The Charlotte Jewish News- October 2026- Page 32
Beginning Again, Together
By Madeline White
Every year on Simchat Torah, we reach the end of the Torah and immediately return to the beginning. The words have not changed. We have.
Throughout the High Holy Day season, we have been thinking about how we want to holiday of joy into one marked by heartbreak, we gathered as the last living hostages began returning home. Relief filled the room, even as we continued to pray for healing and peace.
During services, recent B’ nei Mitzvah students returned to the Torah portions they had spent read again, and share what they have learned with the community that cheered them on the first time.
After services, we will move from the sanctuary to a special Shabbat dinner featuring a pasta bar. A DJ will take it from there. There is no minimum level of
designed for small children to experience the holiday in a way that feels like theirs.
By Sunday, the Torah will be unrolled again as our Religious School community gathers for Simchat Torah and Consecration. We will bless our kindergarten students as they begin
place in life. Simchat Torah reminds us that the Torah is not something we finish and place back in the Ark. We return to it carrying whatever the past year has brought us.
Some years, joy comes easily. In others, celebrating can feel more complicated. Either way,
Recent B’ nei Mitzvah help unroll the Torah during Simchat Torah 2025
show up in the year ahead. The journey began in Elul, when we made time to pay attention and turn toward what matters. It carried us through Rosh HaShanah and the work of Yom Kippur. Now, as the season draws to a close, we are invited to find joy in beginning again.
Last year’ s celebration at Temple Beth El came at an extraordinary moment. Two years after the Oct. 7 attacks transformed a
Before Oct. 7, 2023, the average patient in Hadassah Medical Organization’ s physical rehabilitation department was 50 years old. Today, Hadassah reports that average is 21. Behind this startling shift are young IDF soldiers as well as civilians whose survival marked only the beginning of recovery.
Many arrived with devastating injuries that would demand months, and sometimes years, of rehabilitation. They needed more than emergency treatment; recovery meant regaining mobility, independence and a sense of what life could still hold.
Hadassah Medical Organization responded to the attacks as an immediate medical emergency. When the extent and severity of the injuries became clear, so did another reality: Israel would months learning. Together, we unrolled the Torah across the Blumenthal Sanctuary. Then we had pizza and danced. It was a Simchat Torah we will never forget.
This year, those students will return once again to the words they know so well. Becoming B’ nei Mitzvah is not the end of their relationship with Torah, and Simchat Torah gives them an opportunity to come back,
require an extensive system of long-term physical and psychological care. In response, Hadassah accelerated the opening of the Gandel Rehabilitation Center at its Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem.
This state-of-the-art medical facility combines specialized therapies leveraging innovative technologies such as robotics and advanced imaging. Its work extends beyond simply repairing injuries. Medical professionals guide patients through relearning everyday movements, preventing complications and reclaiming as much independence as possible.
The sheer devastation of war is not exclusively physical. Hadassah has also expanded its mental health services, providing emergency psychiatric care for adults dancing ability required. Enthusiasm is welcome, but a supportive sway from near the pasta also counts.
The celebration will look a little different the next morning. At Tot Simchat Torah, some of our youngest community members will sing and parade with full-size and stuffed Torahs. Rabbi Beth Nichols, Miss Debby Block, and Ms. Patty Torcellini will lead a Shabbat morning
and children, increasing clinical staffing and sending teams into displaced communities. This approach recognizes that trauma can remain long after the immediate danger has passed, affecting patients, families and entire communities.
From North Carolina, the crisis can feel overwhelming, and the people receiving care impossibly far away. On Oct. 25, members of greater Charlotte’ s Jewish community can take direct action through Hadassah Charlotte Metro’ s“ Threads of Healing,” a fashion show fundraiser featuring makeup, styling, food and a silent auction. Hadassah members, community members, local supporters and their families will take to the runway, but the event’ s purpose extends far beyond the show. their formal Jewish education and welcome students who are new to Temple Beth El.
There is something especially fitting about holding these moments together. Recent B’ nei Mitzvah return to portions they have already studied while kindergarten students stand at the beginning of their own Jewish learning. Adults and children dance with the same Torah, each experiencing it from a different
When Survival Is Only the Beginning
The event’ s name reflects the idea at its heart; individual acts of generosity can be woven into a larger network of care. Funds raised through ticket sales and the silent auction will help sustain Hadassah’ s medical and rehabilitation work in Israel, including the medical staff, therapies, and technologies essential to injured patients rebuilding their lives.
Supporting that work does not depend on understanding every medical procedure or witnessing every stage of recovery. It begins by recognizing what is at stake. For a wounded soldier learning to walk again, a young civilian coping with trauma or a family adjusting to a life altered in an instant, recovery is measured in hard-won increments: the next movement, the next milestone, the Torah is waiting for us. So is this sacred community. This October, we invite you to celebrate with us in whatever way feels like yours. Then we will roll the Torah back and begin again, together.
the next step toward home. And Charlotte can play a significant part in making those next steps possible. Will you join us?
“ Threads of Healing” will be held Sunday, Oct. 25. Tickets and additional information are available at hadassah. org / chapter / charlotte. For questions, please call 980-553-1880 or email hadassahclt @ gmail. com.