Thousands dance with Torah scrolls in Jerusalem, three years after October 7

JERUSALEM — The Torah scrolls came out, the music began, and the dancing quickly took over. On Saturday night, thousands gathered across Jerusalem for Hakafot Shniyot — "Second Hakafot", the festive dancing with Torah scrolls traditionally held in Israel on the night following Simchat Torah.

Neighbourhoods throughout the city hosted celebrations, with large public gatherings at the First Station, the Western Wall Plaza and Liberty Bell Park. Three years after the October 7 massacre — which fell on Simchat Torah in 2023 — the celebrations carried both the exuberance of the festival and an unmistakable awareness of what the day has come to mean.

At Liberty Bell Park, a Jerusalem tradition dating back to 1982 brought together young people, families, rabbis, community leaders and public officials. This year's celebration was sponsored by Barbara and Alan Weichselbaum of New York and organised with the Jerusalem Great Synagogue and the Bnei Akiva youth movement, in loving memory of Gisella Jean and Eugen Gluck. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attended.

At the David Castle event hall, another celebration brought together survivors of the Supernova music festival massacre, many of whom have embraced Shabbat and Torah observance since October 7. Their message, echoed across the city: "We will dance again."

Simchat Torah — "Rejoicing in the Torah" — marks the completion of the annual cycle of Torah readings and the immediate beginning of a new one. The Second Hakafot, a custom unique to Israel, extends that joy into the streets the night after the festival, when the Torah scrolls are carried and danced with in public.