Carlebach Shul Just Finished Third Hakafah

This set of Hakafot will end around December 20, when the congregation will go home, and, the following morning, begin the daytime set.

Jerusalem, November 10 - A synagogue known for its no-hold-barred approach to joyous celebration of Jewish ritual has nearly reached the halfway point of the singing and dancing with the Torah associated with Simhat Torah, which this year occurred on October 14, attendees reported today.

Congregation Vaani Tefillah, which blends the tunes and liturgical style of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and others with an intensity and devotion in which participants lost track of time - or at least of its significance - has now finished the third of the seven traditional "Hakafot," or circuits, of the Torah-reading table while carrying the holy scrolls in festive gratitude for having reached the end of the annual cycle of readings.

While most synagogues get through the Hakafot in a matter of hours, Vaani Tefillah has always adopted a more ecstatic and less mainstream approach to its services. Observers expect this set of Hakafot to continue until approximately December 20 - at which point the congregation will go home, and, the following morning, begin the daytime Hakafot, to last until about the beginning of March.

"It's a spirited celebration," gushed Sarah Ashkenazi, a longtime Vaani Tefillah attendee who appreciates the opportunity that the extended Hakafot afford her to "attain a higher state of consciousness" that she claims has nothing to do with the distinct smell of marijuana in and around the synagogue. "This is about as long as it usually takes. But I remember a few years ago, we lost track and probably ended up doing like nine instead of seven, and it lasted even longer."

Traditionally, Hakafot consist of an alphabetic acrostic poem broken up into seven pieces; the poem combines praise of God with requests for deliverance and connection, with each section corresponding to one circuit. Most congregations supplement those recitations with other songs, extending the Hakafot liturgy far longer than the few pages that they occupy in the prayer book might imply to the uninitiated.

This year's Simhat Torah celebrations carried extra valence for participants; the dramatic release of all the remaining living hostages in Hamas captivity the day before capped two years exactly since the Palestinian invasion and massacre during which those people fell captive. At Vaani Tefillah, as elsewhere, the traditional songs about the sweetness of Torah gave way to songs of appreciation for the taste of redemption that the day offered, though, to the casual observer, the unbridled festivities looked the same as any previous year here.

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