You don’t have to know the words wrapped up in that scroll. We see the cracks within. Bounce off the walls and onto the street. _Let the celebrations begin in all the synagogues of the world because it is Simchat Torah Day. Go nuts. On Shavuot we spend the entire night studying. Tishrei 23, 5782. Go nuts.”. Divine work to be treated solemnly, with respect and awe. Please enable Cookies and reload the page. See more ideas about simchat torah, torah, sukkot. Haftarah. Really? In many places, they dance with them through the streets. No, it’s not the Jew that’s cracked. For discussing. Cool down the coals and the flame disappears back to the place where all fire hides. Sometimes I can’t help but to stand back to watch the singing, the dancing and the celebration, and wonder, “What are we happy about? You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Here are 5 ways in which you can make your Sukkot & Simchat Torah on Zoom more uplifting and engaging: 1) Spotlighting with the Torah: Send young families a surprise plush Torah in the mail or encourage families to craft their own Torah using materials from around the home. Simchat Torah. This holiday marks the completion of the annual cycle of weekly Torah readings. Simchat Torah is given a curious description in Torah: “On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you… it is a holding back (atzeret)” (Leviticus 23:36).What in the world is a “holding back?” The Midrash explains: God says to Israel, “I hold you back unto Me.” It is as a king who invites his children to a feast for a number of days. The shtiebel becomes a “house of worship,” the chazan becomes a cantor, Yom Tov davening becomes “The Festival Service,” and we just sit there watching, obeying commands to rise and be seated, sitting quietly through the rabbi’s sermon. _Let us welcome the beginning of a new cycle of Torah readings on Simchat Torah Day. So I am turning to my menu and bringing a little more Torah onto our plates, starting with this adorable Torah scroll challah shape, you can find here the how-to … I can ignore the aesthetics; if the chairs are in the way, or the women’s section feels too small, I can work around all that. Really, tell me if this is normative behavior: Once a year, Jews take out all the Torah scrolls in their places of worship and dance with them. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. Do you work on Simchat Torah? Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah is ambiguous holiday. It’s the festival that is notoriously dull for women. “And on the eighth day, you shall assemble and no manner of work shall you do (Numbers 29:35)”. 1 and working our way around to Deuteronomy 34. Through those cracks we see the light. Return of the Jodi: 365+ Movies with Jodi Berman Kustanovich. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. Our tradition, in its infinite wisdom, made this day a celebration of the Torah. Scrolls are books. Throughout the year when we perform Mitzvot, we are not even aware that we generate a spiritual forcefield that envelops us. All madness is lost, love gives way to reason, and the marriage is on the rocks. “There is a crack in everything,” sung Leonard Cohen, the Jewish bard of Montreal. We Don’t Have Adequate Tools to Combat Domestic Terrorism. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Messages for Simchat Torah. When the former Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died in 2013, there were some on the left who regarded her passing as a moment for celebration. We need to make the entire year a wild and joyous year of Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah marks the completion of these annual Torah readings. And most of all, Simchat Torah is certainly not normal. Simchat Torah means “the joy of the Torah.” It celebrates the completion and restarting of the Torah learning cycle. When the Jew ceases to see beyond the black ink on parchment; when the Jew no longer feels a living covenant and an eternal bond with the infinite; when the Jew finds only curious legends, quaint stories and archaic laws, and dissects the Torah as though it were the frozen cadaver of some Ice-Age creature; then God is lost in translation, and the Jew is lost in a sea of oakwood pews. Why should the souvenirs of your Jewishness be solemnity, self-searching, starvation and proper decorum? This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day” (Leviticus 23:36 NLT). September 29, 2021. For detailed holiday how-tos, visit our expanded Simchat Torah section. So too, you and your God are one, and the Torah is the marriage that binds you and has bound you for the journeys of 3,300 years. We need to dance with a book. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. On Passover night we ask, “Why is tonight different than every other night?” — just because we’re crunching on flat bread and dipping a veggie in salt water. And if you do, you don’t need to know whether you agree with them or not. Is this reason or madness? “Grab a Torah and dance your heart out. During the morning service of Simchat Torah, worshipers read the last parasha of the year in Deuteronomy. So let us dance with God Himself before we return our souls to Him.”. Bounce off the walls and onto the street. