Doubling Down on Simchas Torah      

How shall we celebrate this Simchas Torah? Halachah does not allow us to mourn on Yom Tov, but — given what happened last year and since — can our observance of this day remain unchanged? While we cannot allow the attacks to suspend Jewish life, and Simchas Torah’s joyous acknowledgment of the gift of Torah remains an invaluable source of inspiration for us from year to year, how can we possibly conduct our festivities as usual?

Let us sharpen the question. This Simchas Torah, there will be two kinds of Jews — those for whom celebration will require enormous willpower, gevuras hanefesh, and those for whom it will be relatively easy.

For the residents of the Gaza Envelope and Sderot, the families of hostages and of soldiers who have been on the front lines all year, and for many others, the celebration of Simchas Torah will inevitably stir up feelings of deep grief and distress. But many of them will nevertheless engage in yet another act of heroism as they find a place for those feelings while celebrating the Yom Tov l’Sheim Shamayim. Their achievement will be celebrating an apparently normal Simchas Torah when everything else in their lives has changed after October 7.

But what about the rest of us? For those who have been largely insulated from the depth of the tragedy, who have experienced it via news reports, calls with relatives, and solidarity visits, but not deeply and personally, al besareinu, the task is entirely different. Though we have been deeply concerned and engaged in tefillah and acts of tzedakah and chesed, we have lived more or less as usual despite the ongoing war.