Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah this year was very different from last year. As we all remember last year Hamas crossed the border into Israel and massacred more than 1200 pure and innocent Jews in cities and small communities near the border to Gaza. In addition to the bloody massacre, the pure evil (Hamas) kidnapped more than 250 innocent Jews and brought them back into Gaza. This horrific act of terror is as we all know, not over yet.
We all asked the same question, “How could we celebrate Simchat Torah this year in a happy way when we had to remember all the victims from last year? How would we be able to dance and sing?”
Many Rabbis said that we had to celebrate Simchat Torah in a happy way, as it’s about giving honor to the Torah, and that is timeless, and not connected to anything else, or to any other event.
In the Beit HaKnesset in Yad Binyamin where I celebrated Simchat Torah every Hakafa was devoted to either a person who fell during Simchat Torah or occasions connected to the war in Gaza and Lebanon. It was very emotional. A lot of dancing and singing but also plenty of tears. We are not allowed to forget! The Rav, HaRav Moshe Holstein made it clear in a very emotional way before the Hakafot what each and every one of them stood for. In all my life I never have felt something like this. The whole community was dancing and singing together.

The most emotional part of the Holiday was not the regular Hakafot, it was the Hakafot shneot at the site of the Nova festival after the end of Simchat Torah. Hundreds of people came to the site to dance and sing and never forget what happened there a year earlier. The nation of Israel lives עם ישראל חי.
Even though we are not allowed to forget the massacre that took place, we still have to focus on the good we have. Because after tragedy comes rebirth. We have an obligation to look forward and praise God for all the good he is giving us, but at the same time, we are not allowed to forget. I believe that from now on, we will always celebrate Simchat Torah in a different way than we did before the horrific acts of terror that happened on Simchat Torah 2023.

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