Simhat Torah is celebrated with an effusive array of singing and dancing.
By DVORA WAYSMANtorah hakafot 224.88(photo credit: Courtesy)
One of the most popular Jewish festivals is Simhat Torah, which falls on the last day of Succot. As its name suggests, Simhat Torah means "the joy of the Torah." There is no record of this holiday before the 11th century, and its origin seems to have been in Western Europe.
The highlight of the holiday is when all the Torah scrolls are removed from the Ark and there is a joyful procession with them around the synagogue. This circling of the synagogue with the Torah scrolls is called "hakafot", and it is necessary to make seven circuits. It is a mystical imitation of a wedding, symbolizing the marriage of Israel to the Law. It even has a Bridegroom of the Law (chatan Torah) and a bridegroom of the first portion to be read (chatan Bereshit). They hold the sacred scrolls in their arms until they are summoned to read their portions. The procession with the scrolls resembles the wedding custom of the bride walking seven times around the groom to form a closed circle (possibly to prevent the assault of evil spirits.)
A special feature of the service is calling all children under 13 years to the Reading of the Law. The final verses are read while the children stand under a large prayer shawl (talit) spread above them like a canopy. The children are blessed with the words that Jacob used to bless Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:16): "The angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless these children."
There is a lovely Simhat Torah custom in Jerusalem's Beit Hakerem, where I live. At a designated time, all the local synagogues meet (there are four of them in the area), the congregants carrying their Torah scrolls to Kikar Denya in the square in front of the supermarket. There, with singing and dancing, they invite all the passers-by - secular and religious alike, and particularly the children - to join in the merriment. For me, this is the highlight of the day, with toddlers being carried on their fathers' shoulders and many people, possibly for the first time ever, joining in to dance with the Torah scrolls. The congregants eventually return to their synagogues to continue with the service.
The prayer for rain in Israel is an important part of Simhat Torah liturgy. "When do Jews and gentiles rejoice together? Only when it rains!"
No, this is not a recent quotation in response to our current severe drought. It was written by Joshua b. Levi in the Midrash (Gen. Rabbah 13.6): "For drought is the scourge of the earth, and rain its greatest blessing."
Tishrei, the seventh month, is linked to the start of Israel's winter rains, and crops will fail without them. We plead for rain in the merit of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron and the 12 Tribes ... "For a blessing and not a curse; for life and not for death; for plenty and not for famine."
The Mishna tells us that "the world is judged through water." To this day we recite a prayer for rain on the last day of Succot, as rain is Israel's life blood. Good rains mean prosperity, drought means ruin for the country's kibbutzim, moshavim and agricultural settlements.
Linked to the prayer for rain is another Succot ceremony emphasizing the value of water. It is known as Simhat Beit Hashoeva (the joy of the drawing of the waters). In Temple times, it was practiced with great zest and enthusiasm. No one is certain of how it started, but it was mentioned in the Book of Isaiah.
Beginning on the second evening of Succot, it lasted for six nights. Jerusalemites and pilgrims flocked to the outer court of the Temple. An enormous golden candelabra was fed with vessels of oil by young priests until flames leapt toward the sky. The most pious men led a torch dance, and the Levites led the people in chanting hymns and psalms to the music of flutes, harps and cymbals. They danced and sang until dawn, when the long procession wended its way to the pool of Shiloh. This pool was formed by the overflow of water in Hezekiah's tunnel, which led from the Gihon spring into the city. At the pool, a golden ewer was filled with water and brought back to the Temple, where the high priest poured it over over the altar.
Today there is no Temple, no altar and no water in the pool at Shiloh, but the Drawing of the Waters is symbolically recaptured every year with singing, dancing and rejoicing in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, near the pool of Shiloh at the base of the City of David.
And today, on Simhat Torah, Jews all over the world remember Israel's need for rain on the last day of the festival. It is a long prayer that begins with the words "Thou causest the wind to blow and the rain to descend. From the heavenly source He sendest down rains softening the earth with their crystal drops. Water Thou hast called the symbol of Thy power. It refresheth with its drops all breathing creatures and it will someday quicken those who exalt the power of rain."
After six more verses, the prayer for rain concludes with the reader chanting and the congregation responding: "For Thou art the Lord our God who causest the wind to blow and the rain to fall. For a blessing and not for a curse. Amen. For life and not for death. Amen. For plenty and not for famine."
It is a fitting benediction to end the festival of Simhat Torah and Succot, in which three times we are commanded to rejoice. After so many solemn festivals like Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, this gives us its blessings: "May you have nothing but joy!"
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