Sh'mini Atzeret - Simchat Torah

שְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת - שִׂמחַת תוֹרָה
8th Day of Assembly

Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12, Genesis 1:1–2:3

When Is Sh'mini Atzeret - Simchat Torah Read?

/ 22 Tishri 5784
/ 22 Tishri 5787

Summary

On Simchat Torah, the day on which we literally celebrate the Torah, we read the very end of Deuteronomy and the very beginning of Genesis. In the final verses of Torah, we read Moses’ blessing of the Israelites, offered before the prophet dies. Moses then ascends Mount Nebo, from which he sees the Promised Land and takes his final breath. God buries Moses and we are told there will never be another prophet like him. From this passage, we immediately begin our new cycle of Torah reading with the story of creation from the beginning of Genesis. And we create a new year of studying Torah. While each year we return to the same verses, it is we who are different. With each passing year, we grow and change, celebrate and mourn. And it is as if we are reading these sacred words for the very first time.

Ten Minutes of Torah: Sh'mini Atzeret - Simchat Torah Commentary

torah commentary simchat torah

The Heart of Torah: How Our Actions Bring it to Life

By: Rabbi Max Chaiken

What makes the Torah different from any other book we read?

I posed this question years ago to a group of second graders as we began a lesson about Simchat Torah.

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