Summary of the festival

Simchat Torah is the festival on which we complete the annual cycle of Torah reading and begin it again. In Israel it falls on Shemini Atzeret (22 Tishrei), and outside Israel on the day after (23 Tishrei). The evening and morning are full of hakafot with Torah scrolls, singing and dancing, and the children take an active part with flags and fruit.

The mitzvot of the festival

• Hakafot (evening and morning) around the bimah with the Torah scrolls, with song and dance.
• The Torah reading: we finish Vezot HaBerachah and begin Bereshit. The last person called in the Torah is the Chatan Torah, and the one called to Bereshit is the Chatan Bereshit (and in many communities the “Chatan” is honoured too). “Kol HaNe’arim”: all the children are called up to the Torah together, under a large prayer shawl.
• A festive meal and celebration at home and in the synagogue.
• The usual festival observance: Kiddush, Hallel, no work.

Origin in history

The festival is not found in Scripture. It is a custom that arose in Babylon, following the annual cycle of Torah reading (Megillah 31b). In ancient Israel a three-year cycle was used. In the time of the Geonim, around the tenth century, there is already evidence of Simchat Torah, and from there it spread to all communities. The hakafot and the celebrations developed in the Middle Ages, and with them the custom of the “Chatan Torah” and “Chatan Bereshit”.

The message for today

The Torah does not end: just as we finish Deuteronomy, we begin Genesis. This is not a technicality; it is a declaration: we always return, each time from a different angle. The tradition teaches that someone who thinks they already know the Torah has not yet begun to learn. And whereas on Yom Kippur we wept, on Simchat Torah we dance: there is no subject in the Torah in which one cannot rejoice, and that joy is the key to study. In many communities special piyyutim are sung for the “Chatan Torah”, and the community is invited to his home.