Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days

This is a remarkable collection of commentaries on the High Holy Days and the month of Elul leading up to them . Agnon acts as a Talmid Chachim ( a wise scholar) and as a master creator of literature in putting these commentaries, stories , insights together. The reading of this work makes reading a religious act. The work could not be more highly recommended.

For those curious about the Jewish High Holy Days, this book is indispensable. Agnon, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966, is considered by many to be the greatest Hebrew writer of the 20th century (and for some, of all time). Although this is a non-fiction work, Agnon was known primarily for his writing of fiction. The subtitle of the book, "Being a treasury of traditions, legends and learned commentaries concerning Rosh Ha-Shanah, Yom Kippur and the days between culled from three hundred volumes ancient and new" aptly describes the scope of the work. Although the book is a collection of material from many sources, it reads as if it were written by one person (Agnon notes that he did modify the style of various passages to make them more palatable). The translation is superb and a major achievement. I usually re-read the book during the High Holy Days and get much more out of it than with the Machzor (the holiday prayer book). One note of caution. If you are not at all familiar with this holiday, I would suggest starting with a more basic work on Judaism.