Simchat Torah 1929
Rav Kook’s talmidim gathered in his yeshiva. It was Simchat Torah, but they wondered what the day would be like. The year was 1929, and the Arab riots had occurred just weeks ago. Hundreds of Jews had been killed, molested and wounded in Chevron and other Jewish communities. There was a feeling of depression in the air — in the yeshiva and throughout the land. How would Rav Kook, Israel’s chief rabbi, approach Simchat Torah? Would it be a day of celebration or commemoration?
Rav Kook opened the first hakafah with a special song about Hashem’s revenge. It inspired hope in the broken hearts, and the Simchat Torah festivities began.
Simchat Torah 1939
Ten years later, the Piaseczna Rebbe, Rav Kalonymous Kalman Shapiro (also known as the Eish Kodesh), faced a similar challenge. The Nazis had surrounded and begun bombing the city of Warsaw. Elimelech, the Rebbe’s only son, had been killed by the bombing on Chol HaMoed. Two days later, his daughter-in-law and brother-in-law were killed as well. On Simchat Torah night, Jews prayed in a dark basement. They wondered if the Rebbe would join them and what the tefillah would be like.
Suddenly, the Rebbe appeared, approached the bima, and began the Yom Tov prayers with the distinctive holiday tune for Barchu. Inspired and rejuvenated, the Chassidim responded with the same festive tune. They celebrated Simchat Torah together.
Simchat Torah 2024
Eighty-five years later, we face a more unique situation. Simchat Torah this year falls out not only during wartime but on the anniversary of the very day that over 1,200 Jews were butchered, hundreds were taken hostage, thousands were wounded, and over 100,000 became displaced, starting a war that has caused terrible suffering.
How should we approach Simchat Torah this year? Should we celebrate as usual? Should our commemoration be different? Should our mourning for those killed and commiseration with those still held hostage and wounded and their families mute our simcha?
In Chutz La’Aretz, where Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are observed as two distinct days, the issue is easier to deal with because communities can divide the opposing emotions between the two days. Shemini Atzeret, which is both the actual yahrzeit of the 1,200 as well as a day of increased tefillah (like Tefillat Tal) and commemoration (Yizkor), can be the time to focus on commemoration and commiseration, and Simchat Torah can be dedicated to celebration.
In Israel, where Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are observed on the same day, this division is impossible. Therefore, the question of how to celebrate Simchat Torah remains in full force.
Many of the hostage and bereaved families are calling upon us to celebrate Simchat Torah, especially this year. Our rabbinic leaders agree with them. Let’s study the reasons.
Tradition
Simchat Torah is a tradition our people have observed through thick and thin. Tzvikah Mor, whose son Eitan is being held hostage in Gaza, explains that “we have experienced many terrible tragedies over the past millennia. The reason we are still here is because our ancestors maintained our traditions, including the times when we celebrate. This was a critical part of sustaining our identity in the face of suffering (Giluy Da’at, 17 Elul 5784, pg. 23).”
Rav Shmuel Slotky, who lost two sons in the Simchat Torah battle, agrees: “My sons fought and sacrificed their lives for us to continue living here and maintain our path and traditions. By ensuring that Simchat Torah does not become Tisha B’Av, I fulfill (something like) their last will and testament (Ibid).”
The Consolation of Chagim
Rav Lior Engelman points out that, halachically, chagim cancel aveilut. Even someone mourning for a close relative stops mourning when the chag arrives. Even on Shabbat (which does not end aveilut), mourners are prohibited from mourning publicly: “Shabbat and Chagim are times we must celebrate under all circumstances. Our mourning is temporary; Shabbat and Chagim connect us with the eternal. They are not a denial of one’s pain; they are an opportunity for the mourner to connect to something beyond the here and now and his terrible pain. This connection offers a different kind of consolation (Simchat Torah — Mah Y’heh Alehah, Bashevah).”
