Dear Friends,
Each day we look out at Mt. Beacon to see if there is a bit more gold and rust on the forest’s palette, as fall brings its magical paintbrush. The problem is that, looking daily, we don’t see the dramatic changes. I need to take a few days off from peering at the mountain in order to see what a few days of chill, rain and the sun dipping lower towards the horizon, will prompt from the oaks and maples.
And, so too, is the message of this Shabbat Simchat Torah. This is the day when we complete the annual reading of the Torah cycle, reading the final verses from Deuteronomy and of Moses’ death, and then return to the opening portion of Genesis, to reread the Creation narrative.
However, we don’t really go right from one to the other…
There is a momentary gap, a pause, when we necessarily either close one Torah and open the other, or, as we have done in recent years at TBJ, unroll the entire scroll and complete Deuteronomy, then walk the few yards to recommence at Genesis.
The old adage that when one door closes, another opens, is not exactly accurate. There is a gap, a pause, between endings and beginnings. We need to re-equilibrate. We need to find the new mood for the next moment, the new beginning.
Isaac Stern, the famous musician, was once asked by an admirer how he so magnificently hit each, successive note, making marvelous music. He replied that it was not the notes that were the secret, rather, it was the pause between the notes.
Thus, as we celebrate this Shabbat Simchat Torah, and as I look to the mountain to see fall’s brilliance, we are reminded that it is the pause between the moments, the endings and beginnings, which allows the artistry of life.
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Each day we look out at Mt. Beacon to see if there is a bit more gold and rust on the forest’s palette, as fall brings its magical paintbrush. The problem is that, looking daily, we don’t see the dramatic changes. I need to take a few days off from peering at the mountain in order to see what a few days of chill, rain and the sun dipping lower towards the horizon, will prompt from the oaks and maples.
And, so too, is the message of this Shabbat Simchat Torah. This is the day when we complete the annual reading of the Torah cycle, reading the final verses from Deuteronomy and of Moses’ death, and then return to the opening portion of Genesis, to reread the Creation narrative.
However, we don’t really go right from one to the other…
There is a momentary gap, a pause, when we necessarily either close one Torah and open the other, or, as we have done in recent years at TBJ, unroll the entire scroll and complete Deuteronomy, then walk the few yards to recommence at Genesis.
The old adage that when one door closes, another opens, is not exactly accurate. There is a gap, a pause, between endings and beginnings. We need to re-equilibrate. We need to find the new mood for the next moment, the new beginning.
- When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse commonly needs the year to learn to live again.
- After a national election, as is coming in a few weeks, inauguration day is several months away.
- When one has been ill, as our nation knows so well, we have to wait the requisite days before one can properly resume activities.
Isaac Stern, the famous musician, was once asked by an admirer how he so magnificently hit each, successive note, making marvelous music. He replied that it was not the notes that were the secret, rather, it was the pause between the notes.
Thus, as we celebrate this Shabbat Simchat Torah, and as I look to the mountain to see fall’s brilliance, we are reminded that it is the pause between the moments, the endings and beginnings, which allows the artistry of life.
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
