The Tora(h)-prescribed seven/eight-day *hag sukot* (Hebrew: 'Feast of Tabernacles/Booths') is an autumnal festival. It is prolonged right after withward with *shemini atseret-simhat tora(h)* (Hebrew: 'Gathering of the Eigth Day-Rejoicing in the Tora[h]'). This hyphenated Jewish holiday is celebrated for one day in Israe-l, and, allegedly, also in some parts of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. In other parts of the world it starts on the same day, but ends an additional 24 hours later. This year's festival of Shemini Atseret-Simhat Tora(h) I spent in West Jerusalem. Originally, I had planned to do it in her far more attractive Eastern part but due to atmospheric conditions decided to modify my original intent.
Due to a unique ethno-cultural mix in The City of Salam-Shalom (Arabic-Hebrew: 'Peace'), I have had a chance to witness the Simhat Tora(h) observance from a Yerushalmi (Hebrew: 'of Jerusalem') and Tunisi (Hebrew: 'Tunisian') perspectives. As you know, the Jewish religious spectre is very wide, and every local community might follow it own *minhag* (Hebrew: 'custom'), that had developed historically in the Diaspora and brought quite recently to this land.
The *arvit* (Sefardic Hebrew = Ashekenazic 'maariv' : 'the evening service') I spent at a relatively small, or just average --as far as Jerusalem standards are concerned-- Israe-li synagogue. It was the Orthodox synagogue of a French-speaking community composed of Jews descending from North Africa. This synagogue is located close to the crossroads of Shderot Hertzl and Kiryat Moshe (Montefiore) Streets in Kiryat Moshe (Montefiore) neighbourhood.
After the regular Hebrew service with some Aramaic additions, we proceded to dance with the scrolls of Tora(h), which is the main hero of this annual holyday. The scrolls were carried out of the *aron hakodesh* (Hebrew: literally: 'The Holy Ark', 'the box, symbolizing the Temple Ark, located in the frontal part of synagogue's interior').
Actually, I left for home in the middle of the *hakafot* (Hebrew: 'procession rounds with the Tora[h] scroll'; feminine plural of *hakafa*) as my heart had been severely stricken with the grief. It was the grief resulting from the current political situation in the region, in particular, the loss of human lives on both Palestinian and Jewish sides. Actually, a Jew should not be sad on a holyday according to the *halaha* (Hebrew: 'binding Jewish Law'). Nonetheless, what shall I do that I have been born into this world with the heart of a poet. If this be my *karma* (Sanskrit: 'a person's modifiable lot based on the total sum of negative or positive actions undertaken in current and/or previous incarnations'), can I ever flee my *qismet* (Arabic: 'preordained destiny'; cf. the Kalvinist the-ology of Predestiny in the Reformed Church)? *Maktub* is *maktub* (Arabic: literally: 'written down'; 'Islamic concept of fatalism'), and I can add hardly nothing to the D-ivine graffiti on the wall, that cannot be painted over.
Back home, I had a *kidush* (Hebrew: 'sanctification prayer over a cup with grape wine or juice on a Sabbath or non-fast holyday') and meal with my Friend Pinchas. Every Jewish meal cannot do without words of Tora(h). So, Pinchas spiced this meal of unusual Jewish Oriental bread with some high palate-high attractive humus food. Moreover, with some food for though as well. The food for thought was a high-brow lecture on the amazing etymolgies of some ordinary words in English and Hebrew, and their social implications. Thus, I could learn that the English prefix 'tri' and the word 'tribe' are cognate ones, for the Ancient Rome was composed of THREE groups of people, which were separate TRIBES. Subsequently, the words TRIBUTE and TRIBUNE were derived from the word tribe as each tribe was mandated to bring a regular offering in money and/or in kind to a local ruler. Then, we got the word CONTRIBUTION: first, in the financial, and then in publishing meanings.
After a refreshing sleep I went for the morning tefila (Hebrew: 'prayer; service') to another local synagogue. It was one with the *minhag yerushalmi* (Hebrew: 'Jerusalem rite') near the well-known Yeshivat Mahon Meir (Hebrew *yeshiva* = 'Talmudical school'). To put it exactly, the synagogue is situated opposite the Tunisian one, in Kosovsky Street, Kiryat Moshe Montefiore. The *shahrit* (Hebrew: 'morning prayer') took place on the upper flight of a two-floor building.
Personally, the building I would actually call a 'tripartite praying conference complex'. It is resemblant of two-decker buses on London streets as there function three different synagogues within the same building simultaneously. The Yerushalmi style is in some ways resemblant of the one as practised by *edot mizrah* (Hebrew: 'Central or Eastern Asian Jewish communities'): children and adults singing very loud, praying pace is significantly slower than that of a mainstream Ashkenazic (North European) *minyan* (Hebrew: 'a quorum of ten adult Jewish men necessary for a communal prayer'). Besides, the pronunciation and a cappella liturgical Orthodox Jewish non-mixed singing are Arabic-like, i.e. more guttural, with a typical Middle Eastern intonational contour, and frequent chorus lines repeated by worshippers after the *hazan* (Hebrew: 'leading singer that conducts the prayer').
