The holocaust historian queries whether, if Rabbi Baruch David Weitzmann were alive today, he would “cancel the singing and dancing of this year’s Simchas Torah holiday. Maybe he would say this is a time to feel the tsa’ar of the Jews in Israel, not a time for celebrating.”
And if the complete cancelation of the joyous holiday of Simchat Torah is too great, Medoff suggests, perhaps simply eliminating the seventh of the dances we perform during Simchat Torah celebrations, “and, of course, explain the reason for the cancelation.”
The plaintive email from Medoff ends with the following:
Still too drastic? How about just shortening the last dance–and pausing to speak about the Henkins, about their orphaned children, and about what practical steps American Jews can take, in the realm of political action, to respond to the murders. Is that too much to ask of American Jewry today?
Is it?
