Simchat Torah


Simchat Torah


Simchat Torah or better Simḥath Torah (also Simkhes Toreh, Hebrew: שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה, lit., "Rejoicing of the Torah") is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simhat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (occurring in mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar).

The main celebration of Simhat Torah takes place in the synagogue during evening and morning services. In Orthodox as well as many Liberal congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at night. In the morning, the last parashah of Deuteronomy and the first parashah of Genesis are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that can last for several hours.

The morning service is also uniquely characterized by the calling up of each male member (in some Orthodox, and in the majority of non-Orthodox congregations, male and female members) of the congregation for an aliyah. There is also a special aliyah for all the children (under 13 or 12 for boys and girls).


Duration of holiday
On the Hebrew calendar, the 7 day holiday of Sukkot in the autumn (late mid-September to late mid-October) is immediately followed by the holiday of Shemini Atzeret. In Traditional communities outside Israel, Shemini Atzeret is a two-day holiday and the Simhat Torah festivities are observed on the second day. The first day is referred to as "Shemini Atzeret" and the second day as "Simhat Torah," although both days are officially Shemini Atzeret according to Jewish Law.





Shemini Atzeret (שמיני עצרת – "Eighth [day of] Assembly"; Sefardic/Israeli is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. In the Diaspora, an additional day is celebrated, the second day being separately referred to as Simchat Torah. In Israel, the holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined into one and the names are used interchangeably.

In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah are celebrated on the same day. Reform congregations, even not in Israel.

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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