From the Rabbi

What a Simchas Torah this will be. 

Because literally— almost to the exact Hebrew day they were snatched from us, our precious, beloved brothers and sisters  are finally home. 

Sometimes in life the joy we feel is so profound there are simply no words to describe what we are feeling. But I wanted to share a few short reflections about things we can think about.

This morning during davening, we said, “Hodo L’Hashem Ki Tov, Ki L’olam Chasdo. Give thanks to Hashem for He is good, His kindness endures forever. We then said, “This is the day G-d made, we will exult, and we will rejoice on it.” Never in my lifetime have the words of Hallel resonated more than they did this morning. 

In the Book of Prophets, in Nechemya 8:17, he prophesies, “And all the congregation of those who came back out of the captivity made sukkahs, and dwelt in the sukkahs…. And there was very great gladness.”

How appropriate that the last of our precious hostages returned on the Hoshana Rabba, the last day of Sukkos. And indeed, there is a very great gladness– perhaps the likes of which there has not been among the Jewish People since the Six-Day War. 

I believe this incredible time we find ourselves also very much connects to the holiday of Shemini Atzeres, which we are celebrating tonight. The Torah describes how we have a multitude of sacrifices that were brought during the times of the Temple during Sukkos. But on Shemini Atzeres, it was only one offering. 

Why?

Rashi famously describes that it can be compared to a king who invited his precious children to a multi-day feast. Once it became time  to take leave of his precious children though, he pleads, “My children, I have but one request of you– please, remain with me just one more day– kashe alay pridaschem. Your separation is difficult for me.”

Shemini Atzeres is a day of tremendous intimacy in which G-d requires one more day with us, as is so hard for Him to pull back, away from the intimacy we have enjoyed during the High Holidays and Sukkos. 

Many Chassidic Rebbes explain that the phrase “kasheh alay pridaschem - “your separation is difficult for me” doesn’t just mean that it is hard for G-d when we pull apart and experience more distance, but it also means “Your separation, your division, is hard for me.” G-d is telling us on Shemini Atzeres, “When you bicker and argue and fight, that is hard for me.” There is something about Shimini Atzeres which demands our unity and love for each other.

The great Chassidic Master the Bnei Yissoschar also describes that Shemini Atzeres is a day of tremendous intimacy between us and the almighty in the Yom HaNirtzah L’yichuda Shalim– an opportune day for complete and full seclusion and aloneness with the Almighty. 

The complete yichud - connection and isolation we have with G-d on Shemini Atzeres that the Bnei Yisoschar describes, perhaps could also be understood and translated as “complete unity.” Shemini Atzeres is a day of our complete and total unity, both with Hashem, and, each other. 

We all fight. Both here, and especially in Israel. But, by the looks of the footage coming out of the Holy Land, it is clear that right now, there is complete unity.

Let us bask in this historic, Biblical-feeling moment.

Let us thank Hashem with every fiber of our beings.

And this Simchas Torah, let us dance, and celebrate, like never before.