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I will be dancing for Safta on Simchat Torah

My great-grandmother Lily Ebert showed me that we must dance, even with a heavy heart

October 15, 2024 08:32
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Lily Ebert with the then Prince of Wales at the unveiling of 'Seven Portraits:Surviving the Holocaust' in Buckingham Palace, on January 24, 2022 (Getty Images)
3 min read

It is the question that many of us are asking ourselves: How can we celebrate Simchat Torah this year?

Traditionally a day of vibrant song and dance, where we rejoice with the Torah, this year feels different. How can we bring ourselves to dance on the first anniversary since the horrific pogrom that took place last Simchat Torah in Israel, where so many people were slaughtered, injured and taken hostage? The scars from that day remain painfully fresh.

Simchat Torah has always been a festival of joy, a celebration of the Torah and Jewish life. Yet this year we feel the weight of grief and wonder how it is possible to dance in the face of such sorrow. This struggle is unfortunately not new to our people. In fact, it is something we have been forced to navigate for centuries—dancing in the shadow of tragedy.

This year, as Simchat Torah approaches, I also find myself reflecting on the life and legacy of my great-grandmother, Lily Ebert, who my cousins and I called “Safta” and who passed away last week at the age of 100. She was a Holocaust survivor who, despite enduring the unimaginable horrors of Auschwitz, lived her life with immense strength, resilience and love. Her life is a powerful lens through which to understand the complexity of this moment in Jewish history.