Photo by: Timon Studler
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig: How to Deal With the Simchat Torah “Problem”
Shavuot is now behind us. Given the Gaza War that Israelis have taken to call the “Simkhat Torah War,” it’s time to start thinking ahead about what to “do” about Simkhat Torah in another four months. Clearly, unlike all other years this time, the holiday involves a major dilemma, given the calamity of Simkhat Torah 2023. How can/should Jews “celebrate” a joyous holiday so suffused with sorrow?
To be honest, trying to square such a circle is close to impossible – emotionally and morally. The solution, therefore, is to separate the square from the circle. And in this particular case, that’s something surprisingly easy to accomplish!
Understanding how this can be done – in Israel and in the Diaspora – requires the recognition of the holiday’s nature, something easier for non-Israelis to do than their Israeli counterparts. That’s because we are talking about two holidays celebrated in the Jewish world, being compressed into one day only in Israel. The first day is Shmini Atzeret; the second Simkhat Torah.
The first is mentioned in the Torah: “On the eighth day you shall convene a mass meeting; you shall not do any work” (Numbers 35: 29). This holiday seemingly constitutes the “coda” for the 7-day holiday of Sukkot (Tabernacles), but it is clear that this day stands on its own because it symbolizes the start of Israel’s rainy season (something that you do not want while sitting in one’s Sukkah!). Indeed, the service for the onset of rain continues to be prayed in synagogues on Shmini Atzeret. As will be explained shortly, the “independence” of this holiday from Sukkot is critical for the solution to our dilemma.
But first, a few words about Simkhat Torah. Surprisingly, the Bible makes no mention of this holiday; indeed, these two words together don’t appear anywhere until the 8th century CE – and not as the name of a specific Jewish holiday until the 11th century! (That’s a mere 1000 years ago.) The reason for such a late appearance? During the Second Temple period the cycle of Torah readings was tri-annual i.e., it took three years to finish reading the Torah portions on the Sabbaths. Thus, there could not be an annual holiday celebrating the completion of the Five Books of Moses. It was only when the annual Torah cycle was accepted by Jews (almost) everywhere – first in Babylonia and much later in Israel – that such a holiday made any sense.
However, much like the Shavuot holiday just celebrated, outside of the Land of Israel Shmini Atzeret was celebrated over two days (for the reason of difficulties deciding when the New Moon occurs, a problem I won’t explain here) so that once Simkhat Torah started to be celebrated it made eminent sense to piggyback on the second day of Shmini Atzeret. And therein lies the solution to our new “Simkhat Torah” dilemma.
The Hamas invasion on Oct. 7 took place on the combined day of Shmini Atzeret/ Simkhat Torah – in Israel. Thus, Israelis immediately took to calling this the “Simkhat Torah” tragedy because for non-Orthodox (and most Orthodox as well) that’s what stands out. But as I just explained, Simkhat Torah is the “subsidiary” holiday! The more important (biblically sanctioned) one is Shmini Atzeret.
The solution, then, incorporates two parts. First, rename Oct. 7, 2023, as the Shmini Atzeret tragedy. In any case, on this holiday the traditional prayer of Yizkor is recited for the Jewish People’s deceased ancestors and contemporaries. It would be appropriate to add a permanent prayer for the victims of Oct. 7 – just as many synagogues have added a Yizkor prayer to commemorate Holocaust victims.
As for Jews living outside of Israel, such a solution is even easier given that Oct. 7, 2023, fell on Shmini Atzeret and not on Simkhat Torah at all (again, there the two are celebrated on consecutive days). Of course, that assumes that non-Israeli communities view the Oct. 7 massacre as something highly unusual, deserving special attention and prayer.
For many overseas Jews, that day was indeed traumatic but for a different, albeit related reason: it set off a massive wave of anti-Semitism around the world, as confounding as anything that has happened in Jewish history. Perhaps not for the first time, but certainly a novum in the last several decades, a major attack against Jews (Oct. 7) initiated an anti-Semitic campaign accusing them of being the “aggressors” deserving of continued attack.
In short, let Simkhat Torah remain the joyous day for celebrating the Torah cycle. Shmini Atzeret, whose very name holds within it the collective convocation and union of all Jews (Atzeret), is the proper day for commemorating the tragedy of Oct. 7.
