Holy Unrollers

Yesterday, Shabbat, I watched CRC’s livestream service from my continuing semi-quarantine.  It being the grand finale of Sukkot, approaching Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (rejoicing in the Torah), they went all out with the festivities.

There was an actual Klezmer band!  There were hakafot–parading around the synagogue seven times with the Torah scrolls, lulavs and etrogs, and flags.

And most spectacular of all, something I’ve never actually witnessed, was the unrolling of the entire Torah scroll across the sanctuary, held up and paraded under by the whole congregation.  Then they re-rolled it the opposite way to begin the Torah over again from Genesis, the beginning. (“Holy Unrollers” was the rabbi’s quip, not mine.)

All ages of kids were up on the bimah with the rabbis, participating.  I was glued to the spectacle.  Here are my amateur “screen shots”.

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