#simchat torah
Temple Shaaray Tefila’s sign for Simchat Torah, taken by my friend in NYC.
“The Torah is God’s libretto, and we, the Jewish People, are God’s choir, the performer of God’s choral symphony.” -R’ Lord Jonathan Sacks #SimchatTorah
The image also has NYC skyscrapers and a silhouette of my friend who was taking the picture reflected in it.
(taken by my friend two years ago on October 6, 2018)
Chag sameach
chag sameach
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And with this, we are reaching the end of the High Holiday season!
Reminder that the Days of Awesome 2020 collection will be open for one more week, until the end of the Hebrew month of Tishrei! Get your works in! :)
We hope that everyone who observes Yom Kippur had a meaningful day!
Just a quick reminder that while the Days of Awe may be over the high holiday season isn’t, and the Days of Awesome 2020 collection will remain open through October 17, after the end of Simchat Torah!
There are no length requirements for fic–they can be as short or as long as you’d like, and you can submit as many pieces as you’d like! We have three up so far–would love to see more!
For some more info about the challenge and the rules, check out this post!
You can find the collection here, on ao3!
When you post a work, please add it to collection “DaysOfAwesome 2020 (5781).”
The collection will be open for one month!
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For more information about the challenge/rules, check out this post.
Shavuah Tov, friends! The Days of Awesome fic Challenge opens in 11 days! We hope you’re getting your writing muscles good and ready!
As promised, we did want to provide a few prompts to help get you thinking about the spirit of the upcoming holidays!
As a reminder, these prompts are entirely optional. You do not need to use any of them to participate in the challenge. (And, regardless of whether or not you use the prompts theother rules still apply.)
A few prompts:
About the holidays themselves (potentially on the fluffy side):
- Characters go apple (or date!) picking (or honey harvesting!) to get ready for Rosh Hashanah
- Characters attempt to build a Sukkah. Shenanigans ensue.
- There is a Sukkot tradition that people have of inviting guests into their sukkah. This includes literal guests, but also figurative guest–biblical characters, ancestors, people who cannot be with them. Who is your character inviting into their sukkah?
Thematic prompts (potentially a bit more on the angsty side.)
- The Days of Awe are a period of repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur–the Day of Atonement. Write about your character and repentance.
- Rosh HaShana is a period of renewal and rebirth–new beginnings. Write about your character and rebirth, their new beginnings.
- There is a Rosh HaShana tradition people have of Tashlich–which involves casting bread crumbs into the water to symbolize things about the previous year you like to cast away. What is your character trying to cast away?
Get ready to write!
Reminder about these optional prompts, now that we are less than a week from the challenge opening!
Reblogging once more as as the Days of Awesome challenge opens tomorrow!!!!
All aspects of traditional Jewish life are based on the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Shemini Atzeret, which begins tonight at sundown, anticipates the joyful beginning of a new year of Torah readings, followed by Simchat Torah, when all of the Torah scrolls are removed from the ark (a cabinet designed to hold Torah scrolls such as the one pictured) and paraded around the synagogue in their ornaments. Learn more about these holidays through works in the Jewish Museum collection on view now during our free admission days tomorrow, Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2.
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Parsha Poster #54 – V’zot HaB’racha: Passing on
And Yehoshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel listened to him, and did as God commanded Moshe.
— Deu. 34:9
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Chazak Chazak Venitchazek
Moshe’s role was complete. Under God’s guidance, he had led them out of Egypt, delivered the Torah at Sinai, and taught them the ways of God. From Mount Nevo, he gazed out at the promised land, just beyond the river, his eyesight unfailing despite his 120 years. But while his vigor, too, was undiminished, he would go no further. Joshua would take it from here, and after him there would be a new leader, and so on for the ages.
I began this project one year ago, not knowing what it would become, or even if I would finish the year. I have created a body of work that I am very proud of. I have read and studied the Torah in its entirety for the first time in my life, gaining new insight into these ancient stories and a profound connection to the cornerstone of our tradition. And I did not take this journey alone. I discovered a wealth of beauty and knowledge in the creative parshanutanddarshanut—exegesis and expression—of so many incredible poets, leaders, and thinkers. I hope you have found their contributions as inspiring and thought provoking as I have.
And now it’s time for me to pause and reflect and hand over the reins to you. I challenge you to take a few minutes every week to read the parshat hashavua, occupy its characters and consider its implications, and if you’re up for it, create something new that expresses yourinsight. Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened by our continuing engagement with our heritage.
Stay tuned for more updates on the future of this project.
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This week, we will be reading Parashat V’Zot Habracha. The fourth Passuk of this Parasha states,
תּוֹרָה צִוָּה לָנוּ מֹשֶׁה מוֹרָשָׁה קְהִלַּת יַעֲקֹב:
The Torah that Moses commanded us is a legacy for the congregation of Jacob (Deuteronomy 33:4)
The only other time in the Torah that the word Morasha is used, is in reference to Eretz Yisrael.
וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת יָדִי לָתֵת אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב וְנָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ לָכֶם מוֹרָשָׁה אֲנִי יְ־ה
I will bring you to the land, concerning which I raised My hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the Lord.’ (Exodus 6:8)
The word Morasha does not mean the passive acceptance of an inheritance. It is an eternal inheritance that you must work for. You must toil in it, struggle and fight for it, only then it truly becomes yours. I believe we see this today with both Torah and Eretz Yisrael. It’s hard to keep the Torah and to fulfill all the Mitzvot. It’s not easy, it’s not cool, and it means you have a ton of assignments due at the end of the semester while missing three weeks of uni. But we struggle and try, because of our commitment and love for our heritage.
Similarly, these days it might not be so easy to love Israel when Zionists are characterised as baby killing, evil, occupiers. We have to work hard at our Ahavat Ha’aretz and learn as much as we can in order to defend ourselves and our homeland from the media, the Socialist Alternative, the far right, academics and many more.
May this year be the year we merit to live our Morasha, in our Morasha, fulfilling the Torah in our homeland.
