This is a late reminder of our regular Thursday night Torah study. This week, we'll look at the background on this weekend's Simhat Torah celebration -- the history and the texts associated with it. 

PLEASE JOIN ON ZOOM: bit.ly/NafTorah. Here's a link to the source sheet we'll be using: bit.ly/NafST.

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This Saturday afternoon, the Nafshenu community is celebrating a double-holiday that marks the end of the High Holiday season. Simḥat Torah and Sh'mini Atzeret come at the end of the weeklong festival of Sukkot. There are differences in the ways that Jews observe these two holidays. Israelis, along with Reform and Reconstructionist communities around the world,  celebrate Simḥat Torah and Sh'mimi Atzeret on the same day. This year, it falls on Shabbat (Friday night, Oct.6, through Saturday night, Oct. 7).

Our service/party/potluck starts at 4pm Saturday at our home in Prince of Peace church. As we're meeting in the afternoon, we'll be doing the short Shabbat/holiday afternoon service. It starts with Ashrei, a collection of psalms, then goes straight into the Torah service. That's where the fun starts: We read the last 12 verses of Deuteronomy, then start the Torah reading cycle again with the first five verses of Genesis. We'll be parading around the room with our Torah scrolls and flags as we sing during the seven hakafot or circuits. We'll have our Shabbat/festival Amidah and a short Yizkor (memorial) recitation for parents, siblings or other family members and friends. 

Please come! It will be relaxed and fun!