Simchat Torah

Yesterday afternoon, JQuest students had a one-hour session in the classroom before joining our congregation-wide celebration of Simchat Torah. Our Edot classroom was filled with students from both sessions.

First, I read to the class from a book called "A Torah is Written," which describes how an experienced scribe copies a Torah scroll for use in a congregation. Aside from having to be an expert in Hebrew calligraphy, the scribe must learn a lot of laws relating to the copying of a 'sefer Torah' - a Torah scroll. The scribe must prepare all the materials - the parchment (skin of a kosher animal), the ink (only 2 teaspoons at a time, to be sure the ink is fresh), and the quill (usually from a turkey or goose). And once the ink on the last word has dried, the scribe must find a partner and the two of them must read each letter and word of all 5 books of the Torah three times over to be sure no mistakes were made in the copying. Only then can the scribe sew together the parchment sheets with the sinews of a kosher animal, and then sew them onto an "Etz Chayeem" - a "Tree of Life" (the two wooden staves on which the parchment is scrolled) to create a "kosher" sefer Torah for a Jewish community.

I always let my students doodle while I read - it's amazing how focused they become on the story when they have something to do with their hands. Their doodles are often quite impressive works of art!

Once I had finished reading the book, we used the remaining time to complete our nametag card activity begun on the first day of school (see my September 21st post for details). Students were asked to design three or more symbolic drawings to describe their interests and/or personality. These cards will be hung on our classroom wall over the windows, along with photos of each student.

Those students who completed their nametag cards quickly were given a chance to begin collecting stickers in my "Stumper/Challenge Program," an optional activity allowing them to eventually earn a Toys 'R Us gift card worth $10.00.  It's my way of sharing the Jewish world with them, that I don't have time to share in the little time we have together each week. There are sentence strips hanging on the bulletin boards in my classroom, each with a question or a challenge relating to a subject of study in Edot - Jewish history, the Jewish World, the Hebrew Bible, Land of Israel, Siddur (Prayerbook), and Holidays. If they answer a stumper they get one sticker; a challenge gets them 5 stickers. They can also write a book report on a Jewish-themed book for 10 stickers! Once they have 20 stickers, they have earned the certificate, and can begin earning another one if they wish.

Ben's looking for an answer to a "Land of Israel" stumper and...

...Sammy is learning about the "Falash Mura" of Ethiopia (the Edah we'll be studying starting next week).

Then it was time to head up the stairs to the Social Hall, to join other school families for a pizza dinner. It's an understatement to say that it was crowded!

It's hard to believe as you look at all those pizza boxes, but we actually had to order more!

After dinner, we all moved into the Sanctuary, where TA's handed out flags to everyone. It's traditional to march up and down the aisles of the synagogue on Simchat Torah waving flags honoring the Torah (we call the parades "hakafot" in Hebrew).

Two Torah scrolls were unrolled. What could have been a very chaotic activity, proved to be very quick and efficient - everyone lined up around the perimeter of the Sanctuary, children in front of parents, and carefully helped to hold up the scrolls - which overlapped each other near the rear of the room.

Rabbi Shanks pointed out two very special parts of the Torah - here, she's pointing to the "Crossing of the Reed Sea" section which has a very interesting design...

...and here is the section with the Ten Commandments.

It is on Simchat Torah that we read from the very last lines of the fifth and final book of the Torah - Deuteronomy (above)...

...and then begin reading the first few lines of the first book of the Torah - Genesis (above).

Cantor Korn chanted the last lines of the Torah for us (with Rabbi Miller reading the English translation immediately after)...

...and then walked over to the other side of the room to chant the first lines of the Torah for us.

The two Torah scrolls were then rolled up and given to JQuest teachers who had volunteered to carry them as we all moved to the Oneg Room, and danced the hora for 15 minutes or so, to tunes played by our own Kleztones. And to finish off the evening, we danced to music played by DJ's Dennon and Doyle. 

And on my way back down to the classroom, I saw a shooting star - a large meteorite which lasted 10 seconds or more in the night sky. We started Sukkot last Sunday evening under a blood moon, and began Simchat Torah under a shooting star - omens for a wonderful 5776 for us all!