[Avodah] minhag simchat tora

[T613K at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/12/2009 , Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org writes:

>> a blog  not normally allowed  here  lists  the  following as 'shtick'  
done  on  simchat   tora.  any additions?
 
    1.  High Holiday tune for the first Maariv*  
    2.  Show tunes, or old standards, for the Chazan's part of Maariv.  
    3.  Auctioning off every honor of the day* to the highest bidder  
    4.  [snip]  
    5.  Completely removing the mechitza during hakafot*  
    6.  Putting a shtreimal on the person leading the hakafa* (You don't 
usually  wear a shtrimal and a talis simultaneously, but the joke has more 
bite (not  that its all that funny in any case) if the person being forced to 
don the  shtreimal isn't hasidic) 
etc

>>>>>
My shul doesn't allow "shtick" and does not even  allow alcohol.  Our shul 
is a Litvishe shtibel, our rav the biggest talmid  chacham in town.   We 
have by far the best dancing in town (my town  being North Miami Beach), the 
most spirited, the most intense.  That's  because we are the shul with the 
most serious learners, the ones who really LOVE  Torah.  Our rav would not 
allow people to treat Simchas Torah as a joke or  a Purim party, not that anyone 
would want to.
 
A couple of notes:  We do auction off kibudim, that's not  shtick.  I think 
all shuls do that?  Certainly the big kibudim  like Chasan Torah and Chasan 
Bereishis?
 
Also the mechitza is taken down so the women can see the dancing, although  
tables are placed to form a physical barrier between the men and the  
women.  The rav feels strongly, and I concur, that the women should feel  and see 
the simcha and the love felt by their men for the Torah, whose learning  
the women are supporting (even if only by encouraging their husbands to be  
kovea itim in the evenings)  The ladies' section is absolutely packed on  
Simchas Torah (although I myself go only for a short time) -- the more  
right-wing the shul, the more the ladies get into the spirit of Simchas Torah  and 
find the dancing inspiring and enjoyable, even if only vicariously.   The 
younger women especially enjoy seeing the little tots on their fathers'  
shoulders during the hakafos.  That is not shtick, that is love of Torah  and joy 
at seeing the Torah passed on to the next generation with so much  
enthusiasm.
 
 
--Toby  Katz
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