On Simchat Torah (“joy of the Torah”), 525 Jewish communities in 287 cities in 31 countries plan to unveil 635 Torah covers. The holiday, which comes at the end of the Sukkot festival, begins on Wednesday night in Israel and the following night for Jews in other countries.
Last year, Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack occurred on Simchat Torah in Israel and the following day for other Jews, which will make the joyful day bittersweet for many Jews. The Simchat Torah Project from Mizrachi, the global religious Zionist movement, provides communities with tangible connections to and memorials of that fateful day, which was the bloodiest for Jewry since the Holocaust.
The project, which bears the subtitle “dancing through tears,” provides a community with a Torah mantle dedicated to a victim of the terror attack or an Israel Defense Forces member who has been killed in battle since Oct. 7.
Rabbi James Proops, of the Modern Orthodox congregation Synagogue of the Suburban Torah Center in Livingston, N.J., told JNS that taking part in the project “will enable us to bridge the contrasting emotions that we all feel” and to connect with Jews worldwide.
“By dedicating me’ilim in honor of individuals, we hope to connect with the people behind the names and photos, perpetuating their legacy for years to come,” he added. (The Hebrew word me’il means “jacket” and is one of the words for a Torah mantle.)
The Livingston synagogue has received six Torah mantles to use on Simchat Torah, including one dedicated to Sgt. Adi Gruman, 19, who was killed on Oct. 7 while she tried to rescue soldiers, whom Hamas terrorists had trapped at a military base. Relatives of the late soldier are members of the synagogue.
