Timely Program Ideas

Timely Program Ideas
Department of Congregational Programming
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
155 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10010
212-533-7800 ext 2620

TPI 14: Instant Siyum - Simha Torathon for Sukkot or Shavuot

The children of Israel are commanded to gather for the reading of the Torah, in its entirety, once in seven years. Deut. 31: 10. Moshe's direction to the Israelites is halachically mandated by Ezra for an annual cycle of the Five Books of Moses or its Babylonian adaptation as a triennial cycle.

The Torah reading begins on Simhat Torah with Parshat Bereshit. The Giving of the Torah is observed on Shavuot. Each Hag presents a unique opportunity to highlight the centrality of the Torah for Conservative Jews.

The well-known mishna and gemara from Tractates Peah 1:1 and Shabbat 127 enumerate significant mitzvot which have no minimum/maximum measure of observance. The culminating mitzvah states "Talmud Torah K'neged Kulam", that the study of Torah is comparable to all mitzvot.

On a Hol HaMoed day/evening of Sukkot or on Shavuot conduct a Simha Torathon, a marathon of Torah study.

The program will be most effective when co-sponsored by the Adult Education, Religious/Ritual and Family Education Committees, and with a USY chapter and other synagogue auxiliaries.

Advance Preparation and Set-Up

Invite members of the congregation, in advance of the program, to prepare, through personal study, one of the 54 parshiyot, the weekly Torah portions. (To adapt for smaller congregations, see option #4). Make a list and be sure to cover every parsha of the Torah with one person/couple. You're already on the way to a successful program when these newly "ordained" teachers invite their family and friends to attend the Simha Torathon.

These peer-scholars need guidance to prepare their shiur. The professional educators - the rabbi, cantor, educational director, faculty, and executive director - should supply a resource list to each peer-scholar to enhance the preparation of the parsha. This is a marvelous opportunity for otherwise well-educated and interested, but not necessarily Judaically trained people, to study seriously and personally.

The resource list could include:

• Soncino Bible, Hertz
• The Torah with Commentaries, JPS
• Chumash, Stone
• Understanding Genesis, Sarna
• Exploring Exodus, Sarna
• Anchor Bible
• The Midrash Says - Bnei Yakov I

On the day/evening of the program, have consecutively numbered parshat ha'shavuah signs, in Hebrew and in English transliteration, placed in 54 locations designated as class areas with 4-6 chairs at each spot.

The Program

As the "students" of all ages, post bar/bat mitzvah through 120 years of age, arrive; give each person an assigned location without reference to peer-scholar, but assuring equal distribution. At the announced hour, begin the 54 classes. They should last about one hour. Latecomers should be directed to a designated area, keeping the sequence of attendees assigned to a group in order.

Options

1. After the class, reassemble all the participants in the synagogue sanctuary where one minute per parsha summaries are presented for the next hour. Follow with a siyum concluding ceremony.
2. Rotate the peer-scholars after their first class of 45 minutes to a second location where they can re-teach the material to a new group. Assemble all groups after the second session for a siyum ceremony.
3. After the class, assemble all the groups to a ballroom area and stand in a large circle in parsha-numerical order. The rabbi or chairperson, standing in the center of the circle asks each group to give a one minute d'var Torah or "something I learned tonight". As each book of the Torah is concluded call on the hazan to lead the assembled in a Torah tune or song. Simultaneous with the delivery of the divrei Torah, parsha by parsha, a Torah is unscrolled and held by those in attendance with honorary gabbaim at each etz chaim holding the parchment at the ends. The culmination of the unscrolling will be the completely revealed Torah from Bereshit through Vzot HaBracha. The unscrolling, singing, and the one-minute divrei Torah could be video recorded, if the program is not on Shabbat/Yom Tov.
4. With a smaller congregation or limited group of participants, the focus can be on studying the first and last parsha of each sefer of the Torah - a total of 10 portions. Instead of a full unscrolling, the group can see the designated portion and still feel the sense of going from beginning to the conclusion of each of the Five Books of Moshe.

Follow-Up

1. Distribute a book list, to each participant, of references and resources that can be used for personal Torah study.
2. Invite all congregants to participate in a weekly parshat ha'shavuah class to be “team taught" by the rabbi and peer-scholar.
3. Create a Parshat Ha'shavuah Taped Talking Torah that can be bought or borrowed by members for home/office/car. A written prepared text on each parsha is recorded by a knowledgeable Jew highlighting the weekly portion or a scholarly D'var Torah for each week.
4. Develop home-based Havura Torah groups that meet twice a month to study the parshiyot seriously.
5. Establish a weekly USY Torah Hour before the regular USY meeting to preview the upcoming Shabbat reading.
6. Use the PBS-TV, 10 part series, Genesis, with Bill Moyers for an adult discussion circle, Egul LaTorah, appearing October '96.

The Simha Torathon should serve as an educational opportunity in and of itself. More importantly, it should be a stepping-stone for serious Torah study led by the educators of a Synagogue as well as peer learning groups.