October 2000 - תִּשְּׁרֵי .. חֶשְׁוָן תשס״א Tishrei..Cheshvan 5761

Rosh HaShanah is upon us. Yom Kippur is only a week away (really it is ten days after Rosh HaShanah). Five days later is the beginning of Sukkot. A week later it is Shemini Atzeret, and the very next day is Simchat Torah. During the month of October, we celebrate no less than fifteen holy days. If you include the first day of Rosh HaShanah on the last day of September, then literally half of the days of October are sacred. And fortunately for us Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret fall on Shabbat, that is Friday evening and Saturday. We can really celebrate this year. Since most of us attend Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur services, I am asking, begging, cajoling you to come to one of the other holy day celebrations this month.

I am a little partial to Sukkot. I love building a sukkah in my backyard, but I also enjoy decorating the sukkah here at the synagogue. The children of the Torah and Hebrew Schools come down to our sukkah (here at TBS) with decorations in hand, and the anticipation of the treats that they will eat in the sukkah and especially for the chance to wave the lulav and etrog. I especially love going out to the sukkah with books for Torah Study on Shabbat morning and for Talmud study on Wednesday afternoon. Maybe it is the ushpizim, the mystical visitors, our ancestors, joining us in the sukkah, or just the feel of the breeze rustling the pages of the Book of Ecclesiastes, but the study time is something unique. Our Sukkot services in the sukkah are exceptionally well attended. There is something truly magical about fitting all those people into that limited space under the roof of branches and leaves, while the sun shines through onto the Torah.

Shemini Atzeret is the eighth day of Sukkot. Being the final day of a major holiday (the others are the ten days of Rosh HaShanah..Yom Kippur, the eight days of Pesach and the two days of Shavuot) we recite Yizkor, the memorial prayers on Shemini Atzeret. The holy days are winding down, and we pause again (as we do on Yom Kippur) to honor our dearly departed. Weather permitting, we will still be in the sukkah for the worship one more day. We still study and pray in the sukkah but we add this solemn moment to the joy of the harvest. I find this special opportunity to remember the righteous people in my life, my grandparents, my father-in-law, my teachers and friends (may the memory of the righteous be a blessing) to be a significant part of this holiday. Sukkot was the original Thanksgiving holiday, and after thanking God for the harvest and the sustenance in the desert for forty years, I sincerely want to thank God for the gift of the lives of these people.

Simchat Torah gives us one more chance to celebrate with all of our heart. We truly celebrate the ‘Joy of the Torah’ (= Simchat Torah) by dancing and singing with the Torah. We take all of our sifrei Torah out of our Ark and parade them like royalty around the room. I personally like to dance with the Torah. Wearing more appropriate attire, I love to dance before the Torah as King David did before the Ark of the Covenant (see II Samuel 6:16-20). We should learn from our Renewal and Chasidic brothers and sisters how to truly dance with the Torah. I have many wonderful memories of celebrating Simchat Torah with my Chasidic friends. Okay, they enhanced their joy with a little (read: a lot) of schnapps, but they sang and danced (and juggled and carried on) with all of their hearts. At Temple Beth Sholom we help the children enjoy the dancing and parading with candy, giving out handfuls as they pass by on each hakafah (parade). But this is not a holiday for children alone. In our lives we need a little more dancing with reckless abandon. We need to appreciate our Torah a little more with song and dance. Bring your adult beverage (= schnapps), candy for the children and your dancing shoes and let's end this holy day season with true joy before the Eternal.

Gemar hatimah tovah. May you be sealed for blessing in the Book of Life.

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

Annual High Holy Days Food Drive

Do not forget our annual High Holy Days Food Drive conducted in cooperation with the Alameda County Food Bank. Every year we collect canned food, dry goods, baby food and diapers in the large barrels in our entryway.

Please consider shopping especially for those people less fortunate than us. This is our way of doing tzedakah during the Yamim haNora'im (the Ten Days of Awe from Rosh haShanah to Yom haKippurim). Our machzor (High Holy Day prayerbook) teaches us that repentance, philanthropy and sincere prayer can tip the balance in our favor, when G-d inscribes us in the Book of Life for the coming year. It is also traditional to celebrate the thanksgiving for the harvest during Sukkot by donating food to the poor. There is always a barrel in the Temple Beth Sholom entryway to collect food donations, but during the High Holy Days and through Sukkot we will have two barrels going.

There were 450 lbs. of food donated last year. This year we would like to reach 1000 lbs. Help us collect a (half of a) ton of food this year. Thank you.

Second Annual S'more Judaism Retreat

We have been invited to participate in the second annual S'more Judaism Retreat at Camp Newmann in Santa Rosa. The retreat in the Redwoods, will be on October 27th to 29th, and will focus on Jewish environmentalism. Other synagogues participating in this program for grades 3 to 8 are: Temple Beth Emek, Livermore; Temple Shir Ami, Castro Valley; and Temple Beth Torah, Fremont. Rabbi Manhoff will join the group on motzei Shabbat (Saturday night) and Sunday.

There will be no Torah School on Sunday, October 29th, so that as many students as possible can participate.

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

September

Index

November