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Home , Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah

The shoemaker had acted at the last possible Calendar moment, as the Germans were already begin- ning to burn the sacred objects in the ware- Monday 1 O ct - ATZERES house.  Shacharis: 8:30 am; Shtibl: 8:45 am "How can we possibly hide the ?" The  : 9:15 am shoemaker asked the group of young men who  Yizkor & would meet for services every in a hid-  Mincha: 5:40 pm den corner of the barracks.  Candlelighting: not before 6:39 pm from a Someone had an idea, and the group set to pre-lit flame (Blessings for Yom Tov & work. They plied a plank off of one of the ) 1 & 2 Oct 2018 Shemini Atzeres 22 & 23 5779 wooden bunks and made a space in which to  Flags, Kids Carnival, L’Chaims for the put the small Torah scroll. The plank was then Adults, Hakafos & Dancing returned to its place. 12 Facts Every Jew Should Know  Simchas Torah Dinner

The night of Simchat Torah arrived, and the Tuesday 2 O ct - SIMCHAS TO RAH By Rabbi Menachem Posner sense of excitement rose. The inmates silently  Shacharis: 8:30 am (one minyan only) made their way to the place where the Torah 1. Simchat Torah Comes After pendent in the following six areas:  Small Brocha scroll was hidden. They feared that the guards (“The Eighth [Day] Gather-  Ladies Shiurim & Breakfast ing”) comes after 7 days of Sukkot. On it, we 1. In Temple times, there would be a separate would find the Torah, and that their lives were raffle to determine which priests would be hon-  Hakafos & Dancing celebrate Simchat Torah (“The Joy of in jeopardy. As a precaution, it was decided not ored with performing the various services of the to remove the Torah from its place. Instead, the  Aliyahs for all the Torah”), since it is the day when we finish the annual Torah-reading cycle and begin day, unrelated to the raffle held for the Sukkot plank was moved to the side, revealing the sa-  Big Brocha honors.

anew. cred parchment.  Mincha: 5:50 pm 2. We say the Shehecheyanu blessing (either 2. In the Diaspora It Is Two Days Long A survivor later testified: “On that Simchat To-  Yom tov Ends: 6:39 pm when lighting candles or when saying ), The Bible describes it as a one-day holiday, rah we held the traditional dances in thanking G‑d for bringing us to the milestone beginning at sundown and ending the follow- our barracks. But they were not done in the of this new holiday. usual way. The Torah lay in hiding, and we ing night. Like most other holidays, outside of it has expanded into two days, cele- 3. It is its own festival, as evidenced by the danced around it humming the joyous Simchat fact that we do not sit in the . Torah tunes under our breaths. We entered in brated on 22-23 Tishrei. 4. The musaf (“additional”) offering brought small groups, and mutedly circled the bunk. The first day is simply called Shemini in the Holy Temple was different from that One by one, we then bent over to kiss it before Atzeret (since, counting from day one of Suk- which was brought on Sukkot. exiting." kot, it’s the eighth day), and the second day, when the Torah is completed, is known as 5. The Levites sang a different song in the Aryeh (who later assumed the name Arnold Temple, Psalm 12, which begins, “For the Steiner) survived the war. On the very day that Simchat Torah. choirmaster on the eighth.” the Russian Army freed them Jan 20, 1945, he 3. We Sit In the Sukkah Without a Blessing married Baila (now Barbara). They made their Just like Shemini Atzeret “bled” into the day The liturgy said at Kiddush is different, clearly way to the US, where they raised their family. after (and went from one day to two), Sukkot describing it as a different holiday with a differ- ent name. Miraculously, the Torah survived the war as observances “bled” into Shemini Atzeret well and was brought to Israel by Rab- (going from 7 days to 8). For this reason, it is 5. We Light Candles Each Night bi NoachAdelist. It is now housed in the holy customary among most diaspora communities Like on all holidays, we usher in the day ark of the Gerer in Bnei Brak. to sit in the sukkah on Shemini Atzeret (but with candle-lighting before the evening meal

not Simchat Torah). However, since it is no (when Shemini Atzeret coincides with Shabbat, Live & Laugh longer Sukkot, the blessing is not recited, and be sure not to light the candles on Shabbat). On At an Optometrist's Office: neither do we take the and . the second night, make sure to kindle your can-

