F3: Days of Awe

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Creating an atmosphere

- If you have access to a video, you could show a scary scene from a movie: first with the volume up and then with the volume turned down. Discuss why the music was so important in creating the atmosphere. You could make this even more dramatic by playing music at the same time that is highly inappropriate to the scene you are watching. (Imagine watching a high speed car chase from a film like Speed whilst listening to slow Gregorian chants...)

- Another way to achieve the same effect is to read out an excerpt from a book and ask your audience to describe in as much detail as possible the scene that they imagine. Make sure they appeal to all the senses. (What smell was there? What colours? What background music would they add?).

- A fun way to highlight the major role of atmosphere in creating a mood, is to ask for two volunteers from the audience. Give each one a piece of paper with a scene written on it (such as a trapped in a scary dungeon or a romantic evening out) and ask them to describe the scene, so that the audience can guess what it is that is written on the paper. The only thing is that they have to describe the most unlikely scene possible, using all different features that are totally inappropriate to the occasion.

- On the board write the names certain colours, and ask people to call out what emotions are associated with that colour, making sure to write down their responses. Try and discuss why it is that certain colours tend to evoke certain emotions.

Days of Awe

- After having defined the term awe or awesome (see earlier, you could act out the 2 scenes to make it clear), write the phrase “days of awe” in the middle of the board. Brainstorm as many different ways in which we try and create an atmosphere of Awe during the Days of Awe.

- See if you can get hold of a Shofar for the assembly. Whilst most will have heard the shofar, many will never have tried to blow it. In addition to: “who can blow the shofar loudest” competitions (always a favourite!), ask students to explain what types of emotions the sounds of the shofar evokes in them. Are their different emotions for different sounds? Why we do blow the shofar both on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?

The Black Plague on the White fast

This playlet is a series of statements that have been collected surrounding a true event that took place in Vilna in the mid 1800’s. As you can imagine, Rabbi Salanter’s decision caused quite an outcry and there was much soul searching and debate that followed his statement. Prior to the meeting, try and distribute copies of the play to potential actors, asking them to practice their parts tar the assembly. Once acted out, there are a series of points for discussion that arise. These could include discussing why people fast on Yom Kippur and asking members of the audience who have fasted to describe their own feelings whilst fasting. It is also important to get the audience to identify the values that are in conflict in the playlet. (Fasting versus saving life: the latter is called Pikuach Nefesh in Hebrew and these two values could be written up on the board). Discuss the difference between the two statements of Rabbi Salanter in the play and ask the audience whether or not they agree with both his decisions. This could be done by asking the audience to write out an imagined dialogue between members of the congregation following Rabbi Salanter’s two announcements.

Prayer

Yes, this is a biggie and very difficult to use in a programme. Yet it is an extremely central theme to the days of Awe and often can provoke lively and controversial debate.

- If you feel comfortable with the audience, ask them whether or not there have been any times in their lives when they have felt the need to pray. If there have, try and (gently) ask for a description of when this was and how they felt. If not, ask why not and try and elicit what people feel is the value of prayer.

- Another way of doing this is to write the following statement on the board and ask whether the audience agree or disagree: “Praying has nothing more then a psychotherapeutic effect on the prayer.” (It would be a good idea to explain first what A “psychotherapeutic effect is” - it can be compared to going and talking to a friend or psychologist. Sometimes the only effect of talking to someone is that you feel better after having spoken)

- Write the following word on the board “LEHITPALEL’ This is the Hebrew verb: “to pray’ What is interesting is that it is a reflexive verb (like se lever - to wash oneself, in French) and literally means to pray for oneself. This suggests that the purpose of prayer is designed to have an effect on the person that is praying rather then on the person to whom one is praying. This is a bit like the idea of Yom Kippur as a play designed to inspire awe). Discuss why the verb for prayer should be a reflexive verb.

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