Simchat Torah: Why You Should Be Dancing

As I'm sitting here writing this blog post, it is mid-afternoon on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009. What was I doing on October 7th, 2008? Probably getting ready for my Yom Kippur sermons, since Kol Nidre was October 8th! But I also remember that the full extent of the financial crisis hadn't hit yet, we did not yet know who would be the next President of the United States, certain people in my life were still alive, others not yet born, and I hadn't even heard of Ohev Shalom in Wallingford, PA! What a difference a year makes...

Judaism tries to give us many opportunities to reflect on the passage of time. We need these constant reminders because we're so bad at doing it on our own! Most of us just let time pass without giving it much thought, and in the meantime life quickly flies by. If we appreciated the little things in life more, if we savored precious moments with loved ones and the truly joyous occasions that come and go, we might live our entire lives with more happiness and thankfulness.

So why am I talking about this right now? Simchat Torah is one of those opportunities to reflect on the passage of time. We are concluding the reading of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, and we are immediately restarting with the first chapter of Genesis. We complete the entire cycle every year, but it is still a major achievement to get through the entire Torah, and so we celebrate. We take out all the Torah scrolls from the ark and we dance around the sanctuary. We invite everyone to receive an aliyah, an honor to the Torah, and we even give an honor to all the children who are not yet Bar Mitzvah age. It is a wonderful celebration of the Torah, of our relationship with our heritage, and with God.

But we also celebrate our community. We acknowledge that we are still here; that we are a vibrant congregation with a rich history, full of members who have spent their entire lives in the same shul. We celebrate for those who are no longer with us, for those who have not yet arrived, and for everyone who has ever been a part of our community. Who knows where we will be in 2010? When we get back to Simchat Torah in a year's time, who will still be here? And where will the world be? With concerns about Afghanistan, a nuclear Iran, and the ever-present conflict with the Palestinians, we cannot help but speculate where the Jewish community, Israel, and the world will be a year from now. We hope and pray that we will all be in a better place than where we are today.

We have so much to be thankful for, yet so much to pray for that lies ahead. I encourage us all to take this opportunity to stop and reflect. Look around you and tell your friends and family how much they mean to you. Enjoy every moment, give thanks to God, and then come and dance at Simchat Torah services!

Chag Sameach!