Shalom House Residents Celebrate Simchat Torah

I have just returned from one of my most joyous moments in recent memory! I took Jason, Joel and Kevin to shul this evening to celebrate Simchat Torah. We arrived in time for the service. At it's conclusion, the rabbis had the adults stand in a circle at the edge of the sanctuary (all the chairs had been removed). They unrolled one of our torahs and had the adults carefully hold it so they formed a continuous circle. Joel, Jason and Kevin were in awe when they saw how long the torah was. We all had the honor of saying the blessings and then our cantor read the final lines from one end of the torah and the beginning lines from the beginning. I explained to the men what was happening, and they seemed quite impressed.

The torah was once again rolled up. Then the music and dancing began. From our congregation, we managed to pull together a pretty substantial and talented band... keyboard, drums, guitars, clarinets and some tambourines. Several people holding the torah began to snake through the room to the sound of the music, and our guys joined the lines. Then we began to dance in circles and the guys were keeping up with all of it. When we started to dance in smaller groups, congregants who know me and understood that I had brought the guys from the group home were pulling them into their circles, even dancing with them as partners. And then, suddenly, someone brought a torah over and asked Jason to hold it with her. Jason looked scared and thrilled and filled with awe. And then, being Jason, he threw himself into the dance and hugged the torah with all his might. Joel and Kevin got their turn to hold the torah and dance, too. They were giddy with excitement, since they recognized the honor they had been given.

Someone spread out a large tallis and held it aloft. Joel, Jason and Kevin  joined the line of dancers passing under the outspread tallis. More congregants came over and took our guys into their circles. And then, Rabbi Berk saw Joel, Jason and Kevin  on the edge of his group. He took off his necktie, held up one end of it and handed one end to Jason (the tallest of our three guys) and showed him how to dance together, stretching the tie between them. People started a dance line to pass under the tie, and they pulled Joel and Kevin along. Jason was thrilled beyond words!

When that ended, the guys continued dancing on their own, with partners and in circles, joining the lines that snaked through the sanctuary and forming their own line when once again someone thrust a torah into their arms. When it was Kevin's turn, he seemed transfixed by the honor; when it was Joel's turn, he beamed like a beacon.

And as I stood there, watching my congregation literally embrace Jason, Joel and Kevin, I knew... I knew that the men of Shalom House were now part of a bigger family. What a blessing.

Written by Joel's mother, Becca Hornstein, in 2001