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. Embrace fellow Jews you never saw before, jump and twirl with them in celebration of … what were we celebrating again? The first reading for Simchat Torah is taken from the very end of the Torah. Holy scrolls. See more ideas about simchat torah, torah, sukkot. There was one boy who sprang up and shouted: “Brothers! This is a Jew: Someone who dances with God’s book. No sin or transgression can weaken this bond; on the contrary, it was the breaking of the First Tablets that uncovered its power and invincibility. In the evening, the yearly cycle begins again with the first reading from Genesis. The people are literally bouncing off the walls. Like in the gas chamber of Auschwitz, where a group of young yeshiva boys, stripped of their clothes, knew full well what was coming next. And neither are the Jewish people. If it’s going to be only one day a year, make it the most joyous day. It goes further. Why? We need to dance our way to the liberation of our souls. The Simchat Torah festivities begin with the evening service. “This special day is typically celebrated by spirited dancing with the Torah, which is something that seems impossible to replicate this year while maintaining proper safeguards,” the document reads. For that is a Jew: One who embraces the Author within the book, the Teacher within the teaching, God within a scroll. This is the Torah of the Second Tablets, the Torah we celebrate on Simchat Torah. Click here to find one near you. • The highlight of the second day, Simchat Torah (“The Joy of the Torah”), is the hakafot, held on both the eve and the morning of Simchat Torah, in which we march and dance with the Torah scrolls around the reading table in the synagogue. On Simchat Torah, we read the last Torah portion, then proceed immediately to the first chapter of Genesis, reminding us that the Torah is … We dance with Him in the synagogues and in the streets. The eight day is called Simchat Torah, “The Joy of Torah.” It is a day to celebrate our love for the Torah. “Let us, therefore, work together as a community of parents to do all we can to make this year’s Simchat Torah celebration truly meaningful, safe and alcohol and drug free for our teenagers.” read more: Is this normal?”. Marc Lessman on Creating Jewish Virtual Detective Show ‘Oy, Gevalt!’, Author Highlights the Horrors – and Hope – in the Spanish Inquisition in New Novel, Violins of Hope Debuts Virtual Musical and Theatrical Performances, ‘Oslo’ Drama Underway from Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt, ‘Valley of Tears’ Tells Harrowing Stories of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Sophia Loren Plays a Holocaust Survivor in ‘The Life Ahead’. But dancing? Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. Simchat Torah begins in Israel tonight, a day before it starts in the Diaspora. The plain and simple fact that, hey, you’re a Jew and there’s no stopping you! The OU also advises Jews not to dance during Simchat Torah (Oct. 10-11). “You don’t have to know the words wrapped up in that scroll. Everyone receives an aliyah on Simchat Torah, even the children. The hakafot are an event not to be missed. Remember who and or what the Torah is? It all takes place in a karate dojo on Pico Boulevard. The student government at California State University Northridge (CSUN) unanimously passed a resolution adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism on... Jewish Journal Wins 5 AJPA Awards Including Best Weekly Newspaper, Jewish Journal Wins 5 AJPA Awards Including Best Weekly Newspaper ⭐, People Still Won’t Wear Masks and It’s Madness, The Anti-Zionist Glee at Sheldon Adelson’s Death, CSUN Student Government Adopts IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism, Finally, a Persian Version of “Goodnight Moon”, Complete Nuremberg Trials Recordings Online For the First Time, Top Biden Nominee Says She Erred in Inviting Anti-Semite to Speak While In College. If you have been invited to friends or family for dinner, please confirm what time to meet. On the one hand, it is the completion of Sukkot and thus called “the 8th day.” Yet the rabbis also identify it as a regel bifnei atzmo – its own independent holiday. Police brace for virus rule violations at ultra-Orthodox Simchat Torah events ... TOI Community Times of Israel Community — if the work we do is important to you, join us! At a Chassidic minyan where I regularly hang out and sometimes teach, it’s Simchat Torah on every Shabbat and Yom Tov of the year. • Rabbi Tzvi Freeman is senior editor at Chabad.org and teaches at West Coast Rabbinical Seminary and The Happy Minyan. Grab a Torah and dance your heart out. We need to change the way we pray, the way we teach our children, and the way we meet with our Beloved Above. The Joyful Celebration of the Torah The Torah adds one additional day (the 8 th day of Assembly) in which the Jewish people are to gather once more and rejoice after the celebration of Sukkot draws to a close. Torah Reading. Sep 17, 2019 - Explore Ellen Dietrick's board "Simchat Torah", followed by 173 people on Pinterest. “Why should the souvenirs of your Jewishness be solemnity, self-searching, starvation and proper decorum? “We do not have clothes to cover us, nor a Torah scroll with which to dance. How dare Jews dance with the divine! Let it be circles of joy and explosions of song and dance. Simchat Torah is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Today is the holiday of Simchat Torah. The final portion of Deuteronomy is … Simchat Torah (literally "Rejoicing of the Torah") immediately follows the week-long Sukkot festival. You shall do no laborious work. Simchat Torah, observed on the last day of Sukkot, is the Jewish holiday of rejoicing with the Torah. *NOTE: The Simchat Torah festivities can last many hours. The hakafot are done twice, on the night and morning of Simchat Torah, and in some communities also on the night of Shemini Atzeret. Before we die, let us celebrate Simchat Torah one last time.”, “We do not possess anything,” the boy continued. It is our birthright, this Torah, and as long as we can dance the birthright dance, the Torah will remember us. I’m serious. Your IP: 209.124.66.14 Sometimes the light gleams its brightest in the darkest bowels of hell. Bring your family, your children, your friends for Simchat Torah. Joshua 1:1 - 1:18. These intermediate days on which work is permitted are referred to as Chol Ha-Mo’ed, as are the intermediate days of Passover. Pandemic Times Episode 117: Can The Hebrew Letters Change Our Lives? Fire may also be transferred or carried if there is a great need. And it’s a heck of a lot of fun. “That’s how the light gets in.”