Dear Yavneh Family,

For the majority of my life, I did not take to writing. Even today, I far prefer communicating in person to using the written word. Covid was a pivot point for me, when in person conversations were hard to come by and writing was a way to share ideas. Since then, I have grown to enjoy the writing process. Most of my written thoughts are organized around books or articles that I have read and that made an impact on me. I share some of them through this medium with the hopes they may resonate with some of you as well.

Recently, I read “Days of Awe in TImes of War: Reflections from the Father of a Fallen Hostage” by Rabbi Doron Perez. Rabbi Perez describes the agony and unimaginable pain of losing his precious son Daniel a”h on October 7th. On that fateful day, Daniel rushed to the south to join his platoon in fending off the advance of Hamas terrorists. For months, they thought their son was taken hostage alive, only to later learn that he lost his life heroically defending our land and our people on October 7th. Over the past twelve months, I have had the privilege of hearing Rabbi Perez speak live on a few occasions. He speaks poignantly and eloquently about their family’s unfathomable loss while communicating the depth of their faith and struggle. Their son was a true hero of the Jewish people and gave his life al kiddush Hashem.

In his essay entitled Broken Completeness, Rabbi Perez writes that “this Simchat Torah will be the hardest one that any of us have ever experienced.”

“On the one hand, we are celebrating-holding and dancing with the Torah, the source of our life and meaning. Where are we as a people without the values of the Torah?...At the same time, this is the most painful Simchat Torah that any of us can even remember. Perhaps amongst the most painful in our people’s history.”

Rabbi Perez proceeds to present a novel and deeply insightful understanding of an oft quoted perek from Sefer Kohelet,

“King Solomon, the wisest of all men, highlights in chapter 3 that for every time, and every hour beneath the sun, there are different experiences: a time of life and a time of death, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time of peace and a time of war, time to mourn and a time to celebrate.”

“I had always previously understood that Solomon was talking about different times in our lives. Life can be divided into good times and bad times - sometimes it's a time for happiness and growth. Sometimes it's a time for mourning and destruction. I understood for the first time in my life that this is not necessarily the case. Perhaps King Solomon, in his great wisdom, was teaching us that sometimes all of these things happen together. They literally happen at the same time. Life is a package deal.”

“More often than not, all of these things happen at the same time. Parts of our life are being planted and grown, and other parts are being uprooted and unraveled. In some parts of our life we have shalom, peace and harmony, and in others conflicts, confrontation and turmoil. We have so much blessing and so much to be grateful for, but at times so many curses and so many challenges.”

“This Simchat Torah, we are going to have it both ways. We will dance with every fiber of our being, celebrating the privilege of being a Jew and at the same time, we will cry, yearn, and feel the pain of this last year and what happened last year at this time.”

עֵת סְפוֹד וְעֵת רְקוֹד—-it will be both a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to feel the pain and a time to celebrate the privilege. A time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to feel close and a time to yearn from a distance.”

As we plan to celebrate the last of the Tishrei yamim tovim, I hope to lean into this perspective offered by Rabbi Perez, to embrace the joy and privilege of celebrating our Torah and tradition while remembering all those who cannot celebrate with their families - the murdered, the hostages, the soldiers, and their extended families. As Rabbi Perez models for us - there can be room in our hearts and souls to hold both of these conflicting emotions. 

With best wishes for a chag sameach.

Rabbi Jonathan Knapp

Head of School