{"id":46545,"date":"2018-10-04T15:56:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T15:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=46545"},"modified":"2018-10-04T15:56:27","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T15:56:27","slug":"simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/","title":{"rendered":"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door"},"content":{"rendered":"

How did it get so late so soon?<\/em> –\u00a0Dr. Seuss<\/p>\n

Siyum<\/em>, the Hebrew word for \u201ctermination\u201d means so much more than that.\u00a0 It is a celebration observed when we reach a worthy moment of completion as when we complete the study of a tractate of Talmud or the finishing of the Torah cycle.\u00a0 There are, of course, other worthy while less weighty moments that are worthy of a pause, a reflection, a celebration before the \u201cjourney\u201d is once again picked up and continued.<\/p>\n

For the journey, life or study, must be continued.\u00a0 It goes on.\u00a0 Just as time continues to wend its way forward with unerring constancy, so too must we go forward.\u00a0 However, God has shown us the grace to create us not simply as victims of the constant ticking of an objective clock but as protagonists in our lives, not only capable of investing time with meaning but commanded to do so.<\/p>\n

The manner of how we reckon time itself is fundamental to our Jewish experience.\u00a0 Unlike the Gentile world, which bases its calendar on the unerringly constant sun, we measure time by the waxing and waning of the moon, bringing a powerful rhythm to the underlying metronome of time.\u00a0 Because our days begin at sundown rather than the stroke of midnight, days and hours lengthen or shorten depending on the season.\u00a0 Time itself lends itself to meaning.<\/p>\n

Time as the physicist measures it might be constant but as the Jew measures it, it proves to be wonderfully malleable.\u00a0 Jewish time is anything but uniform.\u00a0 The week is a continual crescendo to the Sabbath.\u00a0 With the Sabbath\u2019s arrival, we celebrate joyously only to reluctantly say farewell at havdalah<\/em> before we start the cycle again.\u00a0 The Jewish year is an uneven temporal landscape, where festivals and holidays, solemn observances and fasts alter the meaning and significance of what might otherwise be just another day or season.<\/p>\n

We feel this malleability of time most profoundly at a siyum<\/em>, our wonderful celebration of completion, of a moment in time.\u00a0 And yet\u2026 and yet\u2026 we find that we never enjoy unbridled <\/em>joy when we celebrate a siyum<\/em>.\u00a0 I have often wondered at the strange, mixed emotion of the siyum<\/em>.\u00a0 There is joy, absolutely, but also something else \u2013 an anxiety, a sadness, a sense, perhaps, of depletion.\u00a0 Why should a moment of such joy and accomplishment be tinged with any kind of negative emotion?\u00a0 Simply because even in our moments of joy, when time seems to be the repository of such powerful meaning, time is still time.\u00a0 It cannot be what it is not.\u00a0 It moves on, relentless.\u00a0 So, in addition to celebrating our accomplishment we know that we must pick up and continue; we move forward knowing that each \u201ccompletion\u201d brings a growing awareness that each completion leads to a greater completion, a greater finality.<\/p>\n

Just as the constant ticking of the clock is made bearable by our ability to find meaning; the joy of our siyum <\/em>is diminished by knowing that the weight of time must once again be shouldered as we journey on.<\/p>\n

This sense of joy and sadness is most powerfully felt as we celebrate the magnificent siyum <\/em>of completing \u2013 and taking up again \u2013 the cycle of Torah readings, when we celebrate Simchat Torah.\u00a0 Our mixed feelings are best captured in the prayer we pray at each siyum<\/em>, \u201chadran halach\u2026<\/em>\u201d.\u00a0 We pray that we return.\u00a0 We pray that we will be able to celebrate this siyum <\/em>\u201cnext time\u201d.\u00a0 At every Siyum HaShas<\/em> the hadran halach <\/em>provokes even greater fear and trembling.\u00a0 Will we \u2013 will I<\/em> \u2013 still be here seven years hence?<\/p>\n

