Simchat Torah

What it is

Simchat Torah, also written Simhat Torah and pronounced Simchas Torah by Ashkenazi Jews, is a Jewish holiday devoted to the Torah, the handwritten scroll of teaching read aloud in synagogue through the year. On this day the yearly reading reaches its end and begins again. The holiday belongs to Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day of assembly that comes straight after Sukkot. In Orthodox and Conservative synagogues it is the one night of the year when the scrolls leave the ark and are read after dark. The Hebrew name speaks of rejoicing in the Torah.

Origins and history

The name Simchat Torah is fairly recent. In the Talmud the day still appears as Shemini Atzeret. Dancing and celebration around the scrolls grew from the early Rishonic period: a responsa exchange recorded in the eleventh century by Isaac ibn Ghayyat asks whether scrolls should be removed from the ark, and the reply allows dancing because it honours the Torah. Mediaeval writers describe feasts and sweets for finishing the reading. Some communities had a special prophetic reading by the ninth century. Reading Genesis straight after Deuteronomy was added in the thirteenth century and set down in the Shulhan Arukh, written around 1565.

In the synagogue

The evening service opens the celebration. Every scroll is lifted from the ark and carried around the room seven times. These circuits are called hakafot. The singing and dancing often continue well beyond the seven rounds and can spill into the street. In Orthodox and Conservative synagogues each circuit is announced with a melody asking God to save, and the chants that follow praise the Torah, speak of the goodness of God, long for the Messiah and pray for the House of David and the Temple in Jerusalem. The next morning brings the same seven circuits, then readings from three scrolls.

Honours at the reading

Synagogues try to give every eligible member a turn at the Torah reading, an aliyah. The first five aliyot may be repeated, or people called up in groups, or extra services arranged, so that nobody is left out. The person who receives the final aliyah of Deuteronomy carries the title Hatan Torah, the Torah groom, and the one who begins Genesis is the Hatan Bereishit. Where women are called to the Torah, they are known as Kallat Torah and Kallat Bereishit. Custom once reserved these honours for wealthy patrons; Modern Orthodox congregations usually give them to Torah scholars. Children receive their own aliyah.

Dancing and modesty

How the dancing is arranged differs by community. In Orthodox synagogues men and boys do most of the dancing, though children, including young girls, may join their fathers. Women and older girls often dance in their own circles, sometimes holding a scroll, or watch from behind a mechitza, the partition kept for tzniut, or modesty. Conservative and Progressive congregations have men and women dancing together. Some synagogues carry the scrolls outside, and the dancing can last far into the night. Children are given flags, candies and other treats. In Chabad Hasidic thought, the dancer becomes the Torah's feet.

How Simchat Torah is kept

The evening service begins with the ark opened and every scroll carried out. Seven circuits, the hakafot, go around the sanctuary, with singing, dancing and invocations asking God to save and to answer. Children receive flags and treats. After the circuits, part of the closing portion of Deuteronomy may be read. The next morning follows the same pattern of seven circuits, then three scrolls are read: the end of Deuteronomy, the start of Genesis, and the Maftir from Numbers. Honours are given out, including a group aliyah for children, and work is not permitted on the day.

When and where

It falls in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, in September or October, at the close of the seven days of Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret follows Sukkot at once. In Israel, and in Reform congregations elsewhere, the two are one day. Most communities outside Israel keep Shemini Atzeret over two days, with Simchat Torah on the second.

Simchat Torah is kept wherever Jewish communities pray with a Torah scroll, strongest in the synagogues of Israel and the diaspora. In Israel many communities hold Hakafot Shniyot, second circuits, on the evening after the holiday, a custom begun by Rabbi Yedidya Frankel, a former Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv. Orthodox, Conservative and Progressive congregations each keep it in their own way.

What Simchat Torah means

For those who keep it, the day expresses love of the Torah and the idea that finishing is not an ending. Because Jewish custom holds that a completion should be followed at once by a beginning, the last lines of Deuteronomy give way immediately to Genesis. The dancing lifts the scroll, which is normally handled with care, into the arms of the whole community. Chabad Hasidic thought pictures the dancing Jew as the feet of the Torah, bearing it through the world. Feasts on this day are made to honour the completion of the reading.

Days Simchat Torah is marked

Simchat Torah dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Simchat Torah

See also

PassoverA Jewish spring festival celebrating freedom from slavery with ritual mealsYom KippurThe holiest day in Judaism, dedicated to fasting, prayer and atonementRosh HashanahThe Jewish New Year marked by shofar horn blasts, prayer and sweet foodsSukkotA seven-day autumn Jewish festival of temporary booths, harvest prayers and hospitality

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• Rebecca bat Meir TiktinerJewish Virtual Library, Article
• Rebecca bat Meir TiktinerJewish Virtual Library, Article

• Simchat Torah on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.