. In the Diaspora, where we observe two days of Yom Tov, Simchat Torah … Please, fellow Jews, let us go beyond Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Oh yes! Which is a good thing — this minyan needs strong walls. (You can unsubscribe anytime), © Copyright 2021 Tribe Media Corp • Powered by Lightdrop. A Jew must be on fire. Starting the cycle after Simchat Torah and hoping it all turns out doesn’t work either. _May Simchat Torah bring success and happiness in all our lives. We do not celebrate Simchat Torah on Shavuot, because the Torah requires our response; nor do we celebrate it on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, since this represents a time of judgment and atonement.Therefore we wait until the end of the climactic feast of Sukkot to celebrate the Torah, wherein "you will be completely joyous" (Deut. In this portion. Of course it isn’t. Putting out a fire for the purpose of making food is permitted. All the synagogue’s Torah scrolls are removed from the ark and are carried around the sanctuary in a series of seven hakafot (circuits). Let it be circles of joy and explosions of song and dance.”. The first few verses of Genesis are read immediately afterward, thereby starting the cycle again. Across the globe, it feels as if we are treading water. Or any of our holidays. We’re OK, thank God. Simchat Torah means "Rejoicing in the Torah." So too, you and your God are one, and the Torah is the marriage that binds you and has bound you for the journeys of 3,300 years. Otherwise, using electricity, driving, working, and the other forbidden activities of Shabbat are also forbidden on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Torah is an all-consuming flame and the Jew is its red-hot coal. You call that normal? Observant Jews do not work or travel on this yom tov or “holy day.” Shemini Atzeret is immediately followed by the joyous holiday of Simchat Torah—or “rejoicing of the Law”—which is traditionally celebrated by dancing with Torah scrolls and … Not this year. Today is January 17, the day most Americans will quit their resolutions — and I’m really excited about it. Next Reading. 16:15).We celebrate the completion of the Torah by … On Simchat Torah, we’re hopping around in circles, dancing wildly with books — yet nobody asks a thing. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is an assembly. We can now return to Simchat Torah and answer all our questions. Because everyone understands. And yet, there is a point when the Jew could become lost — when the One wrapped up within the scroll is lost. We can’t cram a year’s worth of work in, right before the deadline (see Mitzvah of Hakhel – Deuteronomy 31:10-13 here). On this day, we carry the Torah scrolls and dance for hours around the bima (the platform where the Torah is read) – celebrating the completion of the yearly cycle of Torah readings, and the beginning of a … You need only to dance with that scroll, as a married couple dances through life together.”. _May God bless you with peace and happiness on Simchat Torah Day. For understanding. The alert, tweeted by a college student, was vague: A man in a MAGA hat near West Virginia University was apparently asking for the locations of local synagogues and mosques. 1) During the morning service, all the Torahs are again taken from the ark and the hakafot, the joyous circling of the night before, is repeated. Simchat Torah - is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. And in that light we see our Beloved Above. You need only to dance with that scroll, as a married couple dances through life together despite their differences, despite all the unresolved baggage, despite all vicissitudes — because they are one, because their love cannot be extinguished, and so they cannot part. Even Rosh Hashanah is Simchat Torah. His published works include “Bringing Heaven Down to Earth” and “Wisdom to Heal the Earth,” to be released this fall. On Simchat Torah that cycle is finished when the last verses of Deuteronomy are read. It’s the Torah. Cloudflare Ray ID: 6130d9561d00202c Books are for reading. Each week in synagogue we publicly read a few chapters from the Torah, starting with Genesis Ch. We and the Torah become mutual strangers and the synagogue becomes a place where you meet God as one might meet one’s ex once a year over a coffee. These are God’s books. Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from Jewish Journal. If it’ Simchat Torah Day. Biden Should Change That. Simchat Torah is a component of the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of Assembly”), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei. Why did we choose the most serious days of the year to reaffirm our Jewishness? Festivities. (In many synagogues, hakafot are conducted also on the eve of Shemini Atzeret.) Deuteronomy 33:1-2:3. Dec 23, 2018 - Explore Yaelie's board "Simchat Torah" on Pinterest. 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