“A time to mourn and a time to dance.” These are the words of Ecclesiastes, the scroll from which we read each Sukkot, composed by King Solomon. We often take these words metaphorically, cognizant of the bitter and sweet in our lives. Yet, these words are real as we read them this Shabbat. This Simchat Torah, we will mourn and we pray that we will dance with the return of our hostages, those 20 alive and those 28 whose bodies deserve a proper Jewish burial. Rabbi Benjamin Segal writes that Ecclesiastes glides between two extremes of interpretation: determinism (all is in God’s hands) and advice (when to act), while never quite reaching either.

He explains that one cannot know when the times are coming, and these times cannot be known.

There is a sense that order is beyond our control. Negatives and positives appear in changing order, reflecting a lack of regularity.

Is this not the feeling we have all felt these last two years? We have prayed, we have sang, we have spoken, we have rallied, we have laughed, and we have cried.

In these next 48 hours, we will continue to do so. We know that when the time comes, we will be ready to embrace our hostages.

Eli Sharabi, in his book Hostage, writes about the power he felt when he would hear his captors talk about the people on the streets of Tel Aviv shouting, praying for his release. He details the same feelings of our ancient wisdom–the lack of regularity, the ups and the downs, and the changing order of the day.

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

Join us this Simchat Torah, Tuesday evening at 5:00 p.m.

We will live out the words of King Solomon. We will remember, we will mourn, and then we will dance again.