Singing and Dancing Our Vision

I imagine that each of us could identify a number of highlights from the expansive range of holidays that we shared together.   I would like to mention a few from Temple Israel’s recent celebration of Simhat Torah, the day which Rabbi Yitz Greenberg describes as the “coda of joy” at the end of the fall cycle of Jewish holidays.  More precisely, I want to reflect on the highlights that bring our vision to life. 

On Simhat Torah night, following much joyous dancing, a large group of men, women and children gathered around one of our historic Iraqi Torahs as a teen from our congregation chanted passages from the final portion of the Torah.  Everyone present had the opportunity to recite the blessings before and after he read each passage.  At one point, I took a mental snapshot of him, pointing to the words and singing the melody while surrounded by so many of Temple Israel’s children. 

Over at the Youth House, Temple Israel teens hosted residents from two local group homes for adults with developmental challenges.  Our teens paired up with these adults for a variety of activities and then we all danced together with a Torah scroll.  At one point, Youth House Director Danny Mishkin invited up everyone who wanted to come see the inside of the Torah.  We said the blessings together and read a passage from the Torah.  Following that, everyone had dinner and our teens brought their guests over to the Sanctuary to join in the synagogue-wide celebration.  I took a mental snapshot of our teens and our guests surrounding the Torah as it was read. 

The next morning, we honored six members of our congregation who have contributed talent and time to important efforts within and beyond our synagogue.  I took mental snapshots of each of them surrounded by friends, loved ones and the entire Temple Israel family.  I have mental recordings of one longstanding Temple Israel member chanting the special Simhat Torah prayers using an ancient Ashkenazi melody and another using an ancient Persian melody.  I have mental recordings of men and women chanting from the Torah using melodies from Lithuania and Iraq. 

Upon reflection, I believe that these highlights and others, captured in our collective mental snapshots and recordings from our Simhat Torah celebrations, speak volumes about our vision as a congregation.  We believe that everyone, regardless of age, gender or cognitive capacity, should have equal access to the Torah.  We believe that the variety of our aesthetic and melodic traditions need to be shared.  We believe that being Jewish can be engaging and even fun.

Mostly, we believe that the words of the Torah ought to impact how we live our lives and treat other people.  So we taught our teens the verse in Deuteronomy which commands us to share our holiday with the broader community.  And then they brought that verse to life by extending a degree of hospitality to our guests that would make Abraham and Sarah proud. 

Etz hayim hee.  The Torah is a tree of life to those who grasp it.  On Simhat Torah, in our unique Temple Israel way, we reminded one another just how true this is.  As more and more people are invited to grasp the Torah in keeping with our vision, I’m confident that its branches will continue to support and enrich many lives in multiple ways.

Originally published in the Temple Israel of Great Neck Voice, October 2013