Taking Refuge in Sacred Texts

Oct 19, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Simhat Torah

Most books that we read we never open again. A classic draws us to revisit it on occasion. Not so the Torah. As we finish reading it yearly in our synagogues, we immediately begin it afresh, without interruption.

The Torah and Its Clearly Ambiguous Message

Oct 17, 2009 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Bereishit | Simhat Torah

There is a verse that I love to invoke whenever I teach about “the poetics of biblical narrative,” and it doesn’t come from this week’s portion (but who’s keeping score, anyway?). Instead, it is found in the first extended legal section, Parashat Mishpatim (Exod. 21–24). Loosely translated, this is the text: “In all charges of misunderstanding . . . whereof one party alleges, ‘This is it!’—the case of both parties shall come before God” (Exod. 22:8); the Hebrew phrase underlying the words “this is it!” is: כי הוא זה (ki hu zeh). The verse seems to be addressing a case in which no one side has a total claim on the truth; in such a case, then, one is bidden to consider both possibilities.

Moses’s Final Words

Oct 6, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Simhat Torah

As we approach the end of the Five Books of Moses with our celebration of Simhat Torah, we arrive at Parashat Vezot Haberakhah.

Creation and Good Health

Oct 22, 2011 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit | Simhat Torah

With this week’s celebration of Simhat Torah and Shabbat Bereishit, we return to the very beginning of Torah as we read anew the narratives of Creation, the Garden of Eden, and the tragedy of Cain and Abel.

The Revolutionary Nature of Learning Torah

Oct 15, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Simhat Torah

This weekend marks the solemn conclusion of Deuteronomy and the joyous beginning of Genesis as we celebrate the holiday of Simhat Torah.

Simhat Torah: Which Way When the Circle Ends

Sep 23, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Simhat Torah

The annual celebration of Simhat Torah brings great joy to so many of us of all generations, and it is a fitting and triumphant conclusion to the long and multifaceted season of intense Jewish observance and focus that began (a little before Rosh Hashanah) with Selichot. In Israel and in congregations observing a single day of festivals, Simhat Torah is blended with Shemini Atzeret, offering the intense experience in the morning of Hallel, Hakkafot (processions with dancing) and Geshem (the prayer for Rain).

Simhat Torah

Jan 1, 1980

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ attendant:

2 “My servant Moses is dead. Prepare to cross the Jordan, together with all this people, into the land that I am giving to the Israelites.

Simhat Torah

Jan 1, 1980

¹ This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, bade the Israelites farewell before he died.