Our teacher and rabbi, Rabbi Yosef Mashash Zatzuk'l, one of the greatest sages of Morocco in recent generations and formerly the chief rabbi of Haifa, brings in his book Shavat Maim Haim (part 1, p. 9 answer 9) one question that was sent to him regarding the burial of Torah scrolls. The questioner is Rabbi Baruch Lesari, zt'l, who asked to be questioned about the custom in some cities in Morocco during the Asro Shavuot holiday of taking worn Torah scrolls and printed books to the cemetery for burial, in a festive procession with songs and poems. Kodesh should say laments and not songs and poems, in view of this he asked Rabbi Mashash's opinion.
In his answer Rabbi Mashash said that even in his hometown Makanas they used to accompany worn Torah scrolls to burials to the sound of songs and poems and also in many other cities of the West (North Africa). The rabbi relied, among other things, on the words of the Sages in the story of the martyrs of Biter: "The day that the slain put a biter to burial and did not remain mortified in disgrace, they made it a good day and received the blessing of the good and the benevolent." Our Torah books that have worn out and have not remained in disgrace in our eyes."
The reason the books have worn out, Rabbi Mashash wrote, is because of the amount of learning that was learned in them, and that's why they make simcha and sing songs when bringing them to burial, for the very Torah learning that was learned in them. When the public sees how many worn Torah scrolls and holy books are brought for burial in a certain city, this is evidence that there is a lot of Torah study in that city and this is good for the city. Further strengthening his words, the rabbi also brought from an incident about a Hasidic who lent two books to two of his students. One returned the book to him when it was new. The Hasid got angry with him and told him it was a sign that you didn't learn much from him. One returned the worn and torn book to him and the devotee was happy with the student for learning a lot from it, until the book was worn out.
Rabbi Mashash concludes his answer to Rabbi Esri and writes like this: "Well, my friends, you are close to the custom, and if so, the words of the appellants will be buried with the burdens of the books, with joy and songs, and I wish they would appeal against a custom that is the letters of hell, not an established and authorized custom." It is strange to see a festive procession on the way to the cemetery. It's strange to see a convoy accompanied by bards and women throwing candy at the marchers. Although these are holy books, Torah books. The situation is difficult and cannot be understood logically. But Rabbi Yosef Mashash actually sees things in a different light.
According to him, the fact that we bury books is a certificate of honor for the public / the community / the residents of the city who love the Torah and are privileged to study it until the pages wear out. The Torah is the Torah of Life, we turn in worn out books to put into the library / Ark of the Covenant, new Torah books to continue the study forever.
Dear community,
We arrive at Simchat Torah, the last holiday of the Tishrei holidays exactly one year after the outbreak of the revival war. On this day we celebrate the end of the annual Torah reading and its beginning again. The joy of the Torah is an expression of inner joy that we were chosen as a nation that has the Torah. On this holiday, everyone from Israel, from big to small, shares in the joy, since the Torah is the property of the whole nation. Whether it is a scholar or a simple person - everyone has a share in the Torah and everyone has a shared joy in it. The dances with the Torah book symbolize the full participation of all layers of the people in the Holy Torah, and this creates a wonderful unity.
In the last year we wrote and talked a lot about the unity that is the basis of our very existence here in the country. In practice we have seen that when we are united, along with prayers and much help from the skies of the Sovereign of the worlds, we can land on our enemies an iron fist and a victorious blow that will be seen by the whole world, because the right hand of God is mighty. In view of the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah: "And the Lord went out and fought with those nations on the day they fought on the day of battle" that we read on the first holiday of Sukkot, we will increase our study of the Torah and our love for the Torah and the mitzvot, we will bring unity to the people and we will defeat our enemy. Time for joy and a happy holiday.
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