Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah (שמחת תורה) is a Hebrew term which means "rejoicing with/of the Torah". The annual cycle of reading the Torah is completed and begun anew, with the last section of Deuteronomy and the first section of Genesis read in succession after a festival parade of the Torah scrolls amidst singing and dancing. It is one of the happiest days in the Jewish calendar.

Khadjenoury's ventured to Kol Ami for what turned out to be a very fun evening. Rabbi Rosen has quite a high tolerance for chaos. There was some sense of service but mostly just a big party for the Torah. Setareh and Arian each got their own mini Torah - Setareh is the most patient little girl, she let Arian carry HER Torah for most of the evening until she could ask Rafi for another one as her little brother had absconded with hers. Then all the Torahs from the Ark were paraded around the sanctuary and then we danced with all the Torahs. The Horah with the Torah (oh I am funny). But we did Hava Nagila and other very fun dances as we sang and celebrated the Torah. I admit I probably haven't celebrated Sichat Torah since I was 6 so last night there were some very unique experiences. Rabbi Rosen asked all of the adults to stand around the perimeter of the sanctuary while our children ran a muck in the middle but then a Torah was spread around the whole perimeter with everyone holding on to it and we could see the whole thing. It was really amazing. The Rabbi went around the room and told us what all the parts were (there was quite a bit of wondering the desert). It was a really nice celebration. Siamak is such a good sport. It is rather fascinating to look at such an incredible piece of history that is completely written on sheep skin parchment and rolled into a scroll and read once a week all year long. It was a very nice Simchah.