Growing up, one of the traditions I loved most on Simchat Torah was standing in the sanctuary of my home synagogue as we unrolled the entire Torah, just like we do here at Temple Beth El. The scroll stretched across the room, filling the sanctuary with beautiful golden parchment and the rich black ink of the Hebrew letters glistened in the light. My rabbi would chant from the last section of the Book of Deuteronomy and when he reached the final word of Torah, Yisrael, he would take a deep breath. He would then hold the last note: “Yisra-elll” and run across the sanctuary, all the way to the beginning of the Book of Genesis and without allowing his breath to break, he would begin chanting, “Bereshit bara Elohim, In the beginning, God created.”
Every year, as he prepared to chant the final word, you could hear an audible inhale throughout the sanctuary as hundreds of us took that breath with him. we all sang Yisra-ellll… and, as he reached the beginning of the scroll, we joined him in chanting Bereshit, in unison. My rabbi taught us that we end and begin Torah in a single breath, never allowing it to leave us. Its words were not meant to end, but continue breathing within us.
This Simchat Torah marks the third Hebrew anniversary of October 7th, and I find myself returning to that breath and to the two words held within it:Yisrael, Israel and Bereshit, Beginning. Three years ago, the breath was knocked out of us as a people. Our joy was shattered, precious lives were taken, families were forever changed, Israeli communities were devastated, and so many endured darkness and horror that we could barely find words to describe the pain. And yet, this third anniversary carries within it a sacred echo of Creation. On the third day, God brings forth life from the earth. Grass appears, seeds take root, trees begin to grow, and the world blossoms. On that day, God looks upon Creation and sees, “ki tov, it is good” and it is written not once, but twice.
Three years later, we are seeing life and love bloom again throughout Israel. Former hostages are standing beneath the chuppah. Babies are being born to people who survived unimaginable darkness and horror. Families are rebuilding, kibbutzim in the south are being inhabited once again, and music and laughter are returning to city streets. None of this diminishes the sorrow or the memories that remain with us. It reminds us of something deeply woven into who we are as a people: we have learned to hold memory and beginning in the same breath, sorrow and joy alongside one another, honoring what has been lost while still making room for what is waiting to be created.
At the heart of Am Yisrael is Torah, the sacred story our people have carried from generation to generation. Torah sustains us when we are feeling spiritually parched. It offers us words when we cannot find our own. It’s a source of wisdom, meaning, comfort, and strength. Every year we read the same words again and again, and somehow we encounter them as if for the first time. The words themselves remain the same, but we do not. We grow, we change, we grieve, we fall in love, we lose people we love, and we encounter moments that alter us forever. Then we return to Torah, and a verse we have read countless times speaks differently because it awakens something new within us. This is the awe and wonder of Torah. It continues to meet us where we are and guides us to where we hope to be.
On Simchat Torah we celebrate the sacred gift that has sustained our people for generations and continues to gather us together in joy. We will take our Torahs into our arms and dance them into Milestone Hall, which has been transformed into the streets of Jerusalem, giving life to the ancient promise of the prophet Jeremiah:
עוֹד יִשָּׁמַע בְּעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְחוּצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָיִם
קוֹל שָׂשׂוֹן וְקוֹל שִׂמְחָה
Od yishama b’arei Yehudah u’vechutzot Yerushalayim, kol sasson v’kol simcha.
Once again, there will be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voices of joy and gladness.
We return once more to that single breath holding Yisrael and Bereshit, what we have inherited and what we are still creating, held together. With joy in our hearts, hope before us, and Torah carrying us forward, Am Yisrael Chai, the Jewish people live!
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.
Rabbi Laila Haas
