Rabbi Rachel Barenblat: Rejoice/Fragile

We woke this morning to the news that Israel is officially at war with Hamas. My heart is heavy with grief. It’s especially heartbreaking on Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah. Like the Yom Kippur War, almost exactly fifty years ago, this coordinated series of attacks via land, sea, and air were a shock on a day of national religious celebration.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z’l: Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah Family Edition

Rabbi Sacks writes about the tension between the universality of nature—the Four Species being a ritual of rain while eating in the succah depends on the absence of rain, and the particularity of history—the long journey through the wilderness.  He continues to observe that the God of Israel is the God of all humanity while the religion of Israel is not the religion of all humanity.  

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l: Ha’azinu

Rabbi Sacks writes about the spiritual power of music. Moses used the technique to present a message to the people in such a way that they would hear it and absorb it. He cites many other instances in the Tanakh where music was applied for spiritual purposes. As he states, “when we pray, we sing.”