October 7, 2023, is a day that will live in infamy in the Jewish world. It was the day that Hamas terrorists came into Israel to kidnap, torture, rape, and murder civilians. Not only were 1,200 souls taken that day, but over 200 hostages were also taken by Hamas. This was the worst pogrom carried out against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. A few weeks later, the Israeli Defense Forces entered Gaza to fight a war that has been going on for about two years. This past Monday, the remaining hostages captured in 2023 were released. Jews across the world celebrated this day of liberation from captivity.
What is interesting is that on the Jewish calendar (as opposed to the Gregorian calendar), it was two years between the October 7 attack and the release of the hostages. The pogrom began on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah in 2023 and the hostages were sent home shortly before Shemini Artzeret began in 2025, thereby marking the completion of two years. When I went to one of the local Chabad houses in Buenos Aires to celebrate Shemini Artzeret, the Chabad rabbi explained the symbolism of two years in the Torah:
- Two years after the Flood, Noah's grandson, Arpachshad, was born (Genesis 11:10).
- Joseph was thrown into prison and was released two years later (Genesis 41:1).
- When Joseph's brothers were starving because of the famine, it was two years after the famine began that they came to Egypt asking for food (Genesis 45:6).
The Torah understands a rhythm that appears in life all too many times. There is the grief, the waiting, and then the redemption. Paradoxically, these moments of pain are not meant to be mere delays or wallowing in agony. They can become places of spiritual transformation, not by denying the suffering, but deepening our capacity for hope and meaning.
Yes, there is more to celebrate this Simchat Torah than there was last Simchat Torah because the hostages have been released. This is not to say that all is well. Those released from captivity have a long road ahead in terms of healing from the hell that Hamas put them through. There is also the grieving for those who did not survive the ordeal. There are many Jews who did not undergo the hostage situation or fight in the war, but nevertheless feel collective trauma on some level. And that does not even account for the spike in antisemitism worldwide as a result of what has transpired in the Middle East. How can we celebrate when there is still healing that needs to be done and things need to improve?
We pray for rain on Shemini Artzeret through the Tefilat Geshem (תפלת גשם), but we do not wait for the rain to arrive before celebrating. Renewal begins before things are healed or whole. We move forward and celebrate in spite of the imperfect situation, in no small part because grief and joy are complex, nonlinear processes. This tension between joy and sorry in Jewish tradition is something I explained last year for Passover.
The Jewish wedding is one of the happiest life cycle events. At the same time, we break a glass to commemorate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Although the kiddush during Passover represents joy, we also remove a few drops of wine to mourn the loss of the Egyptians having to die during the Ten Plagues. We break the matzah at the beginning of the Passover seder to represent poverty and scarcity. At the end, we find the hidden piece of matzah, the afikomen, that represents redemption. Simchat Torah follows a similar dynamic. It symbolizes renewal because it marks both an end and a beginning. We finish the Torah cycle by reading about Moses' death and we start again by reading about the creation of the universe. We do not wait for everything to be perfect.
I think an answer is a matter of a paradigm shift, particularly through gratitude. The phrase in Hebrew for gratitude is Hakarat HaTov (הכרת הטוב), which means to recognize the good. We are not meant to ignore the calamity that has befallen the Jewish people as a result of the October 7 attacks. This is about how to focus on appreciation for what we do have and the good that exists in spite of the pain, suffering, injustice, and unfairness that is part of this world. We do not erase the grief, but neither do we allow sorrow to have the final say.
While changing perspective is important, it is not the final step. In the Passover seder, Jews are to taste bitters herbs not only to experience what the Israelites felt during the Exodus, but also to remind us that bitterness is inevitable in life. Conversely, the sweet mix known as charoset is optional. This teaches us that while bitterness is unavoidable, whether we add sweetness by translating mindset into action is up to us. That is where dancing on Simchat Torah comes into play because it is metaphor for turning a positive attitude into positive action, much like I explained with dipping apples into honey on Rosh Hashanah.
Dancing on Simchat Torah is not a betrayal of the mourning process, but an act of resilience so quintessentially Jewish to remind us that we do so while carrying joy and grief together. It is an act to make life sweeter. We are meant to be greater than the sum of our pain, hurt, trauma, setbacks, and grief. This dancing reminds us that holiness exists in brokenness and that we are not meant to despair. We do not dance because everything is perfect or resolved. This Simchat Torah, we dance because something has shifted. We have seen a sliver of redemption, something that symbolizes a shift. We dance to honor the memory of those lost. We dance to express gratitude. We celebrate by dancing because what Jews do in the face of adversity is turn mourning into movement, pain into purpose, and suffering into song. In that celebration, we develop a mature sense of joy that reflects the multifaceted nature of life.
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