Page 35 - HaMizrachi Sukkot 5783 USA

Rabbi Elliot Tehila Rabbi Ari
Schrier Gimpel Boiangiu

y grandmother was only eight years may be the least qualified person to comment y favorite Simchat Torah song is defi-
old when the Nazis invaded Belgium on Simchat Torah’s musical playlist, as my nitely the slow version of Toras Hashem
and her family fled their home in Ant- shul attendance has been particularly sparse Temimah, a song that centers around
werp. Her pre-war memories are a blur, in recent years. Since moving our family to children, who are tamim, pure, just like
Moverwhelmed by images of running, Ithe far-off hills of eastern Gush Etzion to Mthe Torah. Every year for the last twenty
hiding, and ultimately sailing to safety across establish the Arugot Farm in 2018, our new life years I have thrown my children into the air as
the English Channel. has not made it easy to attend hakafot. Crossing we sing this song. With all the fun and laugh-
She does remember, however, a particularly three hilltops with six children in pitch darkness ter, I try to grab a moment during the song to
leibedik Simchat Torah at her grandparents’ to the nearest Jewish town wasn’t my idea of a give thanks to Hashem as they get bigger and
summer home. She remembers the men practi- good time! bigger – and harder to lift! – each year. At the right
cally shaking the floor with spirited singing and But this past Simchat Torah, all of that time, I look forward to doing the same with our
dancing, and the wide-eyed children watching their changed. We decided that if we can’t get from grandchildren.
every move. Most of all, she remembers how Sim- our mountain to hakafot, we would bring hakafot I find the niggun to be particularly powerful,
chat Torah brought her diverse extended family to the mountain! A large group of yeshivah guys expressing the joy of the Yom Tov more than
together. Some of her uncles were devout religious and couples agreed to pitch tents at the Arugot any other. It begins slowly in an almost rubato
Jews while others were freethinkers who had left Farm and experience an unusual Simchat Torah (free time) feel. Then the middle section starts
the path of Torah. Seeing them dance together on on the Judean frontier. to ramp up speed, and then finally, BOOM! We
Simchat Torah left a lasting impression. With the Sefer Torah of my beloved break into full scale simchah, chanting “Moshe
Torat Hashem temimah, meshivat nafesh, “the grandfather zt”l, a makeshift mechitzah and emes!” over and over again as we hold our kids
Torah of Hashem is wholesome and complete, it food for dozens of young men that seemed to up for Hashem.
restores the soul” (Tehillim 19). Personally, I’ve materialize out of thin air, I could hardly believe Immediately following the Holocaust,
always been drawn to Rav Moshe Alshech’s inter- what I saw before my eyes – the fulfillment of thousands of survivors gathered in DP camps
pretation of this verse: that “Torah returns our our dream to bring renewed life, Torah, joy and in Europe. In many cases, there were no Torah
soul to its original, pristine state, when it was prayer to these barren hills and caves of Biblical scrolls to dance with on Simchat Torah, and so the
one with Hashem.” Zif, where King David himself hid and composed survivors lifted up the children and danced with
Life has a way of corrupting the pristine Psalms. them instead! This holy custom is a testament to
state of the soul. We are beset by distractions As elated singing and dancing reverberated Klal Yisrael’s strength and will, and it reflects the
and doubts and often lose our direction. Torah, throughout the farm, we sang David Melech secret of our survival through all the generations
and particularly dancing with the Torah, restores Yisrael, chai v’kayam. I rubbed my eyes in of exile: teaching Torah to the next generation!
the soul’s simplicity. But Torah also restores us by disbelief. Could it be that we have merited to
bringing Jewish souls back to each other. When we be the answer to the prayers of our ancestors – to
celebrate our collective heritage, we draw closer raise up a Sefer Torah in the mountains of Judea,
to each other, regardless of our differences. Each dancing with all of our might, as David himself
of our souls begins in the same pristine state, did before the holy ark? Every time I hear that
and when we return to that holy state, we are song, it will bring me back to that moment of
capable of seeing holiness in others as well. When gratitude for the miracle that is our return to Rabbi Ari Boiangiu has been a Rebbe for 17 years,
we circle the bimah, dance, and sing together, we our ancient heartland. and currently serves as a 9th and 12th grade Rebbe
experience that unique soul-restorative power of
Torah as meshivat nafesh. Tehila Gimpel lives with her husband Jeremy and at Rambam Mesivta. At night, he switches gears
their six children on the Arugot Farm in eastern and is the owner/operator of Blue Melody Group,
Rabbi Elliot Schrier is the Rabbi of Congregation Gush Etzion. Tehila is an attorney and currently the premier Jewish Music band servicing the tri-
Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, New Jersey. pursuing her PhD in Jewish Law. state area.

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