How will the Jewish people celebrate Simchat Torah this year?

No one needs reminding that the festive Simchat Torah holiday, which obligates us to be joyous, also marks the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre.

On Simchat Torah 5784, one year ago, over 1,200 Israeli civilians lost their lives in acts of barbarity that immediately thrust us into the Israel-Hamas war, which expanded to seven fronts and is still ongoing; currently, most intensely in Lebanon. 

As of this writing, 101 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, including four who were captured before the attack; it is unknown how many are still alive. 

To date (several days ahead of this issue’s publication), 734 IDF soldiers have been killed and thousands wounded. The end is nowhere in sight.

Simchat Torah is one of the most joyful days of the year, especially for children. It marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings. At synagogues around the world, the highlight is the hakafot, during which congregants dance jubilantly around a Torah scroll.

Will they dance this year?

To answer this question, the Magazine interviewed several people in diverse situations; their responses varied. The interviews have been edited for clarity.

‘To remember – and to forget’

 “I have very mixed feelings,” Erica Schachne, editor of the Magazine, said, “as I imagine everyone does.

“On one hand, the horror and trauma of the day is so great, that I just want to pull up the covers, close the shutters, and let the day pass. 

“If I do stay in, it will be camping on my couch and not in my bedroom, since my bedroom was where I was woken that surreal morning of Oct. 7 to Jerusalem’s first siren.

“On the other hand, the greatest revenge and answer is to live. So, I likely will attend some sort of Simchat Torah davening [prayer] and hakafot. I’m sure everyone will be feeling the same, so there will be a feeling of solidarity. 

“I’ll probably have a l’chaim [a drink “to life”] or two with friends to remember – and to forget.”

‘We hang on for dear life’

“Jewish history is a roller coaster; we hang on for dear life – literally – as we ride through periods of intense tragedy and triumph,” noted Rabbi Stewart Weiss, director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra’anana and Magazine columnist.

“How do we maintain our national sanity? How do we keep going, century after century? I suggest that it is due to our unique ability to compartmentalize and to control our emotions as we focus on the diametrically opposed moods and modes of Judaism. We would be insensitive – even cruel – if we did not mourn on Tisha B’Av [the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av] and Yom Hazikaron [Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars and Victims of Terrorism]. At the same time, we are commanded, v’hayita ach sameach – “Be only happy” – on our holidays.

“On Simchat Torah, I will mindfully concentrate on the joyous, miraculous nature of Judaism and Israel as I sing and dance night and day at the hakafot. Later, I will cry at Yizkor [the memorial prayer] as I remember my deceased relatives and all the holy people – including our son Ari, who fell in battle against Hamas in 2002 – whom we have lost in this terrible war and in all wars. Holding a tight rein on your emotions is a huge challenge, but it’s the silent strength that has kept us going for 2,000 years.”

‘A drag on my heart’

“Definitely, there’s a drag on my heart when thinking about this coming Simchat Torah,” Jerusalem resident Bracha Mirsky said. 

“I’m hoping to be with my grandchildren. If not, I’ll go to our shul [synagogue], watch the joy on the faces of our neighbors’ children, and pack my pockets with candy for them. But it will take time for Simchat Torah to be what it was.”

‘Repair, redemption, resilience, and heroism’

David M. Weinberg – executive director and senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy and veteran diplomatic and defense columnist for The Jerusalem Post – said, “This year, merriment will surely take a step back, with the traditional hakafot – circles of dancing – modulated by the addition of poems and prayers that focus on repair, redemption, resilience, and heroism.

“That said, the elevation of Torah learning on Simchat Torah, along with the traditional prayers for prosperity on the simultaneous holiday of Shmini Atzeret, are serious religious milestones that cannot be eviscerated by Hamas. The Hamas invasion and massacre should be formally commemorated with all appropriate solemnity and solidarity on other days.”

‘We cannot prepare our emotions’

Jennifer Airley’s son Binyamin was killed in Gaza in November. “A Torah scroll was written in Binyamin’s honor by the Heller family in Lawrence, New York,” Airley told the Magazine. “On Rosh Hodesh Sivan (which fell on June 7 this year), as the writing of the Torah was completed, our family, friends, and neighbors sang and danced.

“We escorted that Torah from Beit Binyamin – a retreat center we opened in Safed to provide respite and recovery for those directly affected by the war – through the alleys of the Old City to Binyamin’s yeshiva, the Hesder Yeshiva of Safed [a program combining advanced Talmudic studies with IDF service].

