[Avodah] What Will be with Simchas Torah?

[Chana Luntz]

RZS writes:

<<Last year, when I was an avel, I was told that for Hoshanos I should not
go around at all, and should lend my arba minim to someone else who hasn't
got them, and have him go around in my place. (Or at least that's how I
understood it; it may be that lending the arba minim was simply a suggestion
to do someone a chesed, since I wasn't using them.)  For Simchas Torah I was
told that I could go around with the group, but should not hold a sefer
torah while doing so; after the hakafa I could take a sefer and dance with
it.>>

Interesting, did you ask (or could you ask) your posek for the basis of
this.  It does seem to me he is drawing something of a parallel.  You take a
lulav and Etrog and waive it, but you don't do hakafos with it, you can take
the sefer Torah, but not do hakafos with it. But when he said you could take
the sefer Torah after hakafos, was he suggesting that this was after they
had been put away in the ark?  Ie were you then taking them out again solely
for your personal dancing purposes?  Or was he talking about when the sifrei
Torah were on their way back to the ark, that they were allowed a divergence
to allow you to dance with them even though you had not been allowed to do
hakafos with them?

The reason generally given that an avel does not do hakafos with the lulav
and estrog is because it is a manifestation of extreme simcha.  Presumably
the reason not to hold the sefer Torah during hakafos was using the same
logic (otherwise why make a distinction vis a vis an avel).

-- 
Zev Sero            Wishing everyone a *healthy* and happy 5781

Chag Sameach

Chana