Yesterday we celebrated Simchat Torah along with Max and Rebecca's consecration at religious school. Tonight we got to celebrate Simchat Torah yet again.
Our children, along with the rest of our congregation, attend religious school up in Richmond. Including our four, there are only seven students and it was decided by the board that our children would be better served by combining with a much larger school. So instead of Max and Rebecca being the only kindergarteners, they are in a class of ten with another class of nine or so across the hall. The only downside is that sometimes we have doublings with some holidays.
So last night we were up in Richmond. The temple there is lovely and Rebecca was dressed to the nines and Max was not looking too shabby either. They were first called up and took their place on the Bima. The kids were very cute and on the whole both classes were well behaved. One little boy started to act up, but the Rabbi calmly stood behind the child and gentle rested his hand atop the boys head, all the while continuing with his speech. The boy promptly settled down.
Then it was Torah time! Simchat Torah is a joyous occasion and Rebecca danced in the aisle for part of the service. It was one of the few times I felt that I didn't have to rein her in and we both enjoyed the service more for that.
At the end of the service each child received a gift bag containing a certificate with a little honey stick taped to the back and a miniature Torah scroll. The idea behind the honey stick is the wish that their study of Torah will be as sweet as honey. Then we all moved outside for a little nosh in the Sukkot out front. There were cookies and apples for all with an added bonus of full sized Hershey bars for the children that had just been consecrated. Nate and Jake were very jealous, but got over pretty quickly. Especially Jake after he was able to snag one that was left over. Then with loaded up everybody and headed back home.
Max is very pleased with his Torah and opened it up when we got home. He then proceeded to "read" his scroll. Of course he can't truly read it, so it was more of his interpretation of what he thinks it should say. Apparently he picked up a Star Wars version of the Torah, because the passage he read was all about Gungan workers. I was unaware of this particular Torah portion until last night.
Rebecca too opened up her scroll, but I don't know if she got the special Star Wars version. She was more interested in looking at the illustrations. I think she might have hummed the Shema, but otherwise she was quiet. She looks so serious there as she studies her little Torah.
Then the two of them were hustled up to bed after one more picture.
They are an obliging pair and happily gather up their little scrolls and posed for me. I think Max looked very handsome in his oxford shirt, but he refused to tuck it in.
It must be some sort of five year old thing, because his brothers wouldn't tuck in their shirts at that age too.
Anyway I wanted y'all to see how cute the two of them were, especially Rebecca. I got her the dress last year to wear at her cousin's Bar Mitzvah. It still fits and I'm glad she could wear it again.
For tonight's celebration at our Temple we were a little less formally dressed (still nicely though, with nice shirts for the boys, a clean dress for the girl and a skirt for me), even though the service itself was little more formal. I must admit I prefer my Temple's version over the one yesterday. The Richmond Synagogue is Reformed with a capital R, while ours is Conservative. That and it is our little tight knit community and it just feels like home. A place I want to celebrate with the ones I love.
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