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Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

The Festival of Torah Joy and Renewal

After the openness and fragility of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret turns inward. It is a quiet moment of intimacy, a day without symbols, where God seems to say: Stay a little longer. Simchat Torah then transforms that intimacy into joy, rejoicing in the ongoing revelation that is our heritage. The cycle of Torah readings begins anew, teaching that faith is sustained not by constant novelty, but by renewed commitment to an ever-demanding text.

22 Tishrei 5787 – 23 Tishrei 5787

Begins at Sundown on Friday, October 2, 2026

Ends at Nightfall on Sunday, October 4, 2026

  • Simchat Torah – Technology and the Outdated Torah Scroll

    In The Jewish Year and Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

    Running our world by remote control has not been good for our souls; and walking on the moon has not helped us to know our next-door neighbor any better. On the contrary, technological progress has robbed us of our own humanness. It is therefore most meaningful that one item has maintained its constancy. It carries a text that has had greater influence in the world than any other we know of. It has changed the universe as nothing else has; it encourages people to move, to discover, and to develop. But it is written on parchment, by the hand of a person, holding a quill, as if to say: Be yourself. Don’t get run over by the need for progress. 

  • Simchat Torah: The Unbending Sefer Torah

    In The Jewish Year and Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

    Ours is a future-orientated religion. We are not afraid of the latest technologies because they allow us to fulfill, in ways unimagined by our forefathers, the divine mandate to cure diseases, create more pleasant ways to live our lives, and make the world a better place. All this is beautifully expressed by our Sages, who direct us to become partners with God in the work of creation. But the very text that demands this does not allow for any changes in its content and bars us from using the latest technological devices in the writing of this same text! What is the message conveyed by this paradox?

  • Simchat Torah: The Unyielding Sefer Torah

    In The Jewish Year and Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

    A Sefer Torah presents us with a stunning paradox: It is a text that has had greater influence in the world than any other we know of. It has changed the universe as nothing else has; it encourages man to move, to discover and to develop. But it is still written in the traditional way--on parchment, by the hand of man, holding a quill pen.

  • Simchat Torah – Technology and the Outdated Torah Scroll

    In The Jewish Year and Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

    We will soon be celebrating Simchat Torah, and Jews throughout the world will dance with Sifrei Torah in their synagogues, community centers, university campuses and even in the streets. This is remarkable for many reasons.

  • Technology and the Existential Meaning of a Sefer Torah

    In Halacha and Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

    Last Sunday night my synagogue in Yerushalayim celebrated the inauguration of a new Sefer Torah, Torah scroll. It was a very happy occasion during which hundreds of people danced in the streets while the children carried torches which made it, together with the stars in the sky, a nearly mystical experience

  • Afterthoughts about Simchat Torah

    In The Jewish Year and Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

    Since Simchat Torah is the day in which we celebrate the Torah, its divinity, greatness and superiority, it is quite perplexing that there is no special mitzvah commanding the Jewish people to study Torah more deeply and for longer on this festival than on any other day. In fact little studying can be done since much of the day is occupied with dancing and singing and even the reading of the Torah is kept to a minimum: Specifically the concluding words of the Torah and not much more than some opening verses of Sefer Bereshith and a small portion related to some festival sacrifices in the Tabernacle.