Rabbi Howard Morrison

There are many Jews who confuse the meanings of Simchat Torah and Shavuot. There are those who think that Simchat Torah is the date on which God revealed the Torah. As we know, it is on this date of Shavuot that God revealed the Torah at Sinai to our people. Simchat Torah actually has no mention or status in scripture. Its significance developed in Talmudic times when the annual cycle of reading the Torah began and ended on Simchat Torah. Because its status is less than Biblical, Simchat Torah became a looser yom tov in terms of joy, celebration, and even a level of frivolity. Conversely, Shavuot is the second of the Torah's three pilgrimage Festivals - Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, physical freedom, spiritual purpose, and endurance in the wilderness.

Nevertheless, Simchat Torah and Shavuot are both the definitive holidays on the calendar which speak to the experience of Torah directly. The other holidays have all kinds of symbolic objects and ritual practices. If Simchat Torah celebrates the cycle of READING the Torah, Shavuot celebrates the importance of STUDYING the Torah. Thus, many people observe a late medieval mystical practice of staying up the first night of Shavuot and studying selections of the written and oral Torah.

This year, sadly of course, there is a different kind of relationship between Simchat Torah and Shavuot. In Israel, October 7 coincided with Simchat Torah (Shemini Atzeret in the Diaspora). The celebration of reading, singing, and dancing with the Torah was marred by 1200 tragic deaths and the taking of hundreds of hostages. While secular leaning Israelis were singing and dancing at the Nova music festival, they were celebrating in their own way the ideals of peace and unity, cherished Torah values.

When twenty-one of us were in Israel in mid-May, our tour guide, Moshe Gold, spoke of counting the days of darkness toward the anticipated day of light. I could not help but notice that for the forty-nine days of Omer counting between Pesach and Shavuot, the two hundred and X days paralleled the X days of the Omer. Thus, when we concluded the Omer counting on Monday night, Tuesday, the 49^th day of the Omer, mirrored the 249^th day since the horrors of October 7. How so many of us yearned for the war to end with the return of all the hostages by the end of the Omer period, which was not to be.

Now, the Festival of Shavuot comes with our having endured over eight months of hardship and oppression, felt not only in Israel but all over the Jewish world. For many of us, it is our commitment to Torah which is providing us with an anchor, stability, and support, to cope and persevere.

For some, it is the study of the weekly Parsha which is keeping us strong.

For some, it is the daily recitation of Psalms which is keeping us strong.

For some, it is the Torah's call to perform acts of Tikun Olam and social action which is keeping us strong.

For some, it is the anticipation of baby namings, Bnai Mitzvah, and weddings which is keeping us strong.

For some, it is the Torah's call to stand in peaceful protest which is keeping us strong.

"Etz Hayim Hee - The Torah is a tree of life to those who grasp it, and all who uphold it are blessed. Its ways are pleasant, and all its paths are peace."

In whatever ways we incorporate Torah in our lives, may its paths lead our people in Israel and around the world to a true peace speedily.

Chag Sameach,

Rabbi Howard Morrison