Articles with the tag: simchat torah
Lessons From a Torah Dance
Imagine the following scene. The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court together with the other judges, propose a law, namely that the law itself is a wonderful thing. They resolve to set aside a day each year to celebrate it. They compose songs in its honor. When the day comes, they each take a weighty tome, “The Legal Constructionalist Approach to the U.S. Constitution” would do nicely, and dance round the White House, crooning at the top of their lungs.
Impossible! Yet, this is precisely what Jews do on Simchat Torah , literally “Rejoicing in the Law.”
Torah: Mine, Yours, Ours
What a sight they made!
The elderly Chassid with his long, flowing beard and the long-haired college student! Round and round they danced; both driven, both ecstatic. Each so different, except for the one Torah they both shared.
This imaginary scene is more real than you think. On the holiday of Simchat Torah, Jews from all walks of life put aside their differences and come together. As the name of the festival indicates, we are rejoicing in the Torah itself. What is this Torah that is cause for so much celebration? It is the Jews’ national treasure, the repository of G-d’s wisdom. As such, we are exhorted to study it, “day and night.”
One would imagine that the day specifically…
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The Torah’s Joy
I am going to make a guess. A stab in the dark if you will. You’ve been celebrating the festival of Simchat Torah for years and you still have no idea how the holiday originated. No, I am not Sherlock Holmes. I’m not even that astute. It’s just that I took a poll in my synagogue and drew blank stares. Pesach, they all knew, came because of the Exodus from Egyptian servitude. Chanukah, they remembered, we owed to the Macabbees, and on Purim, they assured me, they would not forget to toast Queen Esther and Mordechai; but Simchat Torah
Believe it or not, the hero responsible for the concept of this holiday is King Solomon. Before this famous monarch was…
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