Dear QJC Family,
While this was included in the previous weekly email, I wanted to send a separate email to share my Simchas Torah message, as we enter a Yom Tov that will be unusual in many ways, perhaps in ways more glaring than even Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
(Please note that some minyanim are full for the coming yuntif; where there is room, people who are not on the list will be admitted on a first-come-first-served basis.)
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When Simchat Torah arrived in the year of 1973, the Yom Kippur war had not gone on for more than two weeks. Caught by surprise, Israel and her military lost many lives very quickly. While the Six Day War raised the morale of not only Israelis, but also Jews around the world, the Yom Kippur war reversed some of that confidence. American Jews with the State of Israel in their hearts were deeply distraught and anxious about the outcome of this war.
In that spirit, many congregants at the Jewish Center in Manhattan approached Rabbi Norman Lamm z”l and asked him, “how can we be happy on this Simchat Torah?” Can we sing and dance? The question was whether to mute, moderate, or even cancel the celebrations!
Rabbi Lamm’s response was “no, most certainly no” – we must rejoice on Simchat Torah. He remarked that there are a number of components to simcha. We experience joy because of our emunah and bitachon – faith and confidence. Joy can exist even in exile because we are resilient and optimistic. In a verse we will read on Shemini Atzeret, it says ושמחת לפני ה' אלוקיך – you will rejoice before Hashem your Lord. Just being before Hashem is a reason for simcha, and faith is simply knowing Hashem is there. Additionally, we know Hashem helps the poor and downtrodden – as is sung during hakafot, עוזר דלים הושיעה נא, פודה ומציל הצליחה נא. Hashem helps the poor and redeems and saves. We do not give in to despair – that is the surest way to be defeated.
Another component of simcha is realizing that emotions are complex. It is possible to hold multiple feelings at the same time. One can be sad about one aspect of a situation, and one can be happy about another aspect of a situation. We also do frequently mix joy and somberness. At weddings, we break a glass to remember that Yerushalayim is still broken. We even recite Yizkor on Yamim Tovim! But Rabbi Lamm argues that this ability to hold both joy and sadness at the same time is crucial for being able to go and rebuild. When a number of sages suggested we should never eat meat or drink wine until the Beit Hamikdash is rebuilt, they were overruled. He also notes that even with the Holocaust in fresh memory (this is less than thirty years after the Germans were defeated), people rebuilt and continued to go to the theater, sing, and dance.
Finally, simcha is “a weapon with which to forge good news and battle evil.” It is fighting evil with good. The best response to darkness is to bring light. Love trumps hate. And there is no greater good than Torah. When the world seems like a dreary place, Torah itself, and joy in it, fills the void. Perhaps that is the special significance of Rabbi Akiva being burned alive with a Torah scroll. Or the young soldier, photographed by the New York Times, who surrendered to the Egyptians in 1973 holding a Torah scroll. Both of those martyrs used the Torah not as a prop, but as a testament to Torah’s roll in bringing good into the world even in most tragic moments.
A big question that has been on the minds of many rabbis for the last few months has been: what will Simchat Torah look like this year? At this point, while we are not required to remain home as we were on Pesach and Shavuot, we are also operating on a very limited capacity due to recent upticks in our area. Many people will be home by choice; many people will be home because of limited space in shul; and even those in shul will experience a different kind of Simchat Torah. We will not be together as one community. We will not have the leibidig singing and dancing like we have had in previous years. We will not be able to honor every male with an aliyah, a special opportunity as we celebrate the Torah. We will not pay special tribute to the various chatanim that are usually offered. We will not have the elaborate kiddush as well. This year is different. Not to mention that we missed many parshiyot in shul!
So how will we celebrate?
The various components of simcha shared by Rabbi Lamm are of relevance to us as well. Our simcha this holiday will be our faith, just being in Hashem’s presence and acknowledging that the day is Zman Simchateinu. Our simcha this holiday will be our confidence that this, too, will pass, and we will have future opportunities to celebrate Simchat Torah. Our simcha this holiday come from realizing that emotions are complex during this time. COVID-19 has afforded some special opportunities to spend more time connecting virtually with family and friends with whom we thought we could not connect because we can’t see them; the opportunity to daven in a different yet deeply meaningful and personal fashion at home; maybe some are even okay with not commuting to work! At the same time, the death of so many worldwide, the uncertainty that many of us still face, and even the disconnect from shul and our regular social lives can still be very difficult to grapple with emotionally. Even if it does not feel like a time of simcha in some ways, we can recognize the unique challenges of the time while simultaneously finding meaning in a Yom Tov and a time to be happy. For those coming to shul, even if it feels too tame for Simchat Torah, we can still find the smallest kernel that gives us reason to be happy. And finally, Torah itself is light during this time. Thanks to the proliferation of books and online Torah, while we cannot gather for shiurim as much as we would like, Torah has not been stopped during this time. For me, a good distraction from the news and the constantly changing circumstances is to be able to sit and learn. We can surely be happy that we have Torah to learn, even if we have adapted how we have done it.
What are some practical ways we can celebrate?
- For those who will be in shul, while, as mentioned above, hakafot have to take a different form, joy is what is inside the heart, not how loud we are. While sometimes, the energy of the room fuels our joy, we can find it within us to feel the same love for Torah as we do every year, even if we must express it differently.
- For those who will not be in shul, here are some tentative suggestions I have to celebrate Simchat Torah:
o Some have suggested one can dance with a sefer in their own home. While I must admit I was initially skeptical of this, if nobody else is watching, it is totally normal, correct? You can still do a hakafot in your living room with a chumash, and Hashem will appreciate it just as much.
o If you’re not inclined to dance in that fashion, you can still sing the songs!
o If you have access to Sifrei Halacha (like a Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, Mishnah Berurah, etc.), learn Hilchot Kriat ha-Torah. If we cannot fulfill the mitzvah ourselves, learning about it is the next best option.
o Take on a new goal for learning the parasha this year. If you are not going to shul for the foreseeable future, this may be a great time (especially with the extra time not spent in shul) to go through the parasha twice in Hebrew and once with the Targum Onkelos/Rashi/or even in English. This practice, shnayim mikra v’echad targum, is the only type of learning the Gemara specifically mandates.
o Not only that, but maybe there’s a new commentary or parasha book you have not learned before that would be of interest. See if you can learn even a few sections of that commentary each week the whole year. The Stone chumash itself is a great compilation of the classic commentaries. And remember, Bereishit is a long parasha with so many important stories – look at them in depth in a way you have not done before!
o Finally, here’s a
video (for before/after yuntif) that was put out last spring that brought me to tears at the time. It beautifully captures the sentiment of feeling like we belong in shul and yet cannot go.
Simchat Torah is different this year and emotionally complex – but each small act that is taking place across the world to mark the day will make the world a more joyous place, even in a difficult time. May we use this opportunity to do something perhaps a little different, but hopefully still meaningful to show our affinity and attachment to Torah.
Shabbat Shalom, Chag Sameach!
(The original drasha from Rabbi Lamm can be found
here.)