Our New Reality
We have even more reason than our ancestors to celebrate. Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon (HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly, Ki Tavo, pg. 9) emphasizes, “Baruch Hashem… we are privileged to live in the generation of redemption — one that has returned to our homeland after thousands of years. We are privileged to have a wonderful state and an amazing army, and we have been fortunate to see miracles our ancestors never had the opportunity to behold. Despite all of our difficulties, we are living in one of the most preeminent periods in the history of Am Yisrael (surpassing the majority of time periods of Tanach and certainly after Tanach).”
We should not allow the challenges we are facing to cause us to lose sight of the broader good and special times we are living in. We have much to celebrate and be thankful for.
Contributing to the War Effort
Rav Rimon adds that our celebration is even more important during this time of war: “We have to remember that the war is not just taking place on the battlefield. It is also on the home front. Our wicked enemies want to remove any simcha from us, disrupt our normalcy, and cause internal strife.” We cannot give them this victory. We must continue to rejoice.
Tzvikah Mor adds that the strength we gain from our celebration of Simchat Torah will strengthen us and our soldiers and contribute to our victory. Avishag Leibman, whose son Elyakim’s body is still being held by Hamas, has similar sentiments. She feels that “our celebration is the best response to our enemy’s attempt to quash our celebration. We should not allow them to defeat us, our celebration, or our Jewishness.”
A conversation Rav Rimon had with a soldier reinforces this point: “A certain soldier left Gaza and came to speak with me. He told me about his experiences, including handling many injured soldiers. I asked him, ‘Isn’t it hard for you to leave Gaza and see that everything around you seems normal — restaurants, coffee shops, weddings, etc.?’ He answered, ‘If I would see that everything was different, it would be a lot harder. However, when I see that things are normal, I know we are doing our jobs properly.’
Rav Rimon continued that “Our enemy wants to prevent our simcha, our normalcy, and we will not let that happen. If we diminish our simcha of the chagim, we allow our enemies to win. Our enemies want to darken our lives, and our job is to bring light.
We have to remember the challenges and feel the pain at every moment — the pain of every hostage and their families, the wounded, the bereaved families, and those evacuated. However, while remembering all these incredible people, we must celebrate the chagim with vigor by understanding that this is part of our victory and advances us toward the return of our hostages and the decisive victory of the war. The more we rejoice and are strong and united, the weaker our enemy becomes. The simcha of chag is another step, B’ezrat Hashem, toward victory and the return of our hostages (HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly, Ki Tavo, p. 9).”
Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Mandelbaum, a clinical psychologist, adds that celebrating Simchat Torah has therapeutic value for us as well. “Our ability to return to the ‘same place’ and dance can repair our scars from last Simchat Torah. Successfully transcending the fear will be a step of healthy healing (Motzash, 17 Elul, p. 44).”
Sivan Rahav Meir witnessed this healing firsthand at a Shabbaton with survivors of the Nova Music Festival. Avi, one of the survivors from the festival, kept singing Shabbat songs, without stopping. When Sivan asked him about his singing, he explained: “I had friends who were murdered in front of my eyes and friends who were kidnapped to Gaza. It’s shattering; it breaks you. We were told that part of the healing process involves singing and rejoicing, going back to believing in good, in love, in life,” he said and then started singing another song (To Be a Jew, p. 57).
Celebrating Torah
Rav Slotky adds that the fact that Simchat Torah is a religious celebration is particularly important now. Our enemies aimed not only to quash our celebration but also to challenge our religious beliefs. Their war is a religious war — motivated by their beliefs and an attack on our own. It is critical that we respond by celebrating our religious beliefs.
Rachel Weitzen, whose son Amichai was killed at Kerem Shalom last Simchat Torah, adds that celebrating Simchat Torah reminds us of why we will be victorious — our commitment to and appreciation of the Torah and its values. The Torah, and specifically the faith in Hashem it embodies, is what gives us the strength to face contemporary challenges. The more confusing the reality is, the more we should celebrate having the Torah as our anchor. Our dancing is a form of prayer that expresses our belief in the significance and eternal nature of our people, our faith in Hashem, and our appreciation of our unique relationship with Him.