“It was as if Binyamin was now returning to yeshiva but in the form of a Sefer Torah. No one’s feet were touching the ground. It was as if we were in another world,” Airley said.

“There were feelings of pain and pride all at once, longing and excitement combined. My family cried streams of tears, of both brokenness and completeness, as we hugged this Torah under the huppah [canopy used mainly for weddings].

“While preparing for Rosh Hashanah, I was waiting with excitement and trepidation to crown Hashem as my king. The miracles we experienced [this year] just before Rosh Hashanah enhanced all those emotions beyond any personal preparations,” she said, referring to the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other IDF military successes.

“But then, the terror attack in Tel Aviv and the deaths of many soldiers in Lebanon and Gaza hours before our High Holy Days affected my approach to God. Really? How? Again? On the eve of Rosh Hashanah? It’s just too much!

“And so, it took me a full 24 hours before I could ‘talk’ nicely to Hashem. It was a good thing that it was a two-day holiday. I took out the Book of Jeremiah to read and learn the haftorah [reading of Prophets] that was to be said on the second day. After reading chapters 30 and 31, I was instantly healed. I was reminded that we are part of a bigger picture: ‘For, behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the captivity of My people Israel and Judah and I will restore them to the land that I gave their forefathers and they shall possess it.... Your injury is painful, your wound acute... I will heal you from your wounds... in the end of days, you will be able to understand it... I have loved you with an eternal love... I shall yet rebuild you and you shall be rebuilt...’

“Then, I was ready to crown God from my deepest place.”

Airley continued: “We cannot prepare our emotions. From the time Binyamin was killed in Gaza, our family learned to always carry two hearts – a broken one and a complete one. Always. Sometimes the pained and shattered one rules, and often our full heart is filled with hope and pride.

“What will be on Simchat Torah? It’s impossible to say. My plan is to dance on Simchat Torah, to revel in the Torah being our only security and the only truth in the world. It is the source of communication we have with Hashem. It’s timeless and contains all life in it. If there is anything that brings solace to me personally through this war – and always – it is our sacred Torah, given to Hashem’s beloved children. And this I will celebrate.

“What will happen in actuality? Will I shudder in a corner and cry? Will I dance but with tears and pain? Or will it be a new state of elation, channeling all the emotions of the year into celebrating our determination, continued existence, and success? Will I dance for the soldiers who are fighting for our safety and wish they could be in shul? For our brethren held in captivity who so passionately love to dance?

“I know what Binyamin would want us all to do: sing, pray, celebrate, and dance with the Torah in the most honest, pure, and deep way to connect to the true source of life.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be dancing with all our guys up in heaven. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that if we keep our ears open, we’ll hear the rumbling from all their celebrations up there.”

No true celebration until the hostages come home

Liat Cohen-Raviv had been living in Metulla, a town in northern Israel, bordering Lebanon. She and her family were among the tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from their homes.

“We’re now in a rented house in Rosh Pina, the new bomb border of Israel,” she joked, adding that humor is “the way to survive.”

Cohen-Raviv has two daughters. “My older daughter, 22, has been in the reserves since October 8; and my younger, 20, is a combat soldier in east Jerusalem,” she said.

“It’s been an interesting time for us. My husband has also been in service since October 8. He’s the head of the connection unit between the municipalities and the army in the North. Thus the family is very much invested in this national crisis.”

As for Cohen-Raviv, “I’m part of the emergency response team in Metulla, so I was very involved in the first few months, running the evacuation. Over the past four years, I have trained organizations to deal with crises, so I’ve become very popular in the past few months,” she quipped. “I’ve been working around the clock.”

Regarding the holidays: “I think all of Israel is ‘marking’ occasions rather than ‘celebrating’ them. The celebration everyone is waiting for is the return of the hostages, and nothing will be truly celebrated with joy and happiness until that happens. I’m on the more secular side; maybe more religious people will have a different approach, but I’m willing to guess that the word ‘celebration’ will not feel right to anyone – especially not now.

“The war is escalating in the North, and we don’t know when it’s going to end; we have so many fronts. We are mostly hoping and praying for this to be short, aggressive, and clear. It must be made clear which side is stronger; otherwise, we cannot have stability at all. And we’re getting there, hopefully with as few casualties as possible for everyone, on both sides. Hopefully, it will be over soon.”

‘Simchat Torah is a blip on our radar’

Safed resident Shayna Paquin isn’t planning to leave her home during the holidays.

