For Jews, it’s the happiest day of the year—and a bloody anniversary.
“When God began creating heaven and earth, the earth was void and desolate, there was darkness on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God moved over the waters. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light.”
Tens of thousands of Jews in Connecticut, and millions of Jews across the country, will read these words in synagogue tonight. It is the happiest day in the year for religious Jews: Simchat Torah. Every week, Jews read portions of the Torah. They reach the end of it today and start the cycle all over again.
But this year, many Jews are struggling to feel the joy.
Last year, the holiday fell on October 7. On that day, thousands of terrorists invaded Israel, massacred 1,200 people and kidnapped over 250 hostages. This was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. It also triggered a war that has killed thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, and displaced millions.
For many Jews, this conflict has changed the way they view the world, and the United States.
Jerry Fischer, who is the former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, is one of them. He is not celebrating Simchat Torah this year.
His cousin, Liat Benin, was taken hostage on October 7 and was held captive for 54 days. Her husband, Aviv, was killed. Aviv’s body is still in Gaza and is counted as one of the 101 remaining hostages.
For Fischer, this is a time for mourning, not celebration. Earlier this month, he struggled to observe the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, and the day of repentance, Yom Kippur.
“When you get to the phrase [in the service], ‘Shomer Yisrael’—Guardian of Israel—I thought to myself, ‘Excuse me?’ He should be asking forgiveness from us. I should not be asking forgiveness from him,” Fischer said. “The Guardian of Israel, some guardian.”
Hours after Liat was freed, the family learned a piece of Aviv’s brain was found in his community. Fischer was relieved: it meant Aviv probably died quickly, and they were able to have a Jewish burial for Aviv.
Fischer has since traveled to Israel and Washington D.C. multiple times to advocate for the release of the hostages.
“I became reanimated as a patriot lobbying for my cousin’s release,” Fischer said.
But his resolve, and his anger, did not disappear.
“Compared to what Israel suffered, what [American Jews are] suffering is minor. But for us, to be anxious about the antisemitism and the attacks on synagogues and the attacks on individual Jews and the sentiment on many campuses in America is very disconcerting,” Fischer said. “I don’t think we ever expected to hear and see what we’ve been hearing and seeing. It’s calmed down a bit, but there was a surge of antisemitism that was scary.”
Fischer describes himself as a “cultural Jew who enjoys the traditions,” and “not at all” religious. He observed the secular anniversary of the war and Aviv’s death by participating in a commemorative event and lighting a memorial calendar. While he will not be doing any mourning rituals today, he is still not ready to embrace the holiday of joy.
Rabbi Marc Ekstrand of Temple Emanu-El, a reform synagogue in Waterford, also went to a memorial service on October 7. Many members of his congregation have family in Israel, and many community members lost family and friends.
“[It] has served the community well to focus on those events and mourn, and stand in solidarity with our Jewish families, am Yisrael, in the land of Israel,” Ekstrand said. “Now, come Simchat Torah, we’ve made this distinction. I choose to approach Simchat Torah, not with the memory of… what happened on Simchat Torah last year, but the memory of many Simchat Torahs past, when we have danced with the Torah, we have sung, and we’ve approached our traditions with pure joy.”
Other communities are approaching the holiday differently. In an article he wrote for Mischpacha, the Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union Rabbi Moshe Hauer said, “We will not ignore this past year for even a moment.”
He went on to write, “Instead, we will deepen our appreciation for acheinu kol beis Yisrael (our brethren, the entire House of Israel), the heroes on the front lines and those whose lives have been upending, and our feelings of privilege… for having been given the incomparable gift of Torah. We will draw strength from who we are as a nation, from the care that we provide each other, and from living the Torah’s values.”
There are over 150,000 Jews living in the state of Connecticut, accounting for over 4% of the population, according to Brandeis University’s American Jewish Population Project.
Hate incidents in Connecticut increased by 170% between 2022 and 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL counted almost 184 hate incidents in the state in 2023, the majority of which happened after October 7. One quarter of these incidents happened in schools and colleges.
Nationwide, there have been almost 9,000 hate incidents against Jews, according to the ADL.
Ekstrand and Fischer are both concerned about antisemitism. Both know Jews who have been targeted and harassed, but they haven’t had any negative experiences themselves.
“Have there been difficult moments where it’s been hard to talk about with certain people about what is going on in Israel? Absolutely,” Ekstrand said. “But I have not felt the antisemitism here at all. In fact, I feel a great deal of support from my clergy colleagues. I’m grateful for that.”
Once, Fischer was walking to synagogue in New York City. Before he left his daughter’s apartment, his wife and daughter were worried about him wearing a kippah, or a Jewish prayer cap, in public. He wore one anyway and while he was walking, he was on the phone telling a friend about that conversation.
“And as I was saying that on my phone, a man walked by and said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’m going to protect you,’” Fischer said. That man walked in front of Fischer until they made it to the synagogue. “He was just somebody who overheard by conversation on the phone… It was a heartwarming experience.”
Was this article helpful?
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
