As Sukkot ends next week, bringing the High Holy Day season to a close, we mark three holidays on the Jewish calendar. Hoshana Rabbah, which begins Sunday at sundown, is a time to pray for salvation. It’s followed by Shemini Atzeret, literally the “eighth day of solemn convocation,” and during services in the synagogue Tuesday, we say Yizkor memorial prayers.
Then, at sundown Tuesday, we suddenly turn from solemnity to celebration, because Simchat Torah, which marks the annual completion of the Torah cycle, means “Rejoicing of the Law.”
Despite the grief we have been experiencing since Sept. 11, as we approach Simchat Torah, it is wise to recall the words of Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season.”
Our forebears — who also suffered from oppression, war, famine and other scourges — wisely built times for celebration and mourning into our calendar, bolstering our mental and spiritual health, and our survival as a people.
While it may be difficult to turn from mourning to celebration, that is what we are commanded to do. After reading the final chapter of Deuteronomy, and the story of Moses’ death, we return again to Genesis, “In the beginning,” with the story of Creation.
Circling the synagogues and dancing with the Torahs remind us that we have much to celebrate, even amid our grief. We’re still here, despite Haman, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and countless villains, plagues and pogroms. In fact, the terrorists have failed to still the Jewish and the American spirit.
Let’s take time on Shemini Atzeret to remember our loved ones. If you’ve never attended Yizkor services, this may be a good year to do so.
Then, let’s set our grief aside, taking time on Simchat Torah to rejoice in what we hold dear — our Torah, our community, our country, our blessings. We must not allow the terrorists a victory over our spirits.