"If you don't see what you're looking for, 4. It Is Its Own Holiday in Six Respects dles from a pre-existing flame, since striking a you've come to the right place." match or lighting a lighter is forbidden. Is Shemini Atzeret a holiday of its own, or is it Mazal Tov! an extension of Sukkot? The rabbis of 6. We Say Yizkor on the First Day Chosson Torah: Ari Poyurs the grappled with this very question The time-honored Ashkenazi custom is to say Chosson Bereishis: Jared Landsman and concluded that it is considered an inde- Yizkor, the memorial for departed loved ones, in synagogue on the first morning of She- On Simchat Torah morning, we read from ish population. nah, the shoemaker arrived at the labor camp 1 mini Atzeret. In Israel, the solemn Yizkor is three Torah scrolls (if the synagogue has The ghetto, one of the largest in Poland, with a . It was with bittersweet feelings meshed together with the Simchat Torah three scrolls). The first scroll is used to read was established in April of 1941, and the that the clustered into the shoemaker’s festivities, making for a roller coaster of the final portion of the Torah, Vezot Habera- first deportation started in September of small workshop during the brief midday break emotions. chah; the second is used for the first portion to hear the muted shofar blasts. How did he lay 1942, on the day after . The 7. We Begin to Mention Rain of Bereishit, Genesis; and the verses describ- Nazis had just dispatched over a quarter his hands on the precious artifact? No one ing the sacrifices of the day are read from the knew. Marking the start of the rainy season (in the million Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to Middle East), we begin to mention rain in final Torah. The person called up for the fi- Treblinka. To them, the Czestochowa One day, during the holiday of Sukkot, rumors our thrice-daily prayers from the Musaf nal aliyahof the Torah is known as the chattan Ghetto, with just 50,000 Jews, was small began to swirl. "The shoemaker is late. He has (“Additional”) prayer on Shemini Atzeret Torah (“Torah groom”) and the person called potatoes. During the course of that year, not yet returned from the ghetto. Who knows for the opening verses of the Torah is called morning. This is dramatically marked with the Nazis and their willing lackeys arranged if he is OK?" special additions to the cantor’s repetition of chattan Bereishit (“Genesis Groom”). several “aktions,” in which they rounded It was usual for the shoemaker to return late, the Musaf (called Geshem, “Rain”), sung in 11. The Is Done Early up the Jews for deportation and extermina- after the inmates had been given their meager a traditional tune, evocative of the soul- The custom in the Diaspora is for the priests tion. But most of the Jews were deported rations. He would go directly to the camp stirring High Holiday melodies. to bless the congregation with Bir- in that first "Great Aktion,” when they kitchen, where a modest meal had been re- kat Kohanim(the Aaronic Blessing) on festi- were brutally taken in cattle cars to the Interestingly, we do not begin to ask for served for him. rain until several weeks later (on the vals. But there is also a law stating that the Treblinka extermination camp. But this time, when he finally arrived, he did 7th of in Israel, or in early De- priest may not perform his sacred duty while The Germans left several thousand Jews in inebriated. Since Simchat Torah dancing is not go to the kitchen. Instead, he went to his cember in the diaspora). the ghetto. They had to work from morn- workroom, where he was seen doing some- often accompanied by (responsible) drinking, ing to night in the factories near 8. We Circle the Synagogue at Night and the custom is for the priests to administer this thing behind a large wooden plank. By Day Czestochowa. One factory produced metal blessing during Shacharit (morning services), Word soon spread that the shoemaker had On Simchat Torah evening and morning and another made bullets. Merciless SS which precedes the dancing, instead of the managed to smuggle a small Torah scroll into (as well as on Shemini Atzeret eve in some officers stood over the workers and did not usual Musaf, which follows the dancing. the camp! “When Simchat Torah comes, we communities), there is a special ceremony allow them to stop working for a moment. 12. It Is G‑d’s Goodbye Party to dance with an actual Torah scroll," said called hakafot (“circling”). The Torah Unique among the Jewish workers was a Simchat Torah is the grand finale of a season the shoemaker, his eyes ablaze. scrolls are removed from the ark and joy- shoemaker. An expert at his craft, he was that began with the solemn repentance ously paraded around the bimah, the read- assigned to repair the shoes and boots of the Despite the badgering and questioning, the of and Yom Kippur and then ing platform in the center of the synagogue, Nazi soldiers and officers. In order to fulfill shoemaker refused to say how he got the shofar transitioned into the joy of Sukkot and Sim- seven times. his duties, he was granted special freedoms, and now the Torah scroll. But word soon chat Torah. The sages compare this final day and was allowed to walk between the near- leaked out. 9. Everyone Dances to the following analogy: A king threw a ly empty ghetto and the labor camp, where Simchat Torah services are punctuated by grand feast for seven days. All citizens of the The Nazis had appropriated a large warehouse joyous dancing and singing. Children typi- the surviving Jews were now confined. on the outskirts of the ghetto, where they col- kingdom were invited for the seven days of cally dance with toy Torah scrolls and flags. partying. He then told his loved ones: We His name was Aryeh Szajnert, and he was lected Jewish sacred objects. The warehouse In times gone by, the flags were often have fulfilled our duty to the citizenry. Now more than just a shoemaker. A native of the was heavily guarded, making it almost impossi- topped with apples and lit candles. The let me and you continue with what remains. city, he had excellent connections and fre- ble to take anything out of it. Placing his life Torah scroll is rolled up, and everyone con- This is our final party with G‑d before we quently used them to better the lot of the on the line, the shoemaker was able to bribe nects to it equally, the simpleton dancing enter the year ahead, supercharge and inspired poor prisoners. It was not uncommon for the officer in charge. And that was how he got alongside the scholar. As we dance with the him to enter the camp with packages of the shofar. by the holiday.

Torah scroll, we become “the feet of the food and other goods. In order to get the Torah scroll, he promised

Torah,” unified in pure joy and love. Simhchat Torah in the Nazi It had happened once that Aryeh saw five the officer that he would make a pair of fancy 10. We Celebrate Finishing the Torah and Labor Camp girls being taken for hard labor. One of the boots for him, just like he had made for the Starting Anew By Rabbi Menachem Posner girls, Baila Zyskind, had arrived at the camp most senior commanders. The officer let him from Majdanek crying, fearful of what lay take a Torah scroll. Sydenham Shul 24 Main Street, Rouxville, 2192. Until World War II, the Polish city of ahead. He stepped in and apparently bribed The shoemaker chose a small scroll and Czestochowa had been a bustling center of Telephone: 640-5021, Fax: 485-2810 people for the remainder of the war in or- wrapped it around his body so that he would Jewish life. Then came the bitter day when E-mail: [email protected] der to keep her and her fellows from hard avoid attracting the attention of the guards. the Nazis invaded Poland. In the fall of 1939, Website: www.sydshul.co.za labor. before Rosh Hashanah, the Nazis entered www.facebook.com/sydenhamshul Czestochowa and began persecuting the Jew- And so it was that just before Rosh Hasha- Acknowledgements: .org, zahavi