Shabbat Shalom! “Dance with the Torah and sing out a song. Dance with the Torah and sing all night long. Torah, Torah sheli (Torah, Torah is mine)!” This is the song that I grew up with as we headed into Simchat Torah and I couldn’t wait! The same is true for our celebration at TBA, I can’t wait. Be a part of the celebration as we dance and sing with the Torah on Sunday, October 7 at 7:00 pm and/or Monday, October 8 at 9:00 am. Simchat Torah, rejoicing in the law, celebrates the completion of the yearly Torah reading cycle and beginning over again. This time of year has many opportunities for celebration, reflection and new beginnings. On Simchat Torah here at TBA, our Klezmer band will play as we dance and sing and then we will open one of our scrolls around the Social Hall creating a circle around our children. As we join the end and the beginning together under the chuppah, I am reminded of a teaching by Neil Yurman. When restoring our Torah’s, Neil Yurman taught us that the last word of the Torah, Yisrael ending in a ל (lamed) joins with the first word of the Torah, b’reishit beginning with a ב (vet) to create the word leiv, heart. As the Torah is the heart of the Jewish community, celebrating this new beginning is the heart of our TBA community. Join with your community (Yisrael) as we b’reishit (in the beginning) celebrate the new year, the Torah and being together. Hope to see you there!
As a reminder a couple of weeks ago I suggested adding a little study to your week by studying the weekly Torah portion. There are many different choices from picking up a copy of the Torah and just beginning to read to the online sources that I suggested. As well there are opportunities to study the holidays. For example check out URJ for a basic guide to Simchat Torah or take a quiz at myjewishlearning.com to see what you know.
L’shalom,
Cantor Margot
