Rabbi's Message

Moadim L’simha! I hope you have enjoyed time with loved ones in the sukkah over the past week.  How incredible has the weather been?! As we conclude Sukkot, we will arrive at the end of our holiday season, which concludes with Shemini Atzeret (which begins tonight) and Simhat Torah (tomorrow night). This is traditionally a time of great joy and celebration, marking the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle and the immediate beginning of a new one. It is a time when we sing, dance, and celebrate our love of Torah and our gratitude for the new year, which has just begun.  

However, this year is different as Shemini Atzeret/Simhat Torah (which are observed on the same day in Israel) mark the one-year anniversary (on the Hebrew calendar) of the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.   Tomorrow marks the first yarzheit for the more than 1,200 Israelis murdered last year in the most horrific attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.  This, coupled with the reality that war continues in Israel, now on multiple fronts and that we are still praying for the safe return of 101 hostages, brings a darkened cloud over the end of our holiday season.

Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, The CEO of the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, overs this insight: “Indeed, it is precisely in these moments of darkness that the true strength and resilience of our community shine brightest. Our history is a testament to our ability to find hope and joy in the face of adversity, to come together as a community and support one another through the hardest of times.”

And that is exactly what we will do. We will come together as a community to remember, hope, mourn, dance, and move from darkness to light.  On Shemini Atzeret we will come together for Yizkor; to remember our personal loved ones and to remember all those who were murdered in Israel last Shemini Atzeret.  Then, to transition from Shemini Atzeret to Simhat Torah we will have a Tekes Ma’avar (transition ceremony) as part of Ma’ariv which will begin with memory, mourning, and prayer and will end with dancing with the Torahs.  Finally, join us on Friday morning at our Simhat Torah morning service as we honor members of our TBS Community who traveled on our TBS missions to Israel this year with the last Aliyah of the Torah and then honor our Kesher High School Director, Jared Kaufman for all of the incredible work he has done with our teens over the years, especially around Israel education and engagement.

In Chapter 3 of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), we read: “A season is set for everything, a time for every purpose under heaven…a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Over the next few days, we will experience the interplay between these verbs. In doing so, may we honor the legacy of those we have lost, stand tall with our brothers and sisters in Israel, and come together in strength and hope as a TBS community.

Hag Sameah.