At each siyum <\/em>our only guarantee is what was and what is, not what will be.\u00a0 However, even our understandable trepidation in facing the future pales against a greater concern as we celebrate Simchat Torah.\u00a0 Certainly, we cannot help but wonder if we will be present to celebrate in joy next time<\/em>, if we will be around to rejoice as we read, v\u2019zot haBracha<\/em>; if we will be given the blessing of learning anew and more deeply the parashiyot<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As the years move on, our voice rise with ever greater intensity, chazak, chazak v\u2019nitchazek<\/em>.\u00a0 We pray for strength.\u00a0 To be strong, strong.\u00a0 And stronger still so that we may be blessed to celebrate again next time<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As an even greater indication of our desire to be on hand to celebrate next time <\/em>is that, immediately upon reading the Torah\u2019s last words \u2013 l\u2019einei kol Yisrael <\/em>\u2013 we promptly begin at the beginning <\/em>\u2013 Breishit bara\u2026.<\/em> Here we are, God!\u00a0 Ready and eager to start again, anxious to complete the cycle yet again.<\/p>\n

This particular siyum<\/em>, the completion of the Torah cycle, brings a heightened concern above that of any other siyum<\/em> and that concern speaks to our fear that, as time moves forward we cannot know what the future will bring not only for us, for me, but for our children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

What will they <\/em>want to take of all that we have struggled to leave for them?<\/p>\n

Will they embrace it, or will they squander it?<\/p>\n

One of the most important verses in v\u2019zot haBracha<\/em> is Torah tziva lanu Moshe, morasha kehilat Yaakov<\/em>…\u00a0 What is <\/em>the Torah to the generations to come?<\/p>\n

In his essay, \u201cThe Torah is not yerusha<\/em> \u2013 only morasha<\/em>\u201d Rabbi Yissocher Frand, notes that the verse indicates that Torah is an inheritance (morasha<\/em>) to Israel but that wherever the word morasha <\/em>is found it suggests a weakening of the idea of inheritance.<\/p>\n

Morasha <\/em>is, in his words, \u201c\u2026a peculiar word.\u00a0 It is not easy to translate.\u00a0 It is significantly different than the word yerusha <\/em>(inheritance).\u00a0 The connotation is that one has less ownership in an object that comes to him as a \u201cmorasha<\/em>\u201d than he does in an item that comes to him \u201cyerusha<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

God bequeathed the Land of Israel to the Jews He brought out of Egypt (\u201cAnd I will give it to you as a morasha<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Rabbi Frand notes that the Yershalmi, \u201c\u2026points out that the people who were given this promise never made it to the Land of Israel.\u00a0 Virtually the entire generation who left Egypt died out in the Wilderness.\u201d<\/p>\n

How could the Land be given to them as a morasha<\/em> if they were not there to receive it?\u00a0 Based on this, the Yerushalmi makes the distinction between marasha <\/em>and yerusha<\/em>.\u00a0 Had the Land been promised to the people as a yerusha<\/em> there would have been no question of ownership.\u00a0 However, it was given morasha<\/em>, suggesting that it will not necessarily<\/u> be yours.\u00a0 And, in truth, it never became theirs except to the extent that they gave it to their children.<\/p>\n

As the Land, so too the Torah.\u00a0 It was given morasha<\/em>.\u00a0 It is not yerusha<\/em>.\u00a0 Just because I have possessed and loved Torah there is no guarantee the same will be true of my children or my grandchildren.\u00a0 Torah belongs to them only when the person devotes the time and effort to master it.\u00a0 Then, and only then, does it become theirs.\u00a0 Torah is not yerusha<\/em>, a no-strings-attached inheritance.\u00a0 It is morasha<\/em>.\u00a0 It is contingent<\/u> on the children taking it and embracing it.<\/p>\n

