“Remaining insular while still being sensitive and interacting with others through middos tovos is exactly what the Torah expects of us”
I wanted to comment on Reb Shmuel Botnick’s masterfully written Yom Tov article about Grinches and Simchas Torah hashkamah minyanim. Rabbi Botnick writes that the short hakafos in early morning minyanim are for those Grinches who don’t wish to celebrate with the klal.
But there are some groups in Klal Yisrael for whom the neitz minyan on Simchas Torah is a lifeline. Be it a couple who is still waiting for children, a divorced man who doesn’t have his children on the chag, or an older single who watches his friends reach milestone after milestone, for many individuals a “regular” Simchas Torah minyan overflowing with children is simply too painful to participate in, making a child-free hashkamah minyan the only choice.
There are typically not enough people in these demographics in close enough proximity to make a minyan (or perhaps we are just unaware of each other), so we rely on the Grinches to make the minyanim we attend. As such, my wish is for the Simchas Torah neitz minyan to remain alive and well until Klal Yisrael knows no more pain.
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Rabbi Lopiansky’s article, “The Little Teivah and the Foolish Shepherd,” touched on what I believe is one of the greatest challenges in nurturing respect and empathy in ourselves, our children, and our students for those who are “different” from us: the need to separate ourselves in order to remain pure, kadosh, and uninfluenced by the real dangers of broader society.
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