Simchat Torah: Beginning Again . . . Immediately!

Rabbi Dr. John Fischer, Congregation Ohr Chadash, Clearwater, FL

As a Jewish community we’ve just finished going through a time of introspection and a time of celebration. We moved through the awesome days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur as we conducted an internal inventory of ourselves in the presence of the majestic King of the universe. Immediately afterward we’ve moved into a “season of rejoicing” through the week of Sukkot as we celebrate God’s provisions for our ancestors (Deut 29:5) as we walked with him through the wilderness journey he described as our honeymoon with him (Jer. 2:2). Now we come roaring into Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, the conclusion of the festival cycle spelled out in Leviticus 23. As if to reinforce Rosh Hashanah as the beginning of our new year, Simchat Torah concludes our reading of the Torah (Deut 33–34) by immediately launching us into reading the Torah from the beginning (B’reisheet) again.

 So, we begin again immediately . . . not at some indistinct time in the future, but now.

 After Sukkot wraps up, Leviticus 23:36 instructs us to hold a special (“holy”) “eighth day” (shemini) commemoration of conclusion (atzeret) which then spills over into Simchat Torah. (Simchat Torah begins Monday night, October 17, or Sunday night, October 16, in Israel and Reform Jewish congregations.)

 Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture of Leviticus 23, it’s almost as if Shemini Atzeret concludes not only Sukkot, not only the fall holidays, but also the entire cycle of festivals described in Leviticus 23. (Remember the entire chapter is read as a unit.) Shemini Atzeret is designated simply as the “eighth day” after the end of Sukkot. And yet, since our calendar is built on the seven-day week based on the seven days of creation, the eighth day would itself signal a new beginning. Appropriately, Simchat Torah immediately picks up on this new-beginning theme by renewing our cycle of readings. Additionally, Simchat Torah in a sense serves as still another conclusion, this time to Shavuot; Shavuot is the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah while Simchat Torah celebrates our having the Torah.

A couple of weeks ago we approached and then observed Rosh Hashanah as an opportunity to begin a new year, to start afresh with our lives with God and with those around us. Now we can use our celebration of Simchat Torah to remind ourselves of our new intentions and new initiatives as well as to start afresh following God’s guidelines in the Torah. It’s yet another opportunity for a new beginning, for a fresh start for each of us.

In this fresh start, we should take to heart the concluding text of the Torah (Deut 34:10), which serves as part of the Simchat Torah readings. This parasha reminds us that “the Lord knew Moses face-to-face.” There was a close, intimate relationship between the two. Moses had come to know the character and person of the God of the universe. He knew him to be a God of surpassing compassion, overflowing love, superabundant kindness, and unrelenting forgiveness (Exod 34:6–7). Accordingly, we need to take the time to get to know the Lord more intimately and to model those same divine characteristics towards others. It’s part of our calling as a paradigm people (Deut 4:5–8; Exod 19:5–6). But the parasha also reminds us that the Lord knew Moses. That means Moses opened himself up to God; he didn’t hold anything back from God. We should follow this example as well.

The other part of the parasha for Simchat Torah, B’reisheet (Gen 1:1–2:3), reminds us that God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden in Eden. We, too, need to see this year as an opportunity to walk that closely with God, taking the time to get to know him better, and opening ourselves more fully to him. As we begin again immediately, this is something we can aim for and build on as we move forward through the coming year.

Simchat Torah can also serve as a time of forward vision for us as a Union. Although the pandemic adversely impacted and shaped much of this past couple of years, we were able to launch and build on some exciting fresh initiatives. These are opportunities that we can build on as we move through the coming year. Over 400 people attended our virtual Tikkun Leil Shavuot. Our new president, Rabbi Barney Kasdan, and our Education Chair Andrea Rubinstein (and team) further strengthened our Messianic Educator Certificate Program. It’s readily accessible for your synagogue teachers to take advantage of. We launched the Introduction to Lay Cantorial Training program under the capable leadership of Aaron Allsbrook. This is a wonderful opportunity to raise the level of cantorial work in your congregations and throughout the Union. We birthed Dorot, a task force which Deborah Pardo Kaplan effectively led. This task force researched and compiled ways we can all more effectively function in, and be relevant to, our emerging world and to our contemporary Jewish community. Their report is now available through the Union office, info@umjc.org. We’re launching Ashreinu School, an online Hebrew school to provide bar and bat mitzvah training for our kids. And of course, we have a new president, Rabbi Barney Kasdan, and a new secretary, Scott Moore, who’ll undoubtedly bring new ideas and effectively build on what we have accomplished. So, stay tuned for other fresh initiatives we as a Union develop this coming year. To learn more about any of these initiatives visit umjc.org.

 In closing, as your outgoing president, I want to thank you again for giving me the opportunity to serve you these past four years. It has been a real privilege.

As we leave our sukkahs behind this Simchat Torah, let’s eagerly make the Torah more relevant in our lives and to those around us. And as we do so, we can more enthusiastically anticipate the time the Aleinu looks forward to, the time when the Living Torah will be among us again, and “the world will be perfected under the rule of the Lord Almighty.” Now is a great time to begin again!