Stardust, light and awe

“We come from the universe. We are intrinsically part of the earth. That’s our origin story. Once we know it—know it in our bones—our only course of action is to strive like hell to be worthy of it.” Tom Krattenmaker, The Humanist 

As we approach the Days of Awe, the time for introspection between the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I am thinking about the awe-inspiring experience of looking up at the uncountable stars in the night sky. In this vast expanse, what is my place, my role as a human on one of the billions of planets in the solar system? To find an answer, I turn to science and to Jewish mysticism.

The science: “Ever look up at night and feel small? Don’t. Instead feel large. Atoms in our bodies trace to the remnants of exploded stars. We are stardust. We are alive in the universe. And the universe is alive within us,” says astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Astronomer Carl Sagan states something similar, “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself."

And in a May 2025 article in “Science News Today,” author Muhammad Tuhin enumerates the elements in the human body (oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus) and writes,  “Each of these elements has a cosmic origin. Each was created in a star. Each passed through supernovae or stellar winds before becoming part of a molecular cloud, then a planet, and eventually—you. You are, quite literally, made from the dust of stars.”

The mysticism:

Reading these quotes, I was struck by the uncanny parallel between the words of modern-day scientists and the origin story told by 16^th century Jewish Kabbalists. As author Howard Schwartz explains the myth, “At the beginning of time, God’s presence filled the universe. When God decided to bring this world into being, to make room for creation, He first drew in His breath, contracting Himself. From that contraction darkness was created. And when God said, ‘Let there be light’ (Gen. 1:3), the light that came into being filled the darkness, and ten holy vessels came forth, each filled with primordial light. In this way God sent forth those ten vessels, like a fleet of ships, each carrying its cargo of light. Had they all arrived intact, the world would have been perfect. But the vessels were too fragile to contain such a powerful, divine light. They broke open, split asunder, and all the holy sparks were scattered like sand, like seeds, like stars…. That is why we were created — to gather the sparks, no matter where they are hidden.”

So, according to my sources, we are composed of the stuff of stars and of divine light. For me, the image fits perfectly with this season of the Jewish High Holy Days. At Rosh Hashanah, we recite the prayer, Ha-Yom Harat Olam (today is the day of the world's creation). And the meaning of the Days of Awe is teshuvah (returning.) Returning to what? The Jewish sages taught that the essence of each person is her soul. How better to return to our pure nature than by seeking the sparks of light, the stardust in ourselves and others, no matter how deeply they appear to be hidden?

My Mussar practice for this month is to be curious about the vastness of the universe and our place in it; to judge even those with whom I disagree on the side of merit; and to honor myself and others by searching for and reflecting the stardust and the light.

Happy New Year! May your light shine bright.