessible to readers of all faiths.

Publishers Weekly

Lew's exploration of the Days of Awe begins not with Rosh Hashanah-which is not featured until chapter six-but with Tisha B'Av and the month of Elul. These observances, Lew feels, set a tone of rigorous introspection in the Jewish calendar. He follows the story through Yom Kippur and Sukkot, drawing on Jewish tradition, his own experiences and a few Buddhist stories (Lew is a self-described "Zen rabbi") to take the reader on a journey of spiritual transformation-"from birth to death and back to renewal again." Lew is far more concerned with inner motivations and awareness than with external rituals, a refreshing and sometimes startling perspective. He is a perceptive thinker and a highly skilled writer, making this book a hard-hitting yet compassionate cry for spiritual renewal during the High Holy Days as well as the rest of the year. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents

1The Soul Stretches Out to Contain Itself: A Map of the Journey3
2Everywhere He Went, He Was Heading for Home: Teshuvah19
3I Turned, the Walls Came Down, and There I Was: Tisha B'av35
4The Horn Blew and I Began to Wake Up: Elul64
5This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: Selichot93
6The Horn Blows, the Gates Swing Open, and We Feel the Winds of Heaven: Rosh Hashanah113
7What the Soul Does While the Gates Are Still Open: The Ten Days of Teshuvah151
8The Soul Hears Its Name Being Called: Kol Nidre176
9Death and Yom Kippur Atone212
10The Gates Clang Shut: Neilah256
Epilogue: The Stars Are Shining on My Head: Sukkot263
Acknowledgments275

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