During the Erev Simchat Torah service at our synagogue (Congregation Albert in Albuquerque, NM), the congregation was invited to stand shoulder to shoulder around the Sanctuary to support the Torah Scroll as it was unrolled from hand to hand. The personal imagery of being surrounded by Torah, engulfed in Torah, touched by Torah, supporting Torah was awesome, but that’s not all. The Rabbi stood at one end of the unfurled Torah Scroll and read the last verses of Parshat V’zot Hab’rachah. The Cantor stood at the far end of the Scroll and chanted the first verses of Parshat B’reishit. Then, pre- and post-B’nai Mitzvah students and adults read the first verses of the many Parshot now fully revealed on the winding Scroll. They all read at the same time. To me, the babble of voices reading many Parshot simultaneously recalled our experience at Sinai. Was this how it sounded to our Israelite ancestors gathered at the foot of the Mountain? Instead of a thunderous Voice from the summit or a mystical, divinely telepathic silence, perhaps, the sound of Sinai was the excited rumble of multiple voices each beginning the infinite process of understanding and personalizing God’s Commandments. “Adonai s’fatai tiftach…” Chag Simchat Torah Sameach!
- Home From Camp & Back to School - August 6, 2014
- May Their Memory… - July 2, 2014
- Starting Over, Starting Up, Reviewing and Re-thinking….Again! - June 6, 2014