October 1, 2026
A Shabbat Message from our Executive Director
Rabbi Loren Sykes
It was very quiet, as it always is at 5:30 am on Shabbat in Jerusalem. By 6:29 am, my dog, Hamilton, and I were back from our morning walk, my coffee was ready, and I was on the couch reading the Friday newspapers. At 8:15 am, just as I got up to dress for synagogue, the first air-raid siren of the day sounded. It was October 7th, 2023, Shabbat and Shemini Atzeret/Simhat Torah.
My first instinct was to ignore it. Because I was taught from a young age that “valor is the better part of discretion,” I led Hamilton into our mammad, our apartment’s reinforced room, and wondered what was happening.
A second siren minutes later told me this was no glitch. That is when I learned that Hamas had begun its attack at 6:29 am, the moment Hamilton and I walked in the door. I did not know how extensive the invasion was, whether Hezbollah was attacking the north, how many people had been murdered, or that hostages had been taken to Gaza. I certainly did not know that three years later, on another Shabbat that is also Shemini Atzeret/Simhat Torah, the war would still be going on. All I knew was that I would not be going to our minyan. Mayyanot, and my phone soon confirmed that services were canceled.
By the end of Shabbat, friends were asking whether Jews outside of Israel should celebrate Simhat Torah. My answer was that not only should they celebrate, they must! There was a need to be together, to celebrate for those of us in Israel who could not, and to rejoice in Torah. For me, this was the embodiment of “Am Yisrael (adayyin) Chai veKayyam,” the Nation of Israel (still) lives and endures.
I have been asked the same question every year since, and my answer now carries one important modification. This Shabbat we read Kohelet: “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”. Kohelet imagines these as separate “times.” Since October 7th, they arrive together, and we must hold both. Each of us will remember the names of those murdered, the images of destruction along the Gaza and northern borders, and the heroism of the far too many fell defending Israel. Because recent moments of joy may be harder to find, here are a few:
Noa Argamani, held by Hamas for 246 days until the IDF rescued her, recently joined the venture capital firm Vine Ventures to help Israeli startups “break into the US.” Her captivity, she wrote, is “part of me, and it always will be. But it’s not all of me.”
Alon Ohel, a wildly talented musician held by Hamas for 737 days, is now performing from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv to the deck of the USS Nimitz!
Sasha Trufanov and Sapir Cohen, both held hostage by Hamas, were married in July!
Eliya Cohen, held by Hamas for 505 days, and Ziv Abud, who survived the attack on the Nova Festival, were married this past August!
Emily Damari, held by Hamas for 471 days, married Danielle Amit in August!
As Shabbat and Yom Tov approach, I feel sadness and the accompanying tension in my shoulders when I think about Simhat Torah three years ago. As a balance, I am seeking out reminders of the positive, displays of Jewish and Israeli resilience. This Simhat Torah, I invite you to have kavvanah for remembrance during one hakafah for those murdered, the fallen, and the families still mourning, and kavvanah for joy in another hakafah for Noa, Alon, Sasha and Sapir, Eliya and Ziv, Emily and Danielle, and every new beginning you can think of or that has yet to happen. Dance the first with tears and the second with abandon, and let both declare that our People, our Torah, and our State of Israel live and endure.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.