Simhat Torah

In Israel, even fear and grief can become courage, resilience and joy - opinion

Israelis confronted terror, grief and October 7 remembrance with the courage, resilience and humor that define the Israeli spirit.

Flydubai passenger Uri Pintov onboard flight  flight 1073.
Simchat Torah celebrations in Sderot.

5 great Sukkot stops in the Gaza border area: From greenhouses to Hakafot

Rabbi Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi delivers a torah lesson at Ateret Yisrael Yeshiva in Jerusalem, November 19, 2019.

Are there other lessons from October 7? - opinion

An ultra-Orthodox jew prays at the Westen Wall July 17, 2002 on Tisha B'Av

The breached walls we must rebuild this Seventeenth of Tamuz - opinion


A nation of one: From personal tragedy to national mourning on Simchat Torah - opinion

We are part of an ongoing circle of life; no one individual in this circle is more “central” than anyone else.

SGT. ARI WEISS: ‘The image of Ari lifting that heavy Torah high above his head and dancing with it is forever imprinted on my soul.’

Simchat Torah: From torn shoes to a crown of majesty

The great secret of the Jewish people has always been the ability to join tear to tear, soul to soul, until together they form a whole garment once again.

Soldiers dance with Torah scrolls during the celebrations of Simhat Torah in the Eshkol region in the Negev in September 2010.

October 7 and Simchat Torah: The arc of fragility - opinion

A holiday meant to celebrate joy and spiritual renewal became the darkest day in recent Jewish history.

 People gather and light candles to remember the Israeli victims of the October 7 massacre at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, October 12, 2023.

'Acharei Hachagim': A diary entry from after the holidays in Israel

A look in the life of an Israeli resident the day after the Tishrei holiday season ends.

 Signs calling for the freedom of hostages are seen in Tel Aviv.

The intangibles of the war can’t be measured - opinion

A week of festivity was quickly turned into a week of funerals, and joy was turned into sadness.

 AVIAD NEIMAN, a father of four little children and husband to a young wife, fell a few hours before Simchat Torah this year in Lebanon.

Celebrating amid loss, unity, and hope - opinion

For the first time in recent memory, the Jewish people were faced with the challenge of adapting an ancient holiday to modern events.

 A CHILD holds a Simchat Torah flag featuring photos of the hostages, a prayer for their release, and a slogan: ‘Singing together for their return.’

Unity in Netivot: Spending Simchat Torah with evacuees - opinion

After a moving Simchat Torah, all the political talk of unity we hear cannot come close to the true unifier for the Jewish people: our Torah heritage.

 Israeli rescue and recovery unit search damaged cars for human remains and other evidence, following the October 7 attack by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, on a field near Netivot in southern Israel, November 1, 2023

On Simchat Torah, we pray to be led out of darkness and to a brighter future for us all - editorial

The duality of mourning and joy coexisting reminds us of the importance of honoring both the pain and the celebration, as we find strength and meaning in this complex emotional experience.

 Israelis visit the site of the Supernova music festival massacre in southern Israel, during the the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, October 24, 2024.

'The hole in our souls deepens everyday,' says sister of hostage Yarden Bibas

Over the past year, the return of the hostages, once a national consensus and top priority, now seems weighed against the security of the state and its citizens.

 Yarden and Ariel Bibas, who are both still in Hamas captivity

Is Israel fighting the October 7 War or the Simchat Torah War? - opinion

By referring to the war as both the “Oct. 7 War” and the “Simchat Torah War,” we evoke different dimensions of this tragedy and its far-reaching aftermath.

 IDF soldiers operate in southern Lebanon, October 22. 2024.