By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
Time to rest up after the flurry of spirited Chagim during this past month?
‘No way Jose’, (as they say).
You would think that after finishing the Torah reading cycle on Simchas Torah we would get a breather. Couple of days off. Till we start again.
Right?
Wrong!
On Simchas Torah itself, we reinforce the never ending cyclical experience that defines our relationship with Torah. We immediately restart the reading of the Torah from ‘Bereishit’ – ‘In the Beginning’. After finishing the reading of Five books of Torah we bless each other by saying ‘Chazak chazak venitchazek’ (‘be strong, be strong, may we be strengthened’) The restarting of the Torah take place within minutes of that zenith.
Isn’t repetition boring? This is NOT repetition.
Isn’t it demoralizing to reach the climax of completing the Torah only to have to crouch down and make our way to the beginning again?
Here’s the beauty of the Torah. It is absolutely not going back to ‘square one’ to begin reading the Torah anew.
It’s a new beginning. A beginning that builds on top of the peak of previous study.
Last year you may have started the Torah and hopefully even completed the annual cycle.
This year you are wiser, older and more experienced.
Your more educated self takes all that knowledge and perception and learns the Torah anew.
The Torah is limitless in its depth and breadth. As much as you will know, there will be more to know. Deeper understanding. Greater clarity.
However old or young you may be. The Torah is for you! However much you may have learned till now, a new level of meaning and understanding awaits you. All it takes is the motivation to implement Torah study in your life.
And granted, it may take a bit of effort on the part of your fingers. (Unless you have voice recognition in your computer. Then your fingers don’t even have to work. Smiley face).
Type (or say) ‘daily torah study’ or a variation of that, into google and you will see what I mean. There are so many opportunities for daily Torah study.
Till here is applicable to us all as Jews wherever we may be.
In the Thailand region, Hashem has reinforced this ‘no-rest-keep-moving-advancing-dancing and REJOICING’ concept for us.
Hashem has blessed us with a Sefer Torah celebration taking place in Luan Prabang Laos this Sunday.
Less than one week away from the major dancing with the Torah on Simchas Torah we get to dance again.
A childhood friend from Australia, Josh Goldhirsh and his wife Robyn have donated a new Torah to the recently reopened Chabad House in Luan Prabang.
Please G-d I will be heading out there on Sunday to celebrate this joyous and momentous occasion with them. My voice is still quite hoarse from sermonizing and singing heartily on Simchas Torah. I pray and am confident that Hashem will restore my vocal cords to be able to fully participate in the amazing celebration of a new Sefer Torah. Details below. Sorry for the late notice… If you are in the region you still have time to join us.
A week later, on Monday October 15, Nechama and I are overjoyed to be granted the gift by Hashem of celebrating our son Ephraim’s bar mitzvah here in Bangkok. Another opportunity to dance. Details below. Please join us at the Simcha if you are able! We would be overjoyed and delighted to celebrate together with you!
During the grand finale of the ‘seventh hakafa-dance’ on Simchas Torah, I looked down at the floor.
I saw feet and shoes.
Moving in a rhythmic dance.
I then looked up and saw the feet were holding Torah’s.
I looked down again and noticed that the floor was not that clean. After hundreds of feet had gone round and round the Bima dancing joyously, it was inevitable that the floor would have some grime.
Would I rather a clean floor? On a regular day, certainly. But not if it meant that the Synagogue was like a museum and the Torah was treated like a main exhibit.
Isn’t it incredible. Sotheby’s specializes in selling things that are not used.
Torah is the most precious and priceless thing in the world.
Yet they are constantly in use.
Our grandparents danced, cherished and studied the Torah. Thank G-d our grandchildren are studying the same Torah. For all of times, Am Yisrael will USING the same Torah.
Unlike a valuable item in a museum which must be kept behind class and only looked at in sterile conditions, the Torah must be current and accessible. The moment we view it as a ‘relic’ or ‘historical artifact’, it is doomed to be lost to us.
Our Jewish identity cannot and does not exist without being defined by our attachment to the Torah. Not for any significant amount of time that is. A savvy investor knows that the wise investments are those that have a track record of stability and reliability. Fads, styles, fashions and the ‘isms of our times, they come and they go.
Our Torah is the most reliable thing on earth. It is here to stay. A constant. The Torah we dance with, is the same Torah we have danced with for 3,300 years.
Unchanging.
Do you now wonder why the floor got a little dirty? Floor tend to get a little dirty after 3,300 years of dancing.
Actually, I am overjoyed that thank G-d in our Synagogue you can tell that the floor was after Simchas Torah dancing. Hundreds of feet, large and small bounced up down off the floor in joyous abandon.
When I viewed it like that, the dirt looked so pure. Radiant. It represented ‘yiddishe nachas’ the lively Jewish spirit that our community is blessed with.
Click here for a chasidic story illustrating a similar point.
Have I convinced you that we should not be looking to take rest?
If not, read on.
Airplanes are rarely given a chance to rest. They arrive, get refueled, checked and sent out to their next destination. I used to wonder if that was safe. Till I learned that constant use of engines with proper maintenance, is safer than risking corrosion by inactivity.
Humans, unlike motors, do require rest time. Some call it ‘down time’. I would rather refer to it as ‘rest and refresh’ time. Not to power down. On the contrary to build up strength to power up even higher than before.
But the goal has to be to START AGAIN. In a new way. A more powerful way. A deeper way. Rest is not an end, it is a means to a new beginning.
This Shabbat is refered to as Shabbat Berishit – the Shabbat of Beginning. It’s a chance to still gather up the ‘Holiday energy’ and infuse that unique holy energy into the mundane ‘rest of the year’ transforming the ordinariness into holiness.
Shabbat Shalom and may you have a very meaningful, festive and enjoyable Shabbat.
Rabbi Yosef Kantor