The service started about 7:00 AM. At about 9:00 AM there came the time for Tora(h) reading. Simhat Torah is a most joyful holyday in Jewish calendar: its aim is to rejoice in the gift of Torah bestowed upon the Jewish nation. The annual Pentateuch reading cycle of 54 sections is finished and restarted on this day.
*Aliya(h)*
(Hebrew: 'ascension/being called to the Tora[h]') bidding preceded the reading ritual. This custom aims at collecting Jewish charities by selling the right of honour to be publically called to the reading of the Tora(h). The prestige of being granted *aliya(h)* is eventually given to those who are willing to pay the highest price for it. The actual payment takes place after the holyday is over since handling money is forbidden on Jewish holydays. The very ritual of *kriat hatora(h)* (Hebrew: 'reading of the Pentateuch') lasted for about an hour. And the Simhat Tora(h) custom is to call as many male congregants 13 years old or over as possible to read the Torah or for the Torah to be read on behalf of them.
Each called to the Tora(h) was given a long blessing, that incorporated the patronymic form of his proper name. And for the matter of respect, some people while being blest were also added some words in another language to mark their special personal status, e.g. (phonetically) /pre'-zi-dent/ ('President of the synagogue') or /fa-mil'-ya/ ('Family of the person blest'). Since Jews love to bless and refrain from cursing, lots of other brahot (Hebrew: 'blessings') were said to each and every present in the service. And those far away were mentioned as well, e.g. Mr Natan Tanenbaum, an Israe-li who was recently captured from Switzerland or Lebanon by Hizb 'Al-lah. Hizb 'Al-lah or Hezbol-lah is the Arabic or Arabic Persian respectively for 'Party of G-o-d', which is the Iranian-financed Shiite military religious organization. It is headed by Sheykh Nasral-lah, and operates against the State of Israe-l from Lebanon.
A special role in the Jewish society is given to children. They are the cherubs of every *kehila* (Hebrew:
'community') for their well-being can safeguard the future of Jewish continuity. At some point of the service, a special Tora(h) reading and blessing were given to all children, who were gathered a canopy made of *talit* (Hebrew: 'a ritual Jewish shawl'), kept wide over their heads, like during a traditional Jewish wedding. Then the little ones received a rain of sweets thrown down from the ladies' gallery upstairs. Re the strict gender segregation during a Jewish prayer see a Freudian reader. Dr Sigmund Freud, Jewish himself, was a well versed person in the Jewish tradition.
The first part of the Shabat-Hag tefila ended at about 10:35 AM. The shahrit was followed by some 25-minute break for kidush and light snack. In the Jewish observant tradition, like in the non-nominal Muslim or Xian ones, the eating is not only a physical action but also a spiritual-related process of partaking in the gift of daily sustenance offered from the D-ivine storeroom. And from a psychological point of view, good food, alongside good music, good sleep, good dreams, and good friends, and other goodies are a proven antidote against psychosomatic depression. In other words, I felt much better, less sad, more comforted after the MidEast crisism, after this act of meal hospitality offered to me, a non-member visitor to the synagogue. Actually, the very hospitality meant much more to me than the very food offered (great as well, undoubtedly),
Other short-term ways to kill the grief, that some depressed folks might go for, are the proverbial 'drugs, sex, & rock'n'roll'. The harder they are the more effectively can they baffle other concurring stimuli from the inside or outside of a human body and mind. Regrettably, the empiral data shows these cannot be effective in a long-term treatment of the depression's very roots. Just on the contrary, too strong a stimulus administered on a regular basis is capable of changing a human being into an over-aggressive desperado with a bipolar syndrome.
The second part of the tefila was resumed at about 11:00 AM, and conclusively lasted until 12:45 PM. On its 'agenda', the communal *tefilat musaf* (Hebrew: 'additional prayer for Sabbath and/or another holyday') was followed by the special prayer for rain for the whole year. In fact, the timing was ideal, as the first significant rainfall in Jerusalem took place just on the eve of Simhat Tora(h) holyday. Also the *birkat kohanim* (Hebrew: 'priestly blessing') was performed during both Shahrit and Musaf. On this day, like three other times of the year, there is a custom to have pray *yizkor*, This word means literally 'May He [G-o-d] remember' in Hebrew, and stands for a service in memory of all those that passed away. The final part of the service were Tora(h) *hakafot* as on the night before. One of the last hakafot was even sung in beautiful Arabic, which seemed to be still known only by some elderly members of the congregation.
If we speak about different language interludes, let me mention a Ladino tune was interwoven into this Yerushalmi service. This is a typical example of culturally enrichening osmosis in many multi-cultural Jewish or non-Jewish communities all over the world. Diversity and uniformization are two opposite poles of the cultural habitat spectre. If only kept in a harmonious balance, they can create quite positive and complementary a couple.
