The pious and the men of deeds dance before the assembly with burning torches in their hands, and recite songs and praises before it. The Gemara records their words: “Happy is our youth, which has not shamed our old age.” The Bartenura adds that they juggled, with four torches or with eight, throwing one and catching the other. On the night of Sukkot, the tour makes them a ring of eight dancers, around the man with eight torches.
Dimensions
- torches in hand
- songs and praises
- a ring of eight
Sources
- Sukkah 5:4“חֲסִידִים וְאַנְשֵׁי מַעֲשֶׂה הָיוּ מְרַקְּדִים לִפְנֵיהֶם בַּאֲבוּקוֹת שֶׁל אוֹר שֶׁבִּידֵיהֶן, וְאוֹמְרִים לִפְנֵיהֶן דִּבְרֵי שִׁירוֹת וְתִשְׁבָּחוֹת”
- Sukkah 53a“יֵשׁ מֵהֶן אוֹמְרִים: אַשְׁרֵי יַלְדוּתֵנוּ שֶׁלֹּא בִּיְּשָׁה אֶת זִקְנוּתֵנוּ, אֵלּוּ חֲסִידִים וְאַנְשֵׁי מַעֲשֶׂה”
- Bartenura Soucca 5:4“בְּאַרְבַּע אֲבוּקוֹת אוֹ בִּשְׁמֹנֶה, זוֹרֵק זוֹ וּמְקַבֵּל אֶת זוֹ”
Project decisionTour's choice: the ring, the number of dancers, their step and their place in the court. Like the tour's other worshippers, they wear what their community wears on festivals today. This is a deliberate choice, not a reconstruction.