On Simchat Torah, Congregation Beth Israel Abraham and Voliner (BIAV) will honor the memory of Israel Defense Forces soldier Daniel Perez (z”l).
BIAV is participating in World Mizrachi’s Simchat Torah Project, “a global project to unite the Jewish world and honor the memory of the 1,200 souls lost on October 7th and the many hundreds since,” according to the project’s website.
The project’s motto is “a time to cry, a time to dance,” a phrase from King Solomon’s writings in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). According to the Simchat Torah Project, 1,600 synagogues have received Torah covers dedicated to a victim of Oct. 7. On Simchat Torah, congregants will dance with the Torah, which “will symbolize the Jewish People’s resilience, our ability to find hope in the face of tragedy.”
On Sept. 2, the Simchat Torah Project held a ceremony at the Kotel in Jerusalem during which the Torah covers were distributed to representatives of communities around the world. BIAV representatives Mark and Roberta Weinstein Cohen received the cover for Daniel Perez.
Perez, a platoon commander in the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, was murdered on Oct. 7. He was thought to be alive as a hostage for 163 days until the IDF confirmed in March that he had been killed defending Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Rabbi Doron Perez, Daniel Perez’s father, is the executive chairman of World Mizrachi, the organization facilitating the Simchat Torah project.
More information about the project is available at thesimchattorahproject.org.
