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→Rejoicing under adversity: Context
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Reverting edit(s) by 200.12.168.12 (talk) to rev. 1209596961 by Jayen466: Reverting good faith edits: that's the yiddish pronunciation, not the hebrew. (UV 0.1.5)
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| image = Solomon Alexander Hart - The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in Leghorn, Italy - Google Art Project.jpg
| caption = ''The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in [[Livorno]]'' by [[Solomon Hart]], 1850. [[Jewish Museum (Manhattan)|Jewish Museum]], New York
| holiday_name = Simchat Torah
| official_name = {{Script/Hebrew|שמחת תורה}}
| nickname = Translation: 'Rejoicing with/of the Torah'
| observedby = [[Jew]]s
| date = 22nd (outside of Israel 23rd) day of [[Tishrei]]
| date{{LASTYEAR}}
| date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=current}}
| date{{NEXTYEAR}}
| date{{NEXTYEAR|2}}
| celebrations = Dancing in [[synagogue]] as all the Torah scrolls are carried around in seven circuits (''hakafot''); [[melakha]] (work) is prohibited
| type = Jewish
| significance = The culmination of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. Conclusion of the annual Torah reading cycle. Final [[Parsha]] from [[Deuteronomy]] is read in synagogue. Everyone is called to the Torah reading. Then first Parsha from [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] is read.
| relatedto = Culmination of [[Sukkot]] (Tabernacles)
}}
'''Simchat
The main celebrations of Simchat Torah take place in the [[synagogue]] during evening and morning services. In many [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] as well as many [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] congregations, this is the only time of year on which the [[Sefer Torah|Torah scrolls]] are taken out of the [[Ark (synagogue)|ark]] and read at ''night''. In the morning, the last ''[[parashah]]'' of [[Deuteronomy]] and the first ''parashah'' of [[Book of Genesis|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.
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The Simchat Torah festivities begin with the evening service. All the synagogue's Torah scrolls are removed from the [[Ark (synagogue) |ark]] and are carried around the sanctuary in a series of seven ''hakafot'' (circuits). Although each ''hakafa'' need only encompass one circuit around the synagogue, the dancing and singing with the Torah often continues much longer, and may overflow from the synagogue onto the streets.
In [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] Jewish synagogues, each circuit is announced by a few melodious invocations imploring God to ''Hoshiah Na'' ("Save us") and ending with the refrain, ''Aneinu
In Orthodox synagogues, men and boys predominate in the dancing; children (even young girls) may also dance with their fathers. Women and older girls often have their own dancing circles (sometimes with the Torah scrolls), or look on from the other side of a ''[[mechitza]]'' (partition), in accordance with the value of ''[[tzniut]]'' (modesty).
In Conservative and [[Progressive Judaism|Progressive]] congregations, men and women dance together. In some congregations, the Torah scrolls are carried out into the streets and the dancing may continue far into the evening.
After the ''hakafot'', many congregations recite a portion of the last ''[[parashah]]'' of the Torah, ''[[V'Zot HaBerachah|V'Zot HaBerakhah]]'' ("This is the Blessing ...") in [[Deuteronomy]]. The part read is usually 33:1–34:12, but this may vary by individual synagogue custom, although Deuteronomy is never read to the end in the evening.
==Morning festivities==
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After the ''hakafot'' and the dancing, three scrolls of the Torah are read. The last ''parashah'' of the [[Torah]], [[V'Zot HaBerachah|V'Zot HaBerakhah]], at the end of Deuteronomy (33:1–34:12), is read from the first scroll, followed immediately by the first chapter (and part of the second) of the [[Book of Genesis]] (1:1–2:3), which is read from the second scroll. It is a Jewish custom that a new beginning must immediately follow a completion, therefore it is logical to immediately read Gen. 1 after finishing Deuteronomy.
It is a special honor to receive the last ''aliyah'' of the [[Book of Deuteronomy]]; the person receiving that aliyah is called the ''Hatan Torah'' (
In many congregations it is customary to call all eligible members of the congregation for an ''[[Baal kore|aliyah]]'' to the Torah on Simchat Torah. To accommodate this the first five ''aliyot'' are reread so that everyone has an opportunity to recite the blessing. To save time, some congregations call people up in groups. Others hold a series of separate ''minyanim'' for the Torah reading. In a minority of Orthodox congregations women receive ''aliyot'' in single-gender tefillah groups (prayer groups consisting only of women, who pray together), and only men are called to the Torah in front of the whole congregation.
Another custom is to call all the children (in Orthodox congregations boys only) to a special ''aliyah'' called ''Kol HaNe'arim'' ("all the children"). In many congregations, a large [[talit|tallit]] is spread out over the heads of all the children as the blessing over the Torah is pronounced, and for the congregation to bless the children by reciting (in Hebrew) a verse from Jacob's blessing to [[Ephraim]] and [[Manasseh (tribal patriarch)|Manasseh]], [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 48:16.
:May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the children, 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.
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=== Readings ===
In the 9th century, some European Jewish communities assigned a special reading from the Prophets to be read on this day. In the 13th century, the reading of Genesis was added immediately upon the completion of Deuteronomy and the [[Shulchan Aruch|Shulhan Arukh]] (written about 1565)<ref>OC אורח חיים תרסט see Mishnah Berurah volume 6 page 272</ref> only mentions this without mentioning the presumably later custom of southern European countries to remove all the Torah scrolls from the ark and to sing a separate hymn for each one. In northern European countries, those who had finished the reading of Deuteronomy made donations to the synagogue, after which the wealthier members of the community would give a dinner for friends and acquaintances.{{Needs citation|date=October 2022}} By the end of the 15th century, it was a common though not universal practice for the children to tear down and burn the [[sukkah]]s on
In the 16th century, the practice of taking out the scrolls and filing solemnly around the [[Bema#Judaism|bimah]] on the night of the 23rd of Tishri became customary; and on the same evening, after the procession, a number of passages from the Torah were read.{{Needs citation|date=October 2022}}
In the 17th century, [[Rebecca bat Meir Tiktiner]] of [[Prague]] composed a poem about
In [[Poland]] it was the custom to sell to the members of the congregation, on the 23rd of Tishri, the privilege of executing various functions during the services on Shabbat and Jewish festivals; i.e. the synagogue used this occasion as a fund-raiser. People who made these donations were called up to the Torah and given a congregational blessing.{{Needs citation|date=October 2022}}
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===Rejoicing under adversity===
[[Holocaust]] survivor [[Elie Wiesel]] said:<blockquote>The [[Vilna Gaon|Gaon of Vilna]] said that ''ve-samachta be-chagekha'' (You shall rejoice in your festival; [[Deuteronomy]] 16:14) is the most difficult commandment in the [[Torah]]. I could never understand this puzzling remark. Only during the war did I understand. Those Jews who, in the course of their journey to the end of hope, managed to dance on Simhat Torah, those Jews who studied [[Talmud]] by heart while carrying stones on their back, those Jews who went on whispering ''Zemirot shel Shabbat'' (Hymns of Sabbath) while performing hard labor . . . ''ve-samachta be-chagekha'' was one commandment that was impossible to observe—yet they observed it.<ref>[[Elie Wiesel]], “On Man's Prayer,” ''Rabbi [[Joseph Lookstein|Joseph H. Lookstein]] Memorial Volume'', ed. Leo Landman ([[KTAV Publishing House]], 1980): 366.</ref></blockquote>
== 2023
On October 07, 2023,
==Commemoration==
In 1996, the Israel Postal Authority issued a [[postage stamp]] to
==See also==
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