On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Seth and I were eating a late dinner when I heard what sounded like tribal chanting outside. After opening the window, we were able to make out that this was not some kind of Native American chant, but a variation of the Hebrew song “Hiney Ma Tov Umanayim.”
Jews, singing, outside?? We grabbed our jackets and headed downstairs. Two doors from us, at least 50 Jews were dancing and singing in front of Red Sky nightclub. Three Chassidic men held up Torahs while the others filed by the club for a shot of alcohol. They were celebrating Simcha Torah, a holiday that marks finishing the annual cycle of Torah readings and restarting from the beginning. If I hadn’t been flying to Wisconsin the next day, I would’ve joined in. Instead, we sang along for a few minutes until the crowd moved on to serenade another bar around the corner. What a sight. How cool that I live in a place where dozens of Jews might just happen to be singing outside my apartment. And not just singing, but singing with TORAHS on a BAR CRAWL. I’m sure I would never have seen that in Charlotte.
