The devotional attitude associated with the word 'avodah [humility or modesty] is not an easy one for us today. Nothing is more precious to us than our independence, or at least our illusion that we are free to choose the course of our own lives. We are, of course, more free to choose than were previous generations. But 'avodah demands submission. It calls forth the self that recognizes its own mortality, its own limited ability to foresee and determine its future. From behind our modern veneer this self may still call out: "I am the servant of the blessed Holy One; before God and God's teaching I bow at all time."

Arthur Green, These Are the Words