This year Simchat Torah may have been smaller crowd-wise, but was one of our liveliest and most dynamic ever! Thursday night Hakafot dancing started 8:30pm and the 7th Hakfah (dance circuit) was still going strong at midnight.

Often Simchat Torah dancing is fueled by a little Lchaim drink, but there was none served at Shabbos House. Even those who may have “pre-gamed” at 7pm, that wouldn’t explain dynamic dancing at 11pm. This Simchat Torah was fueled by joy, by Torah, by a sense of warmth and community. It was fueled by people!

Better yet:

Usually, after a long night of dancing, people are beat the next day. We usually go through the motions for the daytime Hakafot, but there’s not much energy left. Not this year! Maybe it was just about twenty or thirty of us during the daytime Hakafot on Friday, but the dancing was energetic, lively, and included stuff and shtick we didn’t do the night before.

And still better:

On a 3-day holiday like this, at the end of a long holiday season, very often students get “Jew’d-out” and too tired and overwhelmed to come out yet again for Friday Night and Shabbat. But you did! We had a beautiful turnout and vibe for Friday Night dinner, and that singing and spontaneous dancing was so heartwarming…

whoa! and Shabbos Day!!??

Who would have thought we’d have 9 tables filled for Shabbos Lunch? We went around the tables and (nearly) each person shared their favorite holiday season experience or memory. I’m not going to try and share what everyone said (like we did for the Israel memories) but suffice it to say that the students in the room cherished and valued their holiday experiences…

and that’s quite a tribute!!! You guys are amazing and this makes us so happy and proud. Thank you all for an amazing Tishrei holiday season and for ending it on such a positive and joyous way.