“Unfortunately, we just went through Rosh Hashanah with 14 sirens in three days,” she said. “In Safed, we only have 30 seconds to reach a shelter. I’m a mother of seven kids, some with special needs. I have three children aged five and under, and there’s no way to take them anywhere.

“We live under constant threat; there isn’t a day that goes by without rockets. It’s truly intensified as of late, but what many people don’t realize is that we’ve had rockets for an entire year now. I feel like the people making the decisions kind of forgot about us: ‘We’ll deal with you guys later, after Gaza.’ The city of Safed is 46% children; we have huge families, and this has been our reality. A lot of people have left; it’s getting lonely.”

Paquin continued, “I have a nonprofit, Sparks to Life, and what I realized – and the social services department tells me this as well – is that during a crisis like this, many of the stronger people who have the option to pick up and leave do so. They relocate and do what’s best for their families. The people who are left behind are the ones who need the most help and support, like the elderly or people with disabilities. We’re missing volunteers.”

She won’t leave because of her responsibility to these vulnerable people. “We mostly help the elderly, the disabled, and single-parent families,” she explained. “Since the war began, we’ve also been doing a lot for our civilian guards and soldiers, as well as preparing bomb shelters for pre-schools that didn’t have them. We’ve been trying to help the kids.

“Many people don’t want to go out anymore because rockets are falling. [In this context] Simchat Torah is such a small blip on our radar.”

The Magazine commented that perhaps this was a taste of how residents of the South, near the Gaza border, have been living for many years. “Yes, I was always in shock,” Paquin said. “I could never understand why we weren’t doing more and sharing about it on social media. It didn’t occur to me that one day I would be the one [in that situation].”

‘Yom Kippur War almost pales’

Simchat Torah, normally celebrated with great joy at the end of Sukkot, can’t be treated as usual in 5785, Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, The Jerusalem Post’s health and science reporter, opined.

“It’s impossible due to the thousands of people mourning their loved ones and agonizing over the fates of hostages still suffering indescribably – or already dead and hidden in underground tunnels. Even people with no direct connection to the slaughter and the fallen are deeply affected.

“In fact, we will face this problem for many years to come – maybe even decades – wondering how to mark the usually joyous reading of the end of the Book of Deuteronomy and the renewal of the cycle from Genesis. The still-traumatic Yom Kippur War that broke out 51 years ago and ended in the tragic deaths of 2,691 IDF soldiers and the wounding of over 10,000 in the 17 days of fighting almost pales by comparison to the current year-long conflict.

“Simchat Torah is ordinarily observed with exuberant dancing, singing, and rejoicing with Torah scrolls; and the beginning of praying for rain in the Land of Israel instead of only for spring and summer dew. The Ark holding the Torah scrolls is uniquely opened on the eve of the festival and in the morning, and the worshipers leave their seats to dance in snake-like chains and sing with the Torah scrolls for seven hakafot that can go on for several hours while the congregation chants.

“Honorees are chosen for their devotion to helping the synagogue [or their significant donations] to be the hatan Torah [Torah groom] for the aliyah [being called up to read from the Torah, in this case, the completion of the Book of Deuteronomy] and hatan Bereishit [Genesis groom] to launch the Book of Genesis.

“All the children in the congregation who have paper flags to wave are called up together for a single aliyah to read the Torah under an outstretched tallit. The women in Orthodox synagogues dance separately in a rare display. Tasty, frosted cakes that make the mouth water in anticipation are served to each congregant after being called up to the Torah,” she described

To take the option, for the next few years, of referring to Simchat Torah as “Shmini Atzeret,” which coincides with Simchat Torah in Israel but not in the Diaspora, would be a “cop-out,” said Siegel-Itzkovich.

“For weeks, leaders of my synagogue, LeTorah Uletfila, on Hatomer Street in Jerusalem’s Yefeh Nof neighborhood, have been discussing how to suitably mark Simchat Torah this year. Some said that one hakafah out of seven should be carried out silently, without any singing or joyful dancing. Others suggested that the delicious cakes be canceled. Still others defiantly said we should dance more vigorously and loudly than ever to show our terrorist enemies in Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere that they can’t defeat us,” she said.

“For many years, congregants at all the synagogues in Beit Hakerem, Yefeh Nof, and Ramat Beit Hakerem have been meeting outside Denya Square in the heart of these neighborhoods and dancing together with the Torah scrolls. Should that be canceled? Perhaps an informal vote on the synagogue’s website is in order.”

