Shuey: We planned something special, for the people who needed it. Is it my fault it was so popular?

Eliyahu: We have a tradition that we follow here every year. Your big event ruined it for everyone.

Shuey

“Bar Yochai, nimshachta ashrecha…”

Spirited dancing, lively music, and dozens of voices raised in song filled the parking lot behind the shul. In the center, flames leaped and soared from the carefully constructed bonfire.

I gently let my youngest son down from my shoulders and he scampered off to his friends. I joined one of the ever-evolving circles and let myself go. The dancing, the atmosphere, the uplifting songs, nothing like it. And our shul had built up something beautiful over the years, a real warm and welcoming atmosphere, so many families, a mix of ages and stages and backgrounds, but still with that feeling of unity and all being a part of things.

Chaim Mensch, one of the younger shul members, grabbed my hand and pumped it as he kicked and jumped in time to the music.

“Reb Shuey! Let’s make a matzav!”

Chaim was a leibedig guy, the type to draw a crowd wherever he went. Sure enough, a bunch of the younger chevrah appeared out of nowhere, and suddenly I was in the center of a large, whirling circle of energetic men, going faster and faster.