By Brian Pikelny
In 2023, the holiday Simchat Torah was sullied when Hamas terrorists exploded through the Gaza border with Israel, breaking an existing cease-fire. The terrorists murdered around 1,200 people, and over 250 people were kidnapped. But it is essential to remember on Sukkot and Simchat Torah, while there are many reasons to be sad on all Jewish holidays, there are millions of reasons to be happy.
Sukkot is a seven-day Jewish holiday in Israel and eight days in the diaspora celebrating the yearly harvest and commemorating the protection G-d gave the Israelites after the Exodus from Egypt. The Hebrew word Sukkot is the plural of sukkah, which means booth or tabernacle.
It is a Torah-commanded holiday. Along with Passover and Shavuot, it is one of the three pilgrimage festivals in which Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. People celebrate the holiday by eating all their meals in a sukkah, a temporary dwelling with at least three walls and a roof of natural vegetation like palm branches. The roof needs to be open to the sky.
The sukkah is usually decorated with hanging fruit, squash, or corn. The origin of the sukkah dates to temporary dwellings that farmers used and lived in during harvesting, but more significantly, it reminds us of the temporary dwellings the Israelites used, traveling the desert for 40 years after the Exodus from Egypt.
For the observant, the first and second days of the holiday are treated like Shabbat. Work is forbidden. Traditionally, on the intermediate days, called Chal HaMoed days all activities needed for the holiday, such as travel to other sukkahs or buying food, are allowed. Activities that interfere with the enjoyment of the holiday, such as intensive labor, are forbidden. The last two days in the diaspora (one day in Israel) are technically separate holidays. Shabbat-like days for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (Joy of the Torah).
Customs inside the sukkah involve the four species: the lulav (palm, willow, and myrtle branches) and etrog (citron like a lemon and native to Israel). We are commanded to take these four species and use them to rejoice before G-d. With these four species in hand, one recites a blessing and waves the four species in all six directions (north, south, east, west, and up and down). This symbolizes the fact that G-d is everywhere.
On Sukkot, G-d determines how much rain will fall that winter. During the Temple times, seventy sacrifices were made during the seven-day holiday, representing prayers for the seventy gentile nations on the earth. With every sacrifice, wine and water were poured over the altar in a special ceremony. This ritual was celebrated with music, dancing, and singing all night. Today, even with no Temple, it is customary to hold nightly celebrations with singing, dancing, and live music during the intermediate days.
The Torah tells us that after seven days of Sukkot, an eighth day should be celebrated. The eighth day is a separate holiday called Shemini Atzeret, which in Israel is shared with another holiday, Simchat Torah. In the Diaspora, it is a two-day holiday, Shemini Atzeret, then Simchat Torah. These are joyous days, and a prayer for rain is made on the first day. And Yizkor is recited to remember the souls of the departed.
The four species are no longer used but still have meals in the sukkah. The highlight of the second day of Simchat Torah is the conclusion of the yearly reading cycle of the Torah. It is customary for every man to receive an Aliyah (ascending the platform) to read the Torah, and we march and dance with the Torah scrolls. After reading the last line of the Torah, we start rereading the Torah in a new cycle with Genesis.
Simchat Torah in 2023 occurred on October 6-7th. A day when Hamas launched thousands of rockets as a diversion, followed by thousands of terrorists breaching Israel’s border fence and murdering close to 1,200 men, women, and children and kidnapping 251 men, women, and children back to Gaza to be held as hostages. Everyone agrees it was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
After October 7th many ask why this is happening to us and why should we still celebrate holidays? Throughout Jewish history, we went through expulsions and genocides, and we never stopped celebrating holidays as a people. That old saying “they tried to kill is we won, let’s eat” still applies with an adjustment (see above).
There are many reasons to be sad, but there are millions of reasons to be happy. After 2,000 years in exile, we have returned to our eternal homeland. How amazing and wonderful is that? We have enough fasts for us to mourn, and we can give extra meaning to them because of October 7th. Celebration can heal and help us face the future. It is better to move forward and make a better world for our children, for Israel, and for the entire Jewish nation. Our traditions give us purpose.