T orah P ortion
The Sweet Joy of Life
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Sept. 24
Oct. 1
a n e w a n d i n d e p e n d e nt
milestone of Shemini Atzeres.

It is striking to note how
often this special blessing is
recited over this season of the
year: both evenings of Rosh
Hashanah during kiddush,
preceding the shofar on both
days of Rosh Hashanah, during
Kol Nidrei on Yom Kippur,
during kiddush on the opening
evenings of Sukkot, before
waving the lulav and etrog for
the first time, and again in
the kiddush of Shemini Atzeres
and Simchat Torah. (In fact,
during the time of the Talmud,
an additional Shehechiyanu
was recited when the sukkah
was constructed! Sukkah 46a.)
In many ways, this simple
expression of gratitude to God
for survival is the anthem of
our High Holiday season.

There is a powerful story
that illustrates the profound
significance of this blessing:
One year, the first Bobover
Rebbe, R’ Shloime Halberstam
(1847–1905), acquired a
precious possession: a set of
the famed Slavita edition of the
Talmud. Particularly prized
by Chasidic rebbes due to the
beauty of the printing and
the piety of the printers, the
Bobover Rebbe was overjoyed
with his good fortune.

So when the second night
of Rosh Hashanah arrived
that year, the Bobover Rebbe
asked that the Slavita Talmud
be placed on the yom tov table
together with the customary
platter of new fruit, in order
that his shehecheyanu —
his heartfelt declaration of
joy in being allowed to live
another year — should include
his excitement over his new
Talmud. Decades later, in 1946, his
grandson who bore his holy
name, R ‘ Shloime Halberstam
(1907–2000), found himself in
New York on Rosh Hashanah
under very different circum-
stances. He had lost his wife,
most of his children and many
of his followers during the dark
years of the Holocaust. Bobov
was gone, and as a refugee
in America, his beard just
growing back after the war,
was trying to imagine the near
impossible work of rebuilding.

When he sat down to
celebrate the second evening of
Rosh Hashanah, he, too, placed
a new set of Talmud on the
table, just as his namesake had
done. And when I imagine the
ragtag group of refugees that
shared that first Rosh Hashanah
in the New World, I think
about what the Shehecheyanu
must have meant to them:
strong relationship with the
consulate general of Israel in
Philadelphia, another frequent
show guest and, with the help
of the consulate general in
Washington, D.C., “Sounds
of Jerusalem” broadcast Israel
News Digest on the show.

“The premise of the show
was very much focused on
giving an Israel view of what
was happening in the world,
avoiding direct politics as best
A “Sounds of Jerusalem” poster
as possible,” Grossmann said. from the 1980s
Before the internet, there
were few outlets for pro-Israel
But Grossmann
and messages to be shared. “Sounds his production team aren’t
of Jerusalem” was, according completely responsible for the
to Grossmann, one of the first show’s large audience.

WKDU gained a large
U.S. Israeli culture radio shows.

following of Black listeners
in the 1970s, largely thanks
to “The Black Experience
in Music,” a group of Black
students who called themselves
“communicators,” rather than
DJs, as they not only played
music but educated Black
communities in Drexel and
Philadelphia about cultural
happenings. “We were such a crucial part
[of WKDU] because we were the
only consistent program,” said
Sherri Pennington, a communi-
cator from 1977 to 1981.

“The Black Experience”
began in 1971 and was respon-
sible for the vast majority of
the station’s programming
through the ’80s.

Much like Drexel’s Jewish
RABBI DANIEL YOLKUT
Parshat Sukkot
THE HOLIDAY OF Shemini
Atzeres suffers from an identity
crisis. On the one hand, its
very name — the Eighth Day
of Assembly — leads to the
impression that it is the closing
day of Sukkot, the holiday that
immediately precedes it.

At the same time, the
Talmud clearly understands
it to be a separate holiday,
with significant features that
distinguish it from Sukkot.

Among the halakhic features
that the Talmud uses to
prove its independence is
the recitation of the blessing
of Shehechiyanu — Baruch
she-he-cheyanu ve-kiyamanu
ve-higiyanu la-zeman ha-zeh
— the benediction recited at
the beginning of each festival
thanking God “who has kept
us alive, sustained us, and
brought us to this season.”
The Shehechiyanu said at
the beginning nights of Sukkot
is not sufficient to cover the joy
that we have in encountering
Sounds Continued from Page 9
20 SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
6:36 p.m.

6:25 p.m.

• Notwithstanding the horror
and the carnage, they were
still alive.

• Notwithstanding the utter
obliteration of the rich
heritage of European Jewry,
the Talmud still lived.

• Notwithstanding
the unfamiliar and spiritually
rootless soil they found
themselves on, the grandson
could still find the same joy
in Judaism as the zeyde had
years before.

as we culminate for a festival
season that, in some ways,
would be unrecognizable to
our pre-pandemic selves, it is
not difficult to give in to a sense
of sadness and despair.

This Tishrei, we need to
seize on to the Shehechiyanu of
the Bobover Rebbe, to find the
joy and gratitude to Hashem
for what we do have, that we
are still here and appreciating
the unique gifts of each festival
of this blessed season.

And I leave you with this
question: What can we bring to
the table this year to enhance
our Shehechiyanu? More than
a lychee or a kumquat, we need
to dig deep in ourselves to find
and share that for which we
are so grateful to Hashem,
notwithstanding the anxiety of
this past year.

Baruch she-he-cheyanu
ve-kiyamanu ve-higiyanu
la-zeman ha-zeh! l
Baruch she-he-cheyanu
ve-kiyamanu ve-higiyanu
la-zeman ha-zeh!
This has been a challenging
year for the whole world, and
Rabbi Daniel Yolkut is the spiritual
leader of Congregation Poale
Zedeck. This column was provided
by the Vaad Harabanim of Greater
Pittsburgh. population, Drexel’s Black
community was small but
disproportionately represented
at WKDU, which became a
space for underrepresented
communities. Though WKDU’s influence
has waned, along with most
other radio stations, it still
serves to provide a space for
those on the fringes looking
to discover music and culture
beyond a Spotify playlist.

“WKDU is a very multicul-
tural space,” outgoing WKDU
Production Director David
Juro said.

Juro is Jewish, but unlike
Grossmann, he’s one of several
Jewish students at the station
who make shows about a
myriad of topics.

Along with students,
Drexel has a robust group of
alumni still broadcasting their
programs from WKDU. After
the 50th anniversary celebra-
tion in July, more alumni
are considering returning to
reprise their shows.

Pennington returned to
WKDU as a communicator
on Sept. 19. After his 50th
anniversary stint, Grossmann is
thinking about doing likewise.

“Maybe there are ways to
bring it back,” Grossmann
said. “I definitely wouldn’t have
thought that until I did it and
had all these people as engaged
as they were.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM