It’s a very somber and solemn time now. In Israel, the Hebrew date for Oct. 7, 2023, was the joyous festival of Simchat Torah. In the Diaspora, where two days of Yom Tov are celebrated, it was Shemini Atzeret. Many have been wondering how to combine the first yahrzeit of our 1,200 martyrs with the celebrations of Simchat Torah, arguably the most joyous day of the year in shuls around the world.
In Israel, it’s even more complicated as they celebrate both chagim on the very same day. I’ve always wondered how they manage to combine hakafot and dancing for Simchat Torah with the Yizkor memorial when they are observed simultaneously in the same synagogue service. Doesn’t it feel schizophrenic? This year, as we mark the first anniversary of the bloody massacre, it is complicated and gut-wrenching. Many rabbis are busy crafting specialized prayers for the victims of Oct. 7 while still reconciling it with joyous celebrations on the same day.
It is reminiscent of two verses in our Tanach (Jewish scripture). Tehillim 2:11 (Psalms) tells us to serve God with awe and reverence and to “rejoice with trembling.” Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) chapter 3 famously begins with “For everything there is a season,” including “a time for war and a time for peace” as well as “a time for mourning and a time for dancing.”
Let’s try to find some resolution here. On Simchat Torah, we conclude reading the entire Torah with the very end of Devarim (Deuteronomy) and we immediately begin the Torah again with Bereishit (Genesis). This demonstrates clearly that we never “finish” studying Torah. No matter how much we may know, no one knows it all. The Torah, being the wisdom of God, is infinite and unknowable in its entirety. Nor do we take a break from reading Torah. As we finish the fifth book, we begin the first book again immediately.
The end and the beginning reflect a truth not only of the Torah but of life. In eight verses, the concluding words of the Torah, we read that Moses died. Rashi raises the question of who wrote those final eight verses. One opinion is that Joshua, Moses’s primary disciple and successor, wrote them. So says Rabbi Yehoshua. But Rashi brings another opinion, too. Rabbi Meir points out that Moses gave the Levites a Sefer Torah before his passing. Would he have given them an incomplete book? Highly unlikely, he argues. His view is that “The Holy One, Blessed be He, dictated the words and Moses transcribed them with tears.”
The simple meaning is that it was quite an emotional experience for Moses to record his own death and so he wept. But the commentaries attribute far deeper meaning to Moses than mere personal emotion. They say he was not crying for himself but for his people. He knew that this was his last day on earth and that Joshua was his chosen successor. But before Moses’s passing, God showed him not only the Promised Land but the future timeline of Jewish history.
Moses saw our magnificent Holy Temples and also their destruction. He saw the prophets of the future and the great Talmudic sages like Rabbi Akiva. Moses lived the fullest of lives, 120 years to the day. He was not crying for himself but for the future tragedies that would befall his people. While he saw the triumphs of King David and the glory of Solomon, he also foresaw the destruction and the dispersions, the Inquisition and the Holocaust. He wept for our pain and suffering in the time of our national calamities.
And I have no doubt that he wept for all our loved ones who perished on Oct. 7.
But we can say to Moses, Your tears were not in vain, dearest Moses. You gave us God’s Torah over 3,336 years ago and we are still studying it! And we are not going anywhere. We are here in Israel. We are here in shuls around the world. Despite all the persecutions and problems of our tempestuous history, we remain loyal and faithful to your Torah. The verses of your passing reflect not your end but your eternity. Joshua carried your teachings down to the next generation who inherited the Promised Land. There is a proud chain of great leaders and Jewish continuity down the ages to this very moment right now. You, too, can rejoice with us, Moses. Your tears can be tears of joy as you watch us concluding these eight verses but immediately opening and reading the next book of Genesis. It never ends and it will continue forever. There is much to celebrate, too.
So on Shemini Atzeret, we will recite Yizkor for our own loved ones and we will add special memorial prayers for the Six Million martyrs of the Holocaust and also for the recent victims of last year’s massacre. And on Simchat Torah, we will sing, dance and celebrate the noble, never-ending glorious saga of Am Yisrael.
There can be no greater joy and comfort to our martyrs than that Jews continue to live and practice their faith despite all our tragic losses. We owe it to them to ensure that their deaths were not in vain. They inspire us to live on proudly and defiantly.
Our enemies can never silence us permanently. We died, but we live again. We will shed tears of sadness for our losses. And we will shed tears of joy for our strength, spirit and eternal survival.
No matter what, Am Yisrael Chai forever!