This year the High Holidays from Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah are different from last year. On the one hand, we cannot allow the enemies of Israel and the Jewish people to quash our joy of celebrating the holidays and keeping the Torah, but on the other hand, the resonance of October 7th leaves us with a cold shudder of pain and a fear which sits just behind our joy. How are we to both celebrate the holidays—experience the sweetness of Rosh Hashanah, the purity of Yom Kippur, and the profound joy of Sukkot and Simchat Torah—and still honor and remember those we all know who were killed on October 7th and in its aftermath during this ongoing war?
This is not the first time our people have faced a sense of emotional conflict and halachic antinomy; indeed, we have endured exile, pogroms, and the Holocaust when every 3rd Jew was murdered. In the face of all these challenges our people have never given in, never erased the simchat mitzvah of being a Jew.
I think the avodah, the spiritual and religious work of this year’s holiday season, is to both engage in the joyous celebration and at the same time integrate remembrance, commemoration, and the poignancy of loss into the holidays themselves, intellectually in our learning and practically in our observance. I encourage everyone individually to integrate the memories of those who have been killed and taken hostage. In addition, as a community we are planning the following:
October 5th—Shabbat Shuvah:
This year’s Shabbat Shuvah drasha will be on the topic of seeing Simchat Torah in a different light. We know Simchat Torah as a day of great joy, hence its name, yet there is a different side to the holiday and the Hakafot, one that is more weighty and more introspective. Especially this year, this other element of Simchat Torah will be important to connect to.
October 6th—Tzom Gedaliah:
October 6th this year is the day after Rosh Hashanah and is the Fast of Gedalia ben Achikam. In the afternoon of the fast at 4:30 pm I will teach a class titled “Post-October 7th Hebrew Poetry Part II.” This will be followed at 5:30 pm with a half hour of Tehillim psalms and kinnot for those fighting on Israel’s behalf, for the hostages, and for those who have perished on the 7th and in the war.
Yom Kippur and Shemini Atzeret:
On Yom Kippur and Shemini Atzeret during yizkor, as we did last year, we will hold a moment of silence and recite a special memorial prayer for those who perished on October 7th and in Iron Swords.
Simchat Torah:
Kesher Israel is joining with over 320 other communities from 20+ countries in The Simchat Torah Project,
an initiative to unite the Jewish World and honor the memory of the 1,200 souls who perished on October 7th. Our community will be receiving a Torah cover (me’il) inscribed in the memory of one of the victims.
Hakafot:
During the night and day Simchat Torah Hakafot we will hold Hakafah #4 as a Silent Hakafah. This is a practice suggested by our recent scholar in residence, the Rabbi of Shoham, Rabbi Dovid Stav, which communities in Israel are doing this year. The 4th Hakafah will begin with a silent circle led by our Torah which bears a special covering recently purchased by the synagogue to remember the victims of October 7th. Following this circuit, the leader will chant (not sing) Ana Hashem. This will be followed by a communal singing of Achenu Kol Beit Yisrael and a prayer for the soldiers of the IDF and the hostages.
May the memories of those who sacrificed their lives Al Kiddush HaShem, for the sanctification of God’s name, serve as a blessing to all our people, and may this year’s Tishrei holidays bring peace and security to the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. Amen.