Thousands of people are at the Western Wall on Sunday night to celebrate Simchat Torah [the Joy of Torah] by dancing with the holy scrolls in the heart of Jerusalem. One of the traditions the holiday honors is Hakafot, to dance in a circle around the bima, the place where the Torah is read in a Jewish synagogue. The bima is also the place in the temple in Jerusalem where offerings were made to the Lord.
The holiday marks the end of the reading cycle of the five books of Moses in Jewish houses of worship around the world and the resumption of reading portions from the Torah, every Shabat, from Genesis.Read related stories:- Why are we happy on Simchat Torah.- The last Simhat Torah in the Warsaw Ghetto. - The essence of Simchat Torah.