Simchat Torah FAQ

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

Know that bittersweet feeling you get when you finish a really great book? This is what Simchat Torah is all about: having read through the five books of Moses, congregants read the Torah’s last portion and then jump right back to the beginning and read the first, creating a never-ending cycle.

The festivities begin on the holiday’s eve, a day often called—although some denominational and geographical differences apply—Shmini Atzeret, or the eighth day of gathering following Sukkot’s weeklong festival. The synagogue’s Torah scrolls, usually confined to the ark, are removed, and members of the entire congregation (in some communities, only the men) pass the scrolls from hand to hand, dancing and chanting liturgy while circling the synagogue seven times. This is known as hakafot, or rounds. (Interestingly enough, hakafot is also the proper Hebrew word for the game of baseball.) While tradition only requires the revelers to remain inside the synagogue, many communities take the party to the streets, and children are customarily given colorful flags and candy.

Also, given the holiday’s proximity to Sukkot and its ancient, agricultural import, Shmini Atzeret is also an occasion for Jews to pray for rain, a plea recited regularly until Passover.

In recent decades, Simchat Torah has become the occasion for political gatherings. In the 1970s and ’80s, there were frequent, massive demonstrations across America in support of Jewish refusniks in the Soviet Union.

WHAT DO WE EAT?

While there is no echt dish, it is traditional to give children sweets to better emphasize the joyous nature of the holiday. Torah-shaped cookies and candied apples are perennial favorites.

ANY DOS AND DON’TS?

The Priestly Blessing, usually recited during the Musaf prayer, is bumped up to Shacharit, the early morning prayer. One plausible explanation for that is that Kohanim, or the priestly line of Aaron’s descendants, are prohibited from performing the blessing while intoxicated, and the change of schedule allows them to perform their duties early on Simchat Torah morning and partake in the holiday’s festivities for the rest of the day.

Another tradition has to do with the congregation’s youngest members, who are honored with a collective aliyah during which they are all covered with a large talit as Jacob’s blessing to his children is read out loud. “May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the children,” it reads, “and may my name be declared among them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they teem like fish for multitude within the land.”

Some congregations also invite all eligible members for an aliyah, often repeating portions several times over to give everyone an opportunity to read from the Torah.

FIVE MORE THINGS YOU CAN DO:

• Go round and round on hakafot with the Viznitz Hasids.

• Sweeten things with some Torah-shaped cookies.

• Brush up on some of the celebration’s social aspects.

• Read our commentary on the Torah’s first parasha…

• …Or contemplate the last.