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Rabbi Dena Feingold When we speak about Simchat Torah here
at Beth Hillel, I often hear: “Oh, that’s the holiday when we open the entire
Torah in a circle around the children.” And it is true that that is our custom
at Beth Hillel, but it is a fairly new custom, by no means universal, and actually
non-essential to the observance of the holiday. The same is true of “passing
the Torah from generation to generation” that often happens at a Bar/Bat
Mitzvah. It is a beautiful and beloved custom, but it is not part of any
traditional observance of Bar/Bat Mitzvah. These customs and many others are
rather recent innovations of Jewish practice that have enlivened and
reinvigorated time-honored Jewish rituals for the present day, while
maintaining the traditional customs as well. It is wonderful to know how many
people look forward to and “wouldn’t miss” our holiday observances because of
the festive, creative touches that we include here at Beth Hillel. We observed Simchat Torah on Monday,
October 20. Yes, it is, inconveniently, on a school night. While many keep
their children out of school for the holiday, we know that some of you find
it impossible. So, we have made the service time earlier this year in order to
encourage families with children to come. The service, including the traditional
Hakafot (dancing and singing with the Torah, carrying flags, etc.) and the
opening up and reading of the Torah will take about one hour, so that families
can enjoy it, have some sweets in the social hall and still get home at a reasonable
hour. We also marked the Consecration of 6 new
students in our school this year at Simchat Torah. Don’t forget that we like
to welcome them by placing candy on the bima, so that the study of Torah will
be sweet! Bring some small, wrapped candies with you to the service. In the
recent Wisconsin Public Television documentary “Chosen Towns,” one of the
folks interviewed from another small Jewish community said that “Judaism is
not a ‘feel- good’ religion; it’s a ‘do-good’ religion.” I certainly agree that
our main task as Jews is to “do good,” and that is why we have a food drive
at this season, why we tie our celebration of Sukkot into environmental concerns,
and why we join with the interfaith community to make Kenosha a better place,
etc. But I also fervently believe in making Jews “feel good” when we celebrate and observe the cherished traditions
of our people. That is why we add the special, festive touches to our
observances that make them so memorable. I think “feeling good” is one of the
things we do best at Beth Hillel, and of which we can all be proud. May our remaining celebrations and rejoicing
during our fall holiday season and beyond make us all “feel good.” Moadim
L’simcha (May you have a festive season of rejoicing) Rabbi Dena A. Feingold |
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© 2008 Beth Hillel Temple |
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