In his article, Rabbi Frand shares Chazal\u2019s teaching based on the pasuk<\/em>, \u201cThis Torah will not depart from your mouth of your children or the mouths of your grandchildren forever.\u201d\u00a0 He writes, \u201cIf three generations are committed to learning Torah, then the Torah will never leave that person\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, we all know too many people who come from generations of Torah scholars who do not know an aleph <\/em>from an ayin<\/em>.\u00a0 How, we wonder, could such a thing be?\u00a0 The Chofetz Chaim explained that the Torah is like a guest seeking entry into a host\u2019s home.\u00a0 Sometimes a guest knocks on one\u2019s door.\u00a0 If no one opens the door, the guest will not come in.<\/p>\n

When Moses concluded his speech, in the moments before he left this world, he spoke to the Jewish nation and said, I am bequeathing an inheritance to you.\u00a0 Take responsibility for it, all of you together.<\/p>\n

Torah is not yerusha<\/em>, it is not a guaranteed inheritance.\u00a0 Knowing that, with each Simchat Torah our hearts are filled not only with personal trepidation, Will I <\/em>be blessed to enjoy another siyum <\/em>like this? but also with the greater trepidation, will my children and my children\u2019s children be so blessed?\u00a0 Will they open the door when there is the knock upon the door?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How did it get so late so soon? –\u00a0Dr. Seuss Siyum, the Hebrew word for \u201ctermination\u201d means so much more than that.\u00a0 It is a celebration observed when we reach a worthy moment of completion as when we complete the study of a tractate of Talmud or the finishing of the Torah cycle.\u00a0 There are, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":296,"featured_media":46546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[343],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-simchat-torah"],"yoast_head":"\nSimchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door - Jewish Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door - Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How did it get so late so soon? –\u00a0Dr. Seuss Siyum, the Hebrew word for \u201ctermination\u201d means so much more than that.\u00a0 It is a celebration observed when we reach a worthy moment of completion as when we complete the study of a tractate of Talmud or the finishing of the Torah cycle.\u00a0 There are, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrthodoxUnion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-04T15:56:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"724\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/\",\"name\":\"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door - Jewish Holidays\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-04T15:56:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/af580ccfedbee71f895aab709f82f98f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg\",\"width\":724,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"Female hand knocking on wooden hotel door with electronic lock. Security, room service concept, copy space\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/\",\"name\":\"Jewish Holidays\",\"description\":\"Learn about Jewish holidays\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/af580ccfedbee71f895aab709f82f98f\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Eliyahu-Safran_avatar.bmp\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Eliyahu-Safran_avatar.bmp\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/author\/rabbi_eliyahu_safranou-org\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door - Jewish Holidays","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door - Jewish Holidays","og_description":"How did it get so late so soon? –\u00a0Dr. Seuss Siyum, the Hebrew word for \u201ctermination\u201d means so much more than that.\u00a0 It is a celebration observed when we reach a worthy moment of completion as when we complete the study of a tractate of Talmud or the finishing of the Torah cycle.\u00a0 There are, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Holidays","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrthodoxUnion","article_published_time":"2018-10-04T15:56:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":724,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/","name":"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door - Jewish Holidays","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-04T15:56:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/af580ccfedbee71f895aab709f82f98f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/GettyImages-909509480.jpg","width":724,"height":483,"caption":"Female hand knocking on wooden hotel door with electronic lock. Security, room service concept, copy space"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/simchat-torah-the-knock-upon-the-door\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Simchat Torah: The Knock Upon the Door"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/","name":"Jewish Holidays","description":"Learn about Jewish holidays","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/af580ccfedbee71f895aab709f82f98f","name":"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Eliyahu-Safran_avatar.bmp","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Eliyahu-Safran_avatar.bmp","caption":"Rabbi Eliyahu Safran"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/author\/rabbi_eliyahu_safranou-org\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/296"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46547,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46545\/revisions\/46547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}