Rav Lior Engelman points out that the hakafot are actually deeply connected to the events of last Simchat Torah. The Torah we dance with is what has made us who we are. The antisemitism that has resurfaced in full force is an objection to our Jewishness. They murdered us with religious cries as part of their religious conception.
Dancing with the Torah is our way of confirming that we are happy with and proud of who we are and deeply connected to our identity and spirit. Our celebration doesn’t blind us to our suffering. It simply shows that our suffering does not cause us to despair despite the heavy price of Jewish history.
Reflective Celebration
Rav Lior adds that, while celebrating, we should also reflect on the pain and suffering of the past year. This is how halacha approaches the interface between chagim and aveilut. We are not just happy nor just sad; we simultaneously feel opposing emotions. We need to recognize the true complexity of such a situation.
Sukkot and Simchat Torah have always embodied this complexity. The chag cancels aveilut, but the avel himself does not participate in the hakafot and dancing. He has a mitzvah to celebrate on the chag, but it has its limits. That being said, the kehillah dances — maybe for him as well.
We, too, celebrate with the Torah but also recite Yizkor. The Yizkor ceremony is an amazing Simchat Torah moment. At the height of our celebration, between the Torah reading and the hakafot, we stop and remember the souls of the departed. The simcha intermingles with the memory of those who have passed. Anyone who dances after Yizkor, dances with Yizkor, despite the Yizkor, and because of the Yizkor. It is a deep dance, not meaningless frolicking.
This year, we all need to feel this emotion. Though we will dance, we must remember and continue to feel the pain of those who have suffered and continue suffering. We should dedicate part of the Yizkor ceremony to remembering those who were murdered and who sacrificed their lives on behalf of the Jewish people.
Our hakafot, the central part of the Simchat Torah celebration, should also be linked to those suffering. World Mizrachi has a beautiful initiative that unifies world Jewry in commemorating the victims during the hakafot. They have distributed beautiful me’ilim (Sefer Torah covers) that commemorate the victims in general and each in particular (each me’il is dedicated to a specific victim) to shuls worldwide.
Rav Slotky, who heads the International Association of Synagogues (IAS), recommends dedicating each of the hakafot to a different group of those on our minds: those killed, the wounded, the hostages, those fighting, the displaced, bereaved families, etc. We can deepen the dedication by singing (soulful, slow) songs and reciting Tehillim, tefillot, and words of inspiration that relate to each group during their hakafa. (The IAS has distributed a booklet with suggestions for such songs and prayers.)
Rav Rimon summarizes:
While we celebrate, we should also cry and be uplifted. We should cry over the difficulties and for those suffering, remember them and daven for them, but together with that, remember that we are in the generation of redemption. We should remember and thank Hashem for the areas in which we have made progress from last year (such as unity among Am Yisrael), the strength of our emunah and chesed that came to light, the strength of our soldiers and civilians who merit to protect the people of Israel, and the important actions of the army that strengthen our security.
It is hard; we are sad and cry over the brokenness, but we are strengthened in knowing that we are in the generation of redemption, that we have an amazing army, and that we have seen miracles that our ancestors never saw. This should give us strength to cope with the great pain.
B’ezrat Hashem, we should merit during these chagim to be infused with love and unity, and closeness to Hashem, and we should see our army win the war and our hostages return home safely and in good health. Hashem should send a complete recovery to the wounded, strengthen the bereaved families and the families of the wounded, and return those evacuated back home with joy and security.
Soldiers on the battlefield recently celebrated a Torah dedication. It was very exciting; everyone danced and sang, “Sisu v’simchu b’simchat Hatorah,” “Torat Hashem Temimah,” “Ma Ahavti Toratecha,” etc. A soldier who was there shared with me that a soldier suddenly got up and said: “I am so emotional; I feel that I have come full circle. During Simchat Torah, I had to leave hakafot to go out to war. Now, I feel the closure of coming full circle as I continue to dance with the Torah.”
May we come full circle as well.
Rabbi Reuven Taragin is the dean of overseas students at Yeshivat HaKotel.