This Yom Kippur, Siegel-Itzkovich said, the Avinu Malkeinu (“Our Father, Our King”) supplication, recited at the end of the closing Ne’ilah prayer, was particularly apt for describing the horrors that Israelis experienced this past year. “It read as if it came out of the current newspapers, describing exactly what we have been going through,” she said.

Siegel-Itzkovich recalled that Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel had stated that the “Gaon of Vilna [Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, the 18th-century Lithuanian Jewish expert on Jewish law, Kabbalah, and leader of non-hassidic Jewry] declared that the commandment of ve’samahta behageha – “You shall rejoice in your festival (Deuteronomy 16:14)” – was the most difficult commandment in the Torah.

Wiesel had said, “I could never understand this puzzling remark. Only during the war did I understand. Those Jews, who in the course of their journey to the end of hope managed to dance on Simchat Torah; those Jews, who studied Talmud by heart while carrying stones on their backs; those Jews, who went on whispering Shabbat hymns while performing hard labor – they were following a commandment that was impossible to observe. Yet they observed it.” 

Siegel-Itzkovich concluded, “That quote could be our guide on this sorrowful Simchat Torah.”

‘The first year will be the hardest’

According to Beit Shemesh resident Jeremy Staiman, how to observe Simchat Torah this year “is a quandary that everyone finds themselves in. We have Simchat Torah, a day of incredible joy, along with the fact that this is now, for us, a day that lives in infamy. For many people, this is the first yahrzeit of a loved one who was murdered in such a heinous way. How do we reconcile these two realities?

“I think it’s vital that not only individuals but also synagogues come up with a way to pay homage to both. We don’t cancel our holidays due to tragedy; in fact, tragedies are often the source of our holidays. We need to continue celebrating Simchat Torah. However, at the same time, we need to not just mark the date but pay significant heed to the fact that this was a tragic day in our history as a people – and this is its first anniversary.”

Both his sons served in the South during the war. He began to brainstorm with his son Avi for ways in which shuls could strike that balance. “My other son, Arky, who has become somewhat of a presence on the Internet in the course of the war, has made the point publicly and privately that the soldiers are up there fighting the battle so that we can have normal lives,” Staiman said.

“Someone might say, ‘I feel guilty about going to a concert,’ and Arky would say, ‘That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing. We want you to live your lives. That’s why we’re fighting.’

“So, we want a sense of normalcy, but at the same time there can’t be a sense of normalcy on this Simchat Torah. There just can’t be. There’s no normal.

“As for me, I’m handling it by trying to help other people figure out how to handle it, coming up with suggestions for people and for synagogues about what they can do and hopefully implementing some of those suggestions. They involve, basically, incorporating names and memories of the fallen in a respectful way into our Simchat Torah proceedings.

“The first one, which is my personal favorite, is to give out cards before the hakafot that say, ‘I am dancing in memory of...’ and each card has a name and one sentence about the person who fell. They can keep that in their pockets, and when they are dancing and holding the Torah, they can do so with joy while remembering that person.

“Still, the joy will be tinged with sadness. I think there will be tears along the way,” he noted. “But it’s vital that we go on. That’s what we do as a people.

“The first year will be the hardest. I think it’s crucial that we do our best, although for some people, doing their best could be sitting in bed and not being able to get out of bed. I can’t speak for anyone else or say what their best is, and logistically there are those who can’t leave their homes because they’re in the line of fire. But for those of us who have the opportunity and the luxury to do so, I think we need to try our best.

“When one suffers a loss, it’s hard to get out of bed; it’s hard to put one foot in front of the other. The only way to do it is by doing it. So, I think that’s what we need to do. Of course, there is no judgment on anyone who is unable to. But whoever can manage it should put one foot in front of the other and dance, whether his or her heart is fully in it, partially in it, or not in it at all – or if they’re just doing the motions.

“It’s a step in our national recovery,” he concluded.

‘We will dance again’

In Israel, Simchat Torah and Shmini Atzeret, which conclude the Sukkot holiday, are observed together on a single day. In the Diaspora, however, there are two separate days: first comes Shmini Atzeret, and then Simchat Torah. Therefore, although the Hamas attack has also been dubbed the “Simchat Torah massacre,” when it happened it was not Simchat Torah outside of Israel.

New Yorker Yakir Wachstock stressed that point in conversation with the Magazine.

“First of all, on the American side Simchat Torah is not the yahrzeit. In America, it’s Shmini Atzeret; that’s the first thing that’s uniquely different. So, in my eyes, this year is the same as always when we dance on Simchat Torah.”

