Although Simchat
Torah is not a biblical festival; it has turned into one of the most widely
celebrated festivals in the Jewish year. The holiday has a liturgy if its own,
with unique prayers, songs, music and traditions. While Simchat
Torah focuses on the Torah as the beloved companion of our lives, the singing
and dancing on Simchat Torah are reminiscent of
wedding. As a bride and groom dancing with each other on their big night, so - on Simchat
Torah - we desire to hold the Sefer Torah in our arms and dance the night away.
Just when and where did the custom of singing and dancing develop?
Jewish musiclogists belive
that Simchat Torah developed during the Middle Ages and that the dancing and singing are part of a
biblical commandment to “Rejoice on our Festivals.” Other musicologists provide
a simple answer, stating that we are rejoicing in the completion of the Torah.
Another opinion found though notes that the origin of making such a celebration
upon completing the Torah stems all the way back from the time of King Solomon,
who made a feast for all of his courtiers at the time of the dedication of the
temple.
But the answer to why dancing and singing permeates Simchat Torah is not that simple. There were communities
which wanted to abandon all singing, frivolity and dancing; based on the fact
that the removal of the Torahs from the ark demanded a sense of respect and
decorum. The Mishna Berurah , though,(O.C. 669)
cites a statement of Maharik, who writes that it is
not proper for us to forbid dancing and singing which have evolved for the
celebration of Simchat Torah. As such, places that
refrain from making it a day of celebration are not acting properly.
The liturgy of Simchat Torah evening is
unique. The liturgical mode for the maariv (evening
service) is that of the High Holydays and sounds very much like Yom Kippur or
Rosh Hashonah evening. This motif may be consistent
with the approach of those communities which adopted a more somber approach to Simchat Torah. At Ma'ariv (the
evening service) on Simchat Torah eve, each member of
the congregation recites a verse from"Ata Horeita" - a series of verses praising God and the Torah. The ark is opened and all the
Torah scrolls are removed. The person leading the hakaffah
holds a Torah and recites a prayer, with the refrain "Hoshia
Na" (Please Save Us). The other people holding the Sifrei
Torah follow the leader as he circles the synagogue. It is customary for the rest
of the congregation to kiss the Sifrei Torah as the
procession passes by. The act of encircling the synagogue (or the bima
) is called Hakafot (singular - Hakafah).
After the procession has completed an entire hakafah,
the congregation bursts out in joyous song and dance - the focus of all the
festivities are the Sifrei Torah. An onlooker would
see circles of jubilant frenzy, a muddle of people dancing with Sifrei Torah, children on parent's shoulders and brightly
colored flags.
On the night preceding Simchat Torah and
again the following morning ("they could've danced all night!"), Jews
all over the world (in
The songs are based mainly on phrases from the Bible, or the
Talmud, or Jewish tradition, and the dances continue for an undetermined length
of time, or until they are stopped by the Rabbi, for the purpose of allowing
the congregants to get some rest, or until the dancers become exhausted,
whichever comes first.
After a while, the first hakafah is
completed, and the Torah scrolls given to other people - the procession then
starts all over again. This process is repeated until there have been seven hakafot (and can continue late into the night). After the
final hakafah, all the Sifrei
Torah except for one are returned to the ark. Sections
of the closing portion of the Torah VeZot HaBracha) are read, except for the last few lines. The
Torah is returned and the service is concluded.
Possibly the most visible of all practices on Simchat
Torah is that of Hakafot, the walking around the bima with the Torah. Several sources are given for this
custom. Ramo says that the practice is to circle the bima while singing praises, and that this is done in
imitation of the seven times that we circle the bima
on Hoshana Rabba. The Mishna Berura also notes this as
a reason, although he also notes that there are those who only circle the bima three times. Otzar Ta'amei Minhagim (by Shmuel David Gelberd) writes that
seven hakafot is the custom of the Arizal, and is done either due to the link to Hoshana Rabba (as brought down by
the Sha'arei Knesset HaGedolah)
or as a reminder of the battle against Yericho, when
the Jews circles the city seven times with the
Rav Shlomo Yoseif Zevin notes that the
practice of hakafot at night,
first appears in the customs of Rav Issac Tirana, while it is Ramo
who first mentions doing so during the day. The practice of reciting the set of
verses that begin with "Ata Har'eita" stems
from the Machzor Vitri and Maharam MiRutenberg.
At the
morning service, hakafot are repeated as the night
before. Simchat Torah is a time for celebration! Won’t
you please join us and make this year’s Simchat Torah
celebration the best of all.
Sincerely,
Cantor
Elihu Feldman