The day of the Torah’s joy
Every week of the year, the Jewish people read one portion of the Torah. On Simchat Torah we read the very last portion, V’Zot HaBerachah, finish the whole Torah — and in the same moment begin again from the first verse, “In the beginning.”
Then every Torah scroll in the shul is taken out, and the whole community dances with them. It comes right after Sukkot, attached to the festival of Shemini Atzeret.
“Before the eyes of all Israel.”
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
The sources
“Moshe commanded us the Torah — an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.”
The Talmud sets the reading for the last day of the festival: V’Zot HaBerachah — the final portion of the Torah. That is why the Torah is completed on this day.
The Rema records the customs of the day: completing the Torah, beginning Bereishit again right away, taking the scrolls out of the ark and circling the bimah with them in joy.
On Shemini Atzeret, the day it is joined to, Hashem says to Israel, as it were: “It is hard for Me to part from you — stay one more day.”
Step by step
- Go to shul at night. Every Torah scroll is taken out of the ark. This is called hakafot — הַקָּפוֹת, “circlings.”
- Dance seven circles around the bimah. People take turns holding the Torah and dancing with it while everyone sings. Ask for a turn — any Jew may hold it.
- Kiss the Torah as it passes. Touch it with your hand or the corner of your tallit, then kiss your fingers.
- Come back in the morning. There are more hakafot, and the Torah is read again and again so that everyone can be called up.
- Kol HaNe’arim — all the children. The children are called up together under one large tallit for a blessing. Bring yours.
- The end and the beginning. The Chatan Torah is called up for the last verses of Devarim; then the Chatan Bereishit begins again from “In the beginning.”
- Celebrate. A festive meal with family and friends. Outside Israel it is Yom Tov: no work except preparing food, and candles are lit only from an existing flame.
Questions people ask
When is Simchat Torah?
Outside Israel, on the 23rd of Tishrei — the day after Shemini Atzeret. In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are the same day, the 22nd of Tishrei.
I don’t know the songs, and I’m not religious. Can I come?
Yes. Simchat Torah is the most welcoming day of the year. The Torah belongs to every Jew — you don’t need to know anything to hold it and dance.
Why do we start again right away?
So that we are never without the Torah, even for a moment. The last word of the Torah and the first word are read in one breath.
What about women?
In many shuls women dance in their own circle, and in some they hold a Torah there too. Customs differ — ask at your shul.
Is Simchat Torah in the Torah itself?
The festival day is: Shemini Atzeret (Vayikra 23:36). Completing the Torah on it comes from the Talmud (Megillah 31a), and the dancing and hakafot are a later, beloved custom recorded by the Rema.
Your family’s way
Chabad and many Sephardic communities also hold hakafot on the night of Shemini Atzeret. In Israel, many communities hold “second hakafot” — hakafot shniyot — with music, on the night after the holiday. The number of scrolls, the songs and the order of honors differ from shul to shul.
The inner dimension
A teaching of the Chassidic masters: all year we connect to the Torah by learning it, and not everyone learns the same. On Simchat Torah we dance with the scroll closed — and with a closed Torah, the scholar and the beginner are exactly equal. The joy belongs to every Jew. Exact citation requires verification.
The Torah ends with the letter ל (lamed) — יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisrael — and begins with ב (bet) — בְּרֵאשִׁית, Bereishit. Joined together on Simchat Torah, the end and the beginning spell לֵב — lev, heart. A well-known teaching, not a Talmudic source.
We finish and begin again in the same moment. Whatever you finished this year — and whatever you didn’t — today is a new Bereishit.
Go to shul and hold the Torah — even for one circle.
Jewish practice varies among communities and traditions. Where meaningful differences exist, we identify them rather than presenting one custom as universal. This material is provided for Jewish educational and informational purposes. It presents traditional Jewish sources and practices and is not a substitute for individualized rabbinic guidance.
