Students gathered in the Mandela Room Tuesday to celebrate Simchat Torah, one of the more joyful holidays on the Jewish calendar.
“We have a lot of different holidays that have different kinds of energy,” said Rivkah Slonim, education director of Chabad House, a Jewish center headquartered on Murray Hill Road in Vestal. “Simchat Torah is all about the joy.”
Simchat Torah marks the completion of the reading of all five books of Moses. On each Saturday throughout the year the Jewish people read a portion of the Torah, and Oct. 25 marked the beginning of a new cycle. The exact date differs year to year because Judaism uses a lunar calendar.
“It’s a holiday that celebrates our existence,” said Rabbi Aaron Slonim, Chabad’s director. “[Torah] connects us to thousands of years of our heritage [and] we believe and know that Torah kept us in the most difficult and joyful times.”
The Torah commands that during this time of year the Jewish people should be joyful, and express their exuberance through singing and dancing.
“We get together to dance, jump and show our joy,” Slonim said.
That joy was present Tuesday night.
To begin the celebration, the five scrolls of the Torah were brought out and carried around the room. Students sang and kissed the holy books as the carriers passed them.
Holiday tradition mandates that the Jewish people say seven blessings and follow each with a song and dance. One of the holiday’s customs is to dance with the Torah. Five students held the books and danced, while the remaining attendees danced around them in male and female circles — according to orthodox Jewish custom barring men and women from dancing together.
“The significance of dancing with Torah is to show that we all have equal share in Torah,” Slonim said. “A circle has no beginning and no end, and everyone has equal ownership in what Torah represents.”
The students, seemingly happy to partake in the tradition, often clapped and jumped up with pleasure.
“It’s very spiritual,” said Oren Farber.
In between the blessings students mingled and enjoyed refreshments provided by organizers.
The Chabad House has been organizing the celebration of Simchat Torah on campus for over 20 years. For this year’s holiday, a costumed student, dressed to resemble a gigantic Torah, walked around and gave out invitations.
“The weather took a real bite out of attendance,” Slonim said. “But many did show up. They came out even though it’s really horrible out there.”
The weather also prevented students from dancing outside with celebrators instead moving to the lobby of the Old Union to dance around the couches.
The event concluded with a dinner at the Chabad House. Attending students agreed that the celebration was a success.
“It [was] a lot of fun,” said Andrew Lillian, who attended the celebration on campus for the first time. “I will come next year for sure.”