Dvar Torah for Simchat Torah

I used to think of Simchat Torah as the tack-on of Jewish holidays, a medieval innovation of Diaspora Jews grafted onto the otherwise characterless second day of Shemini Atzeret. This idea was totally upended for me by a wonderful article by Professor Shlomo Naeh of the Hebrew University, who shows that the roots of the day go back much further and its timing, on the final day of the fall holiday cycle, is very precisely chosen. While we read the whole Torah each year, Naeh shows that communities in the Land of Israel in Talmudic times read it in smaller segments over the course of three-and-a-half years, completing two full cycles precisely every seven years. Their celebration at the end of each seven-year cycle was meant to recreate the biblical ritual known as Hak’hel, when the Israelites would gather en masse at the Temple to hear the Torah read publicly every seven years on the day after Sukkot. In a time before Torah scrolls and Torah readings, Hak’hel was the day when everyone would come together to recommit to God’s word as their heritage and their guide. Just as important, before phones and email it was the moment when people, spread across the Land, each immersed in their own challenges and daily concerns, would gather to reforge their identity as a single family, bound by a shared past and by the Torah’s vision for their future. This is especially powerful because Sukkot is the most universal of Jewish holidays. When the prophets imagine a future where all nations come together to recognize God, they come specifically to celebrate Sukkot. It is where we turn our attention outward to see the needs and challenges of all people. But at the end, we have this moment of regrouping as a community, returning to the ties that bind us together. 

Ironically, we recently marked the seventh month of quarantine. There has never been a time when I have felt more like those Israelites, isolated in my own home and cut off from the community that nourishes me, consumed on the one hand by the day-to-day concerns of my family, and on the other by anxiety over the many overlapping crises gripping our world. The idea of Hak’hel feels more more relevant than ever. We have lived in isolation but also feel the burdens of the world. Our sukkot have been missing the guests that would normally fill them all week.

Perhaps this final breath of Festival can be a moment to step away from all of that, to reconnect and remember the gift of being a part of the extended Jewish family, and to celebrate the rich Tradition and Torah that have guided us through the generations. Take a moment to dance and sing to honor the gift of Torah with your community, whether socially distanced on the street, over Zoom, or just connected in spirit, and know that as we raise our spirits and voices, we are raising each other’s spirits as well. May it be an island of wholehearted, full-throated joy that fortifies us for whatever lies ahead.

Wishing each of you bracha and a Chag Sameach.