Simchat Torah

The Jewish New Year season ends with one last celebration: Simchat Torah, "Rejoicing with the Torah." Torah means “teaching” in Hebrew. The word is used to describe the first five books of the Bible that tell the story of the Jewish people. The Torah story is read over the course of an entire year. On Simchat Torah, we finish reading the very last part of the Torah scroll and then roll it all the way back to read the beginning. On this holiday we even dance with the Torah because its words are so important to us. The Torah is sometimes described as a “tree of life for those who take care of it” — like a tree giving people what they need to grow. Throughout the year, studying the Torah can provide us with new inspiration and ideas.

Simchat Torah begins at sundown on Thursday, October 24, 2024 and ends in the evening on Friday, October 25, 2024.