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The Gift Of Torah

Sukkot Shabbat Chol HaMoed:
Exodus 33:12-34:26, Numbers 29:26-31;
Ezekiel 38:18-39:16.

T

ishrei is a month replete with
people. He reminds them of the gift God
holidays. Rosh Hashanah is
had given them at Sinai. “The Torah that
the Day of Judgment. We stand Moses commanded us is an inheritance
before God imploring to be inscribed
for the congregation of Jacob.”
and sealed for a sweet new year.
Rabbi Menachem M.
Yom Kippur is the Day of
Schneerson, the Lubavitcher
Atonement and the holiest
Rebbe of blessed memory,
day on the Jewish calendar. It
expounded that an inheritance
is spent in fasting and prayer,
is bequeathed from parent to
prompting God to pardon our
child. No matter the state of
iniquities.
the child, his traits, talents or
Sukkot is biblically called the
genius, he inherits his parents’
“holiday of our rejoicing.” It fol-
estate.
lows the intense prayer-filled
Similarly, the Jewish people
Rabbi
holidays as we celebrate our
Mendel Stein are God’s children. God gave
great fortune of being forgiven
the Torah to every Jew as an
by our Father in heaven. But as
inheritance. No matter his
the holidays begin to conclude, the party observance or participation, the Jew
is about to intensify. The grand finale of
inherits the Torah.
Simchat Torah has come: a holiday of
On Simchat Torah, the study of the
song, dance and rejoicing.
Torah is finished. It is a cause for celebra-
Throughout the year, we read and
tion. However, the celebration isn’t con-
study the Torah. Every week, we learn a
fined to its study. It is a celebration of a
new portion. The holiday is the culmina- higher dimension of Torah. The Torah is
tion of a yearlong study. Synagogues host a legacy that belongs to the Jewish peo-
the hakafot, the Simchat Torah ritual
ple at their essence, as children of God.
dancing. We dance with the Torah scroll,
Every Jew can dance with the Torah
celebrating the end of the previous cycle
because therein lies the deep core con-
and the beginning of a new one.
nection of a Jew to his Father in heaven.
The Torah is commonly viewed as
Therefore, the Torah remains in its
a text given by God to Moses, who
mantle over Simchat Torah because at
transferred it to the Jewish nation. It
hakafot we celebrate, not its content,
has its own class of scholars who study
rather, it as a treasure deeply connected
it in depth and act on its discipline.
with us.
Interestingly enough, during the hakafot,
Today, people are soul-searching.
the Torah is never studied from. We
Looking for their calling: to find them-
celebrate with exuberant dancing and
selves. Pick a synagogue. Pick up the
the Torah is clutched tightly, cherished
Torah. Do you feel connected? Celebrate.
by the dancers. Everyone is invited, even Disconnected? Reconnect and celebrate,
those who have never studied and those
too.
who lack in their adherence to its disci-
Rabbi Mendel Stein is development director
pline.
In the last portion of the Torah, Moses of Lubavitch Yeshiva-International School for
Chabad Leadership in Oak Park.
gives his departing message to his

where there’s a will,

There’s a way forward.

At 100 years young, Manny Silverman is having his cake
and eating it too! He has loving caregivers in his cousin
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)RU\HDUV-96KDVEHHQThe Way Forward to care and
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Find your way forward at www.jvsdet.org

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October 20 • 2016

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