As we all know, the High Holidays are right around the corner. Is there a similarity between the Days of Awe and a profound work of  theater? 

    Obviously, the themes of the High Holidays are deep and profound, and I do not mean to say that there is any kind of equality between the importance of the High Holidays and a great work of theater, but I do believe that, in many ways, there are similarities. In both a great piece of theater and in the High Holiday service, one must allow one's self to be engulfed by the experience. One must confront the message, and allow one's self to go beyond the ego and merge with one's surroundings.  In essence, one leaves one's consciousness for a greater, more sublime consciousness. 

   A great play must provide a catharsis for the viewer, just as the High Holidays do. Both strike at the audience or congregation on an emotional level, and both make us contemplate great moral and human questions. Both are filled with pathos and can make us run the gamut of human feeling, from fear to love to anger to happiness. 

    The great difference--the High Holidays are interactive theater.  In order to attain the catharsis, we must be as much of a part of the action as the "players", which in most cases means the rabbi and the cantor. If we are able to achieve that, then the catharsis will be a lasting one.

    The best part--the show never closes.  It just takes a year long hiatus.