"This Simchat Torah , we will dance again."

That refrain was echoed coast-to-coast by American Jews on Monday, Oct. 13, as they prepared to celebrate one of their faith's most joyous holidays following the release of 20 Israeli hostages after 738 days in captivity.

Two years ago, the typically celebratory gathering turned into a day of horror when Hamas chose the date to storm across Israel's borders, killing 1,200 people, abducting 251 and wounding scores more in the worst attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust. Communities were destroyed and families torn apart.

With all that, Simchat Torah observances — usually a time of exuberant singing and dancing with Torah scrolls — grew more somber. The last two years, some synagogues held a moment of silence, and others sang so

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