I'm betting many people are thinking, "Shmini Atzeret?! Never heard of it. But Simchat Torah, that I've heard about". It's a paradox that this celebration, which is all about the Torah, isn't mentioned in the Torah itself.
First, it's important to understand that, like Catholics, Jews follow a calendar of weekly Bible readings. Unlike Catholics, we publicly read one portion each week from start to finish through the five books of Moses. (On Shabbat, we add a non-sequential reading from the prophets that does not include all prophetic texts, so that's maybe a little more than Catholic practice).
But what happens when you get to the end?
Well, of course, you start again at the beginning! Because our interaction with the Torah is never done, it is never complete; it is never something we can tick off. We begin Genesis as different people this year than we were last year, and the wisdom, beauty, and truth of the Torah is the infinitely deep well from which we keep drinking.
It is precisely this moment of ending and starting again at the beginning that we celebrate at Simchat Torah.
And how do you celebrate the Torah? Why, with the Torah scrolls themselves, of course.
Simchat Torah celebrations include taking all Torah scrolls out of the holy ark where they are kept and parading them around the synagogue. Seven rounds are performed in the synagogue, accompanied by prayer and singing. Depending on the synagogue, some rounds can take a long time. They are repeated vigorously many times, joyfully dancing with the Torah scrolls. In the morning, the last part of Deuteronomy is read aloud, followed by the first part of Genesis, and it is a special honour to be called up to the Torah for these readings.
Rather than celebrate God's holy word with study, Simchat Torah is an opportunity to celebrate with the heart, to come right up close to the Torah and cradle it in our arms. For many, this celebration is the highlight of the year! According to one school of thought, at Simchat Torah, we serve as the feet of the Torah: a good reminder that the Torah doesn't live only in our heads but in our hearts and in how we carry it, share it, and mobilize it in the world.
About the author:
Dr. Faydra Shapiro is a specialist in contemporary Jewish-Christian relations and is the Director of the Israel Center for Jewish-Christian Relations. She received the National Jewish Book Award for her first publication (2006). Her most recent book, with Gavin d'Costa, is Contemporary Catholic Approaches to the People, Land, and State of Israel. Dr. Shapiro is also a Senior Fellow at the Philos Project https://philosproject.org and a Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Religions at Tel Hai College in Israel https://english.telhai.ac.il.