Simkhat Torah Programs – Oct. 8 & 9
August 17th, 2012 | General News
Simkhat Torah
Monday Evening, Oct 8
6:00 pm Mishpachot Program
7:00 pm Join us as we unfurl the entire Torah in our sanctuary. We will complete this year’s Torah Cycle and begin the new Torah Cycle once again.
Weather permitting, we will then proceed to our steps and with Torahs held tightly in our arms, dance in the streets to the accompaniment of a Klezmer band.
Sign-up here for this event.
Tuesday Morning, Oct 9
9:00-10:00 am Shakharit and Hallel
10:00-11:30 am Hakofot led by Reb Ebn Leader
11:30 am until we finish Torah Reading, time for silence, and Mussaf
You will have an opportunity to experience the Hakafot the way they were envisioned in the Mystical Tradition as a meditative and spiritual practice, an ongoing dance that celebrate’s the Jewish people’s relation to Torah. Rabbi Ebn will again facilitate this process in which the dancing and chanting of Simkhat Torah become a preparation for the central element of the ritual, which is the reading of the last words of Devarim and the first words of Bereshit. We will chant one song, repeatedly, for each of the seven hakafot, and dedicate each one to a step through the symbolic sequence of the Sefirot, from Hesed through Malkhut. We dance in a circle, following each other and the Torah. While this model does not put as much emphasis on the traditionally “fun” aspects of Simkhat Torah, it will hopefully allow for the emergence of another kind of joy and appreciation for the place of Torah in our lives.