Simhat Torah

After a moving Simchat Torah, all the political talk of unity we hear cannot come close to the true unifier for the Jewish people: our Torah heritage.

The duality of mourning and joy coexisting reminds us of the importance of honoring both the pain and the celebration, as we find strength and meaning in this complex emotional experience.

Over the past year, the return of the hostages, once a national consensus and top priority, now seems weighed against the security of the state and its citizens.

By referring to the war as both the “Oct. 7 War” and the “Simchat Torah War,” we evoke different dimensions of this tragedy and its far-reaching aftermath.

"I often ask myself if there was more I could have done that day."

We need to seek a middle path between the usual joy of Simchat Torah and the mourning necessitated by the disaster of Simchat Torah 5784 on October 7.

This was the year an entire nation learned to cry – unashamedly and without restraint.

It’s strained, if not seemingly impossible, to embody joy right now. The divine strands of joy around us are so dim as to be nearly invisible.

It is precisely at the one-year anniversary of Hamas's massacre that the holiday of Simchat Torah comes along, with its unique message about the centrality of unity.

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Herzog, who has taken a particular interest in the hostages, mentions them at every opportunity, and did so  when concluding his session with the youngsters.