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I am writing this on Wednesday, October Seventh. The day was marked by ceremonies and demonstrations. Things officially got rolling at 6:29 A.M., the exact time of the attack; stories and memories were shared, and all with just a little bit of undercurrent about who bears responsibility.

Problem is, it wasn’t today.

Three years ago, October 7 was the holiday Shmini Atzeret. In Israel, it comes with Simchat Torah. The day of the week on which it falls is, of course, irrelevant. The date on the Hebrew calendar is the 22nd of Tishrei. Why is that not the date we remember?

The Arabs’ disgrace at losing to the Jews – what they call the Nakba, the catastrophe – is commemorated on May 15, which is not the day we celebrate Israel’s independence. In 1948, that day coincided with the 5th of Iyar. The next 5th of Iyar coincides with May 12. For us, it’s still the 5th of Iyar. (I would also note that the concept of the Nakba was hijacked by the pro-Palestinian narrative to be about their displacement). 

Jerusalem was liberated on June 7, 1967. We celebrate on the 28th of Iyar. June 7 is irrelevant.

October 6th has only recently been referenced due to its proximity to October 7. Those who justify the attack will refer to the cruelty of the evil Zionists on October 6, and 5th, and, yeah, we get it. Those fighting against the attack – in the halls and in the fields – will comment on how what we thought on October 6th with regard to the enemy is invalid, or as for Gaza, “We will not go back to October 6th”. No one connects October 6th to what we call the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Ironically, the Arabs do. They celebrated that day as a victory. It was at a military parade celebrating their victory in that war that on that day,  Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by – you guessed it –   Egyptian Islamic Jihad. 

Might it be that Simchat – or Simchas – Torah is too hard to pronounce? We could call it Shmini Atzeret. This day has had a significant influence on our growth as a people – who we are at this time, and how best to express it. It has shown us what we have within us, and it has sounded more than just a few alarms regarding our place among the nations. It just seems incongruous that it not be known by its place in time according to how we see and experience the world.