Where did the week go?
Where do the weeks go?
In this holiday season, it often becomes hard to remember what day of the week it is!
It is officially “after the chagim,” and the Jewish holidays are behind us.
Before moving on to the upcoming events, I would like to share a bit about last week and Simchat Torah.
It’s remarkable how things can be portrayed negatively in the media when they were so positive.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee got a terrible review in Arkansas by someone who saw the video of him and David Friedman at the United Hatzalah event in Jerusalem. While I had to agree that comedian Elon Gold was not the best singer of the night. The Ambassadors’ guitar work to “Sweet Home, Jerusalem’ was greatly appreciated by the audience, and their expressions serious as they played.
Even Huckabee getting up to dance to a song by Avraham Fried was worthy of applause.
The return of the last of the living hostages from Gaza hours before Simchat Torah began added to the festive mood throughout Israel.
Outside of Israel, Simchat Torah extends for a second day. Rabbi Yitzhak Yedidia Frenkel is credited with starting the custom of second-night hakafot (dancing around a Torah scroll) in Tel Aviv in 1942, with music distinguishing the second from the first, religiously mandated day.
There were multiple options after Simchat Torah to keep the celebrations going in Jerusalem.
The musical Hakafot were held again in Liberty Bell Park and at the Kotel, the Western Wall Plaza.
However, the Great Synagogue was also lit and ready for a special celebration.
A new Torah was brought to be completed in memory of Aryeh Cohen, escorted by his sister Shira Cohen.
Shmuel and Leah Rieder donated the Torah in honor of a group of survivors who committed to keeping Shabbat in the merit of the hostages’ return, dubbed the “Shabbat Heroes.”
Twenty Nova Heroes decided in the past year to keep Shabbat.
Hundreds of people came to celebrate with them and the Kesher Yehudi organization.
Dancing was in the lobby of the Great Synagogue, though it was hard to move with so many people.
Michal Ochana spoke briefly: “Today we dedicate a new Torah in the memory of all of our loved ones that we have lost, after two incredible days of celebrating life, and the return home of our hostages.”
Photos, videos of the Torah and the Heroes who were given a sash with gold letters – “Hero” in Hebrew.
Popular singer Lipa Schmeltzer performed again with his amazing energy.
The band accompanied multiple Israeli singers, including this young one.
This was the truck and screen parked outside the Great Synagogue. It attracted the attention of young people walking by on Jerusalem’s King George Street. Lipa was still singing when I left at the start of the FIRST hafakah at 11 pm. The celebration went on until well after midnight.
The Jewish Agency was lit with “Veshavu Banim Ligvulum,” “the sons returned to their border.”
Much more simcha this Simchat Torah, but also sadness of the loss of life over the past two years.
Not all of the murdered hostages have been returned; their families are still waiting.
The annual Oud Festival is November 6-13, and the Jerusalem Open Houses are on October 30 – November 1, 2025. As always, things are happening on the Jerusalem streets besides traffic.
Hope to see you soon – this year in Jerusalem.
