Kobi Peretz: “The Torah Carries Those Who Carry It”

What does it really mean to carry the Torah?

In a special post for Simchat Torah, Israeli singer Kobi Peretz reflected on the joy of dancing with the Torah and shared two powerful stories that illustrate a deeper idea: Sometimes, what we think we are carrying is actually what gives us the strength to keep going.

Peretz began with a teaching attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on the verse, “Who will ascend for us to heaven?” He noted that the initial letters spell milah, “word,” connecting the verse to the tremendous value of even a single word of Torah.

“Through learning one word of Torah, a person can merit a good life,” Peretz wrote. “Therefore, fortunate is the person who rejoices and dances on this day with the precious gift, the sacred Torah, through which they will merit a good and happy life!”

Why the Chafetz Chaim Refused to Be Lifted

Peretz then shared a story about the Chafetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaKohen of Radin.

During the hakafot on Simchat Torah, students in the yeshiva wanted to honor their revered rabbi by lifting him onto their shoulders. But the Chafetz Chaim firmly refused.

He explained that a person should be careful about allowing himself to be raised above others, even physically, because it could lead to feelings of pride.

There was, however, something that absolutely should be lifted high.

“On this day of Simchat Torah, we should lift the Torah scrolls up high, dance, and rejoice in the great gift we received: the sacred Torah!”

The honor of the day, he taught, does not belong to any individual. It belongs to the Torah itself.

“The Torah Carries Those Who Carry It”

Peretz then shared another story, this time about an elderly Jewish man who deliberately chose to dance with the heaviest Torah scroll.

When asked why he would choose the most difficult one to carry, the man gave a surprising response:

“On the contrary, I chose the largest Torah scroll precisely because I know and believe that ‘the Torah carries those who carry it.’ So the heavier the Torah scroll is, the easier it will be for me to carry it.”

But behind his words was a deeply personal memory.

The man recalled his childhood during the deportation to the Warsaw Ghetto. As he ran alongside his grandfather, he fell and injured himself. His grandfather, already 70 years old, lifted the boy onto his shoulders and continued running.

Those around them could not understand how an elderly man found the strength to carry a child under such terrifying conditions.

His grandfather answered:

“You are mistaken. I am not carrying the child; the child is carrying me. If not for him, I would not have been able to take even one step.”

The child on his shoulders was physically a burden, but emotionally, he was the very reason his grandfather found the strength to continue.

For Peretz, the same idea can be applied to our relationship with the Torah. What may sometimes appear to demand something from us can ultimately become the source of the strength that carries us through life.

He concluded: “From this remarkable story, we see what gives a person strength to rise up in a difficult moment. It is the sacred Torah that lifts and elevates a person at all times.”

The message extends far beyond the dancing of Simchat Torah. We may think we are the ones carrying the Torah through our learning, observance, and commitment. But in the moments when life becomes heaviest, we may discover that the Torah we have held onto is also what has been carrying us.