Holidays:

Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah 

Parsha:

Bereishit 

Description

Dancing on Simchat Torah looms over many of us as an unthinkable, even a dreaded, act. This is the same holiday morning shattered by last year’s murderous Oct. 7 attack. Many of the hostages taken that day remain in Gaza; more than 1,500 civilians and soldiers are dead; tens of thousands remain evacuated from border regions; and almost all of us in Israel are on high alert for the wailing of air raid sirens at any moment. Amid all this, how can synagogues hold the traditional seven hakafot, or rounds of circle dancing with the Torah, traditionally accompanied by song?