Way 5: The Power of Awe – Breaking Through Laziness and Pettiness

You are listening to Rabbi Arya Wudi, Director of Torch, the Torah Outreach Resource Center

of Houston.

This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

We now resume way number five of the 48 ways, and way number five is with awe, be aimah.

So what does awe mean to you?

How is awe different from fear?

Many times people confuse the two, and we'll talk about fear in the next way.

But in way number five, awe is when someone lives on an elevated plane.

Let's explain.

So if you were to take Hashem's unlimited power, the waves of the ocean, the winds of

a twister, the galaxies, the shooting stars, the human body, look at the fruits and

vegetables, you're an awe, wow, it's incredible.

Life is so incredible, and we need to seek those wows of life.

That's awe, when you're blown away by the majesty of the Almighty, by His greatness.

The noun awe is a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear and wonder.

But the awesomeness of life is without end.

Aw can break through laziness and ruts.

When you're an awe, you're on an elevated plane, you can just break through anything.

You're like, wow, it's incredible.

Just to put it into perspective, have you ever stood by a sefra Torah and by a Torah

scroll, and you're like, wow, it's just like, and you feel a little elevated when you

leave, when you stay, when you take a step away, I can accomplish more.

I believe in myself more than I believed before.

It unleashes the potential and locked up energies that are within us.

It's a human tendency to be petty.

Aw, pulls us up and out of it.

The reality of this world is that there is nothing mundane.

Life has the potential to be one thrill after another, if we understand the power of every

single moment.

We have unbelievable power, unbelievable potential.

You look at the world, we look at a sunset, and it's like, aw, it's like, wow, it's

incredible.

Living with this awe helps maximize our life, and that's why the mission lists it as

the fifth item.

We set the learn, we set the listen, we set the speak things out, and we set the put

things into our heart, put them into action.

But now we're going to be talking about awe, about putting it into action is not enough.

Now it's the way in which we see the world.

We can live every single day with awe, that means we don't have depression, that means

we don't have challenges, of course we have ups and downs, of course we have days that

are great days and days that are not such great days.

But when we have awe, we're able to just blaze right through it.

We need to concretize awesome experiences so you can recall them at any time.

We have a great event with your family, take that in, soak it up, make it something special

in your memory, so you can bring it back and smile when you're having a rough day.

Bring it back, awe is what mankind is capable of, awe of the enormous responsibility of

being a link in the chain of Judaism, think for a second, awe of what mankind is capable

of.

I mean, think of it, I watched the SpaceX launching a rocket to space, sending five astronauts

on a private mission to the space station.

I mean, and then landing back the booster rocket, landing it back on a floating platform

on the ocean, in the ocean, I mean, this is remarkable that human beings can be so productive

that can do such incredible things with the world that God gave us.

And then think even more, think of the enormous responsibility of being a link in the chain

of Judaism, that Moses, and Aaron, and Joshua, and all of the great sages, we're a link

in that chain, feel a sense of awe, awe is also the result of seeing potential actualized.

When you work on a writing a book, when you work on a project and you see that potential

being actualized, it's amazing.

You know, they say that Rev. Boruch bear one of the leading scholars of Eastern Europe,

pre-Hallacost, once met the New York City mayor, and the mayor after meeting this great

sage who was visiting the United States to raise funds for his Yashiva.

The mayor said, now I believe that man was created by God.

He says, till now I was believed in evolution, but after seeing this great sage, he was in such

awe, he says, such a thing can come from evolution. This is a God creation. That's what we need to

each aspire to be. To be a person who's really great. See the power and the pleasure of understanding

truth. You are in touch with the awe of wisdom. Step outside under the stars, and it'll put

you right on track. awe is important in order to gain perspective. When you meet someone

of true, an honorable, bold person, someone who's a respected person, you get a sense of awe.

I remember this clearly, learning with my rabbi of blessed memory, Rev. Barrel Eisenstein.

Every time I got up from learning with him, I felt like I was learning with an angel.

Someone who was so perfect in his character traits. Someone who was so righteous and so loving

and so knowledgeable and so spiritual. I was in awe. I remember every time I got up, I felt like I was

on a cloud. Remember the awe we have we mentioned previously for the Torah scroll. A rabbi, a sage,

is a living Torah scroll as well. The same power to do, evil can do good. If it can destroy,

it can build. It's remarkable that this podcast is being recorded on Yom Hasha'a on Holocaust

Remembrance Day. Rough Shach of Blessed Memory told Rev. Weinberg the following statement.

He said, if one person can murder six million, one person can also bring six million to life.

And this is the charge, the mission of torch and organizations like torch.

That our goal is to bring Judaism to life in people's experience and people's lives

to transform their lives. That's what we're here for. We're here to assist every Jew who's interested

in learning, in growing, to have the avenue, to have the platform to learn and grow. Alfred Nobel

created the Nobel Peace Prize to correct his ways for discovering dynamite which destroyed and

killed people. He said, I need to do good and he created the Nobel Peace Prize. You see that Isaac

loved his son Asaf. Why? Because he was in awe of his potential for good, even though he didn't

use the potential for good. He used the potential that he had for no good, but Isaac saw that good

that was capable to come out of him. Now, we know that laughter is important, comedy is important,

but in excess it isn't healthy. Because you lose a sense of awe for Hashem and what is important

in life. If you spend five minutes a day contemplating the awesomeness of this world, your life will

change forever. You've been listening to the Jewish Inspiration Podcast, a torch production.

Become a supporter at torchweb.org because your assistance enables more Torah learning around the

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