National Jewish Fellowship

The elderly, Jewish Los Angelino glared at me with his fiery eyes. This recently past president of the local B’nai B’rith chapter stood trembling with rage before me as sweat beads formed on his reddened bald head and upper lip. The words flew out of his tightly coin shaped mouth, “Look, I believe in Jesus and speak in tongues and all that stuff. But if I get baptized, I’ll be a Christian.”

As prayerful prelude to the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the modern Jewish religious calendar calls for 10 Days of Awe, a sobering season of spiritual introspection and repentance, in preparation for the new religious year. The Days of Awe officially begin with the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah, and conclude 10 days later with the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. These Holy Days come in September or October in keeping with the Hebrew Bible’s lunar calendar.