Simchat Torah

  A guide by Rabbi Howard Hoffman

Simchat Torah means...

rejoicing the Torah or being happy with the Torah.

Simchat Torah is the celebration of the yearly completion and recommencement of the reading of the Torah in the synagogue. In Israel it is observed on Shmini Atzeret and in other countries it is observed on the day after.

How we observe...

The highlight of the Simchat Torah evening observance is a series of seven ceremonial processions around the synagogue in which people take turns carrying the Torah scrolls. This is called hakafot, which means encirclements and they are the vehicle for the expression of joy with the Torah.

The custom of hakafot on Simchat Torah started in the latter part of the sixteenth century, probably as an adaptation of the hakafot with lulavim and willow on Succot. May people regard the hakafot on Simchat Torah as a symbol of the marriage of Israel and the Law.

To start the ceremony, all the Torah scrolls are taken from the ark (the only night of the year when this is done) and starting first with the Kohanim (priests), then the Levites, enough people are called upon to carry each one. They proceed down from the bimah and down the sanctuary aisle, chanting verses from the festival prayer book. Children follow them with Simchat Torah flags and miniature scrolls. When each hakafah is completed, a circle is formed and everyone, including those carrying the heavy Torah scrolls, bursts into singing and dancing the hora and other folk dances.

Then a new group takes over the scrolls for the next hakafah. This is repeated until there have been seven hakafot. The mood among the congregation can, and often does, become frenzied, with processions going out of doors and may last for many hours.

Aliyot...

The focus of the morning is the Torah service when the last book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, is completed and the first book, Genesis, is begun. After the hakafot are conducted again, all but three Torah scrolls are returned to the ark. One of these is then unrolled to the last section. This is the day when, depending on the synagogue, each member of the congregation over the age of thirteen may be given an aliyah. That is, each person is invited to the bimah for the honor of saying the blessings for a Torah reading and of following along as a reader goes through a part of the last chapter of Deuteronomy. Except for the final verses, the portions are reread until all but three designated persons have had an aliyah. At NSJC, we conduct multiple Torah readings in order to honor all of the adults present.

After all but the three designated adults have been summoned, all the children are invited to the bimah for a ceremony called Kol Hane’arim. Enough tallitot are held over their heads to cover them like a canopy while blessings are recited over the Torah and the children.

After the children’s aliyah ceremony, one congregant is honored with an aliyah for the last verses of Deuteronomy and of the entire Torah. He is called Chatan Torah, or the groom of the Torah. In some synagogues, as at NSJC, he is escorted under a chuppah.

The first scroll is dressed and returned to the ark and a second scroll is opened at the beginning of Genesis. Chatan Bereshit, or the Groom of Genesis, is called up. After a similar proclamation, he reads the first portion of the book and a new cycle of Torah reading has begun. At NSJC it has been our custom to honor a couple or family with these honors. They are escorted to the bimah under a portable chuppah.

The third Torah taken out of the ark is then unrolled for the third person, the Maftir, whose role it is to recite the day’s Haftarah, which is taken from the Book of Joshua. A festive kiddush follows the completion of Musaf, a time when some hilarity often ensues with the playing of good natured practical jokes.

Simchat Torah Flags...

Many years ago, children lit dried willow branches that were left over from Succot and held them in the hakafot on Simchat Torah. Concerns for fire, however, caused Rabbis to prohibit this practice and ask that small candles be substituted. When they proved to be unsafe, too, they were eventually replaced by flags topped with apples.

Simchat Torah flags were introduced for the purpose of making the holiday observance more fun for the children and of having them participate in the rejoicing with the Torah. The children wave their flags while marching and are rewarded with sweets and nuts. By being so close to the Torah and by seeing how it is revered, the children too will have a special feeling toward it as they grow up.

Traditional foods...

There is no traditional food for Simchat Torah. At NSJC, children are given apples. At home and in the synagogue, children usually get sweets, nuts, raisins and plain or candied apples.

Simchat Torah Prayers...

The kiddush for Simchat Torah is the same as for Shmini Atzeret. Some of the songs from the Hakafot are added to the home meals as zemirot such as Sisu V’simchu B’simchat Torah and Anenu B’yom Korenu and other songs connected with Torah.