("Rejoicing of the Law"). Joyful festival observed when the annual cycle of the Pentateuch reading in the synagogue is completed and a new one begins. In Diaspora communities the festival is celebrated on the day after Shemini Atseret, thus making Sukkot an extended nine-day celebration. In Israel, the festivities of Simḥat Torah are combined with the observance of Shemini Atseret. Liturgically Simḥat Torah is still referred to as part of the Shemini Atseret festival. No biblical or talmudic source exists for the separate festival of Simḥat Torah and scholars are of the opinion that it was unknown before the geonic era (9th cent. CE), by which time an annual cycle of the Reading of the Law had become a universally accepted practice. Before then, a Triennial Cycle had been customary in Erets Israel for many years. Even so, Simḥat Torah appears to have been observed in the Middle Ages without some of the restrictions generally applied to a festival. For example, there were communities where bonfires were lit and some of the dismantled and disposable parts of the Sukkah were burned.
The Simḥat Torah festivities in the synagogue are all connected with the joy of Torah reading. In the Evening Service after Attah Horeta La-Da'At, all of the scrolls are taken out of the Ark and carried around the bimah (reader's platform) and the synagogue in a sevenfold procession (Hakkafot) accompanied by the special chant, Anna Adonai hoshi'ah na ("O Lord, save, we beseech You!"), followed by an alphabetical doxology. Each procession is usually separated from the next one by an interlude of singing and dancing in which those carrying the Torah scrolls are joined by other members of the congregation in a spirit of joyful religious enthusiasm. Children take part in the processions, carrying Simḥat Torah flags or miniature scrolls. In some synagogues the processions are followed by a reading of part of the next to last chapter of the Pentateuch (Deut. 33:1-17). This is the only time when the Reading of the Law takes place at night.
The next day, the Morning Service includes the same hakkafot processions, followed by an elaborate Bible reading. The concluding chapters of the Pentateuch (Deut. 33-34) are read and it is customary for all males to be called to the Reading of the Law. In some congregations, several Torah readings are held simultaneously, most of the two chapters being repeated as often as necessary to allow as many worshipers as possible to be called to the Reading of the Law. In others, entire groups are called up at the same time and recite the benedictions together. In many Conservative synagogues, even those which usually do not call women to the Reading of the Law, an exception is made on Simḥat Torah and women then accompany their menfolk to the platform. One special reading is also held for youngsters below Bar Mitzvah age; in modern Orthodox as well as Conservative synagogues, girls under 12 (Bat Mitzvah) also take part. A large woolen prayer shawl is held over the children while they recite Torah blessings and their prescribed section is read. At its conclusion, a special benediction is pronounced over the children quoting the words of Jacob's blessing to his grandchildren (Gen. 48:16). This "calling-up" is known as Kol ha-Ne'arim ("All the youngsters"). In Reform Temples men and women participate equally in all aspects of the ritual.
The last section of the reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, which concludes the Pentateuch, is reserved for a specially honored congregant, one of the Bridegrooms of the Law (Ḥatan Torah). Immediately after this reading, a second scroll is taken and the cycle of year-long readings from the Pentateuch begins anew. The first section of the Bible (Gen. 1-2:3) is read and the person honored is called the "Bridegroom of the Beginning" (or Genesis) (Ḥatan Be-Reshit). The Prophetic reading for the day is the first chapter of the book of Joshua.
In Israel, it has become customary to hold a "second hakkafot"---joyful outdoor celebrations---on the night after Simḥat Torah. Frequently on this occasion, Torah scroll processions are enlivened by bands, choirs, etc.
During the 1960s, Simḥat Torah became a major event in the calendar for Jews in the Soviet Union, who celebrated the Rejoicing of the Law as a day of identification and unity with others of their people around the world from whom they had been separated for decades. Many thousands who congregated around the synagogues in Moscow and other main cities observed the festival with singing and dancing, especially of Israeli songs.