He continued: “Considering what the Jewish people have endured for over 2,000 years, if we mourned every single day that marked the anniversary of a pogrom or a massacre, there would be very few days left to observe the Torah commandments with simcha – joy – which is what we’re commanded by the Torah to do. So here in America, Shmini Atzeret will be the day when we recite Yizkor.”

Nonetheless, he conceded, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah will be different this year.

“For sure, without a doubt, it will be somber. It will never be the same. I don’t know exactly how it will be, but the feeling I get from my upbringing is that the greatest way to fight against antisemitism is to have more children, more simcha, and to make the enemy realize that they will never win.

“I’m a first-generation American. My extended family was slaughtered in the Holocaust, and my parents were born in Europe shortly afterward. Therefore, on Shmini Atzeret, we can’t forget what happened and must make sure it will never happen again, but we also need to have Simchat Torah to show the sonei Yisrael [Jew-haters] that they will never win.

“We will dance again,” he said, quoting a catchphrase coined after the massacre, which became the title of a documentary about the Supernova music festival at which 400 participants were slaughtered.

“That is also true about Simchat Torah here in America. It’s a very hard day, but the reality is that the same way people plan a concert or festival to show that ‘We’re not going to be deterred,’ we need to do the same, although we will also have Oct. 7 memorials and Shmini Atzeret memorials. We need to somehow incorporate both those aspects.”

To date, Boots for Israel, launched by Wachstock, an occupational therapist, has sent approximately 62,000 pairs of high-quality boots to IDF soldiers since Oct. 7. It all began with a phone call from IDF Maj. Daniel Jacobs to Wachstock five days after the war began, saying that his soldiers were in desperate need of tactical combat boots.

“So many people want to get involved and help out in so many ways,” Wachstock said, noting the “incredible achdut” (unity).

“We have to come together on Shmini Atzeret, despite the sadness; and on Simchat Torah, a time of joy, to show that we will not lose.” 

Rabbi Johnny Solomon: Praying from the Torah – last year and now – as told to Atara Beck

Last Simchat Torah morning, I brought a Torah scroll from my synagogue into my home at around 7:30 a.m. The plan was that my immediate neighbors would join me for a smaller prayer service, enabling us all to be within reach of houses and safe rooms if there were additional sirens. But then, just after 8 a.m., we were instructed by the police to go into our houses and lock our front doors, as Hamas terrorists had infiltrated Israel and were in the area.

I had this strange reality of being locked with my family in our home on Simchat Torah morning with a Sefer Torah while knowing that Israel was under attack. And so it was that after we each completed our morning prayers, I opened the Sefer Torah, from which I read, with my family gathered around me, the entire portion of VeZot HaBracha – the final weekly Torah portion in the annual cycle of Torah reading.

Knowing that Israel was under serious attack, my voice trembled when I reached the following verses: “Strengthen [Judah’s] hands and help him against his enemies” (Deuteronomy 33:7); “Crush the loins of [Levi’s] foes, so that these enemies rise no more” (ibid. 33:11); “God is a shelter above, with His everlasting arms beneath. He shall drive the enemy before you and shall proclaim ‘Destroy! Israel shall dwell securely, alone in a land of grain and wine’” (ibid. 33:27-28); “You are a nation delivered by God, a Shield who helps you, and your triumphant sword” (ibid. 33:29).

I was not just reading from the Torah; I was praying from the Torah.

Then I reached the verse “This is the land regarding which I made an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and said, ‘I will give it to your descendants’” (ibid. 34:4), which I read with determination and resolve. Yes, we were being attacked in our homeland, but precisely because Israel is our ancestral homeland, the determination and resolve of our brave soldiers is unstoppable.

From that day forward, these words have continued to resonate with me, just as they have resonated with so many others within the Jewish community. Yes, we have faced repeated attacks, and yes, we are fighting back. We do so with the clarity that Israel is our ancestral homeland while also knowing that although we welcome all the assistance we can get from our friends around the world, ultimately, Ein lanu ela Avinu Shebashamayim – we have no one other than our father in feaven.

And so, on this Simchat Torah, while our soldiers continue to battle, I will be focusing once again on these verses of the Torah, while fervently praying for the safety and security of our people and the return of the hostages.

Rabbi Johnny Solomon is the chief learning officer of WebYeshiva.org, where he teaches and works as #theVirtualRabbi. Additionally, he lectures on Tanach, Halacha, and Jewish thought for Matan, Melton, LSJS, and Herzog College. He can be reached at ravjsolomon@gmail.com.