Simchas Torah (שמחת תורה) — The Joy of the Torah

Core definition

Simchas Torah, the eighth day of Sukkos (Shemini Atzeres outside Eretz Yisrael), is the day Israel makes the Torah rejoice: taking the Sefer Torah, encircling the reading table, dancing with great simchah — Israel rejoicing in the Torah's letters, holding its eitz chayim [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד נז]. It is the simchah of the Torah's innerness — dancing with the Torah closed and covered: not study but joy in the Torah, revealing the Torah as it is in the Divine intellect, above the human intellect's externality [15739/maamar_006 :: עמוד מד].

How the Rebbeim develop it

Every Jew has a letter in the Torah — chiyus in the Torah, liable to mesirus nefesh for it; the letter gives strength against preventers, protects, and is the keli for the supernal bracha. The simchah is in the Torah's letters, in which all Israel are equal — all Israel holding the eitz chayim, dancing — even the simplest, even the far — aroused to draw near [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד סח].

Why is Simchas Torah on Shemini Atzeres rather than the day after Yom Kippur? Because of the second luchos: "b'yom chasunaso u'v'yom simchas libo" — the Torah given on Yom Kippur [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד ע]. The first luchos were Elokim's handiwork and Elokim's writing in giluy: "charus al haluchos" — engraved, never erased, so that "had the first luchos not broken, Torah would never have been forgotten by Israel"; "luchos kesuvim mishnei evreihem" — written on both sides, all panim; "al tikri charus ela cheirus" — through the luchos, Israel were free [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד נז]. The second luchos were Moshe's handiwork ("p'sal lecha") — Elokim's writing but not "charus," in hislabshus: a descent [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד נז]. Israel at the first were tzaddikim ("vayichan Yisrael"; "na'aseh" before "nishma"; "paskah zuhamasan"); at the second, ba'alei teshuvah [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד נז].

"Atzeres" is "kelitah" — the time of absorbing the "or ki tov" from Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos ("zman simchaseinu") — the keli for all good light [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד סח]. The parable of the king's daughters: the souls married near — the tzaddikim, in order and gradation (winter to summer, like Pesach's atzeres fifty days later); the souls married far — the ba'alei teshuvah, who drew near from summer ("fun dem bren fun teshuvah d'Yom Kippur") to winter, in whose avodah order and gradation do not apply. Therefore the king said, "while they are all here, let us make all one festival": on Yom Kippur, when all Israel are equal, through the cry "Abba, Abba" on Rosh Hashanah and "Avinu Malkeinu" on Yom Kippur they draw the holy King — Simchas Torah on Shemini Atzeres, the simchah's time, drawing simchah over the whole year in Torah and mitzvos [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד ע]. Simchah is the keli for drawing the good in seen, revealed good [31628/maamar_004 :: עמוד ע].

In the simchah/gilah mapping: Simchas Torah is simchah — revealing the Torah's innerness, the keli's innerness, the general hamshachah — while Shemini Atzeres is gilah — revealing the Essence, the particular hamshachah [15739/maamar_006 :: עמוד מו]. This yields the particular hamshachah — into every world according to its level — whereas the general hamshachah stays in the Essence [15739/maamar_006 :: עמוד מד].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

Shemini Atzeres, Sukkos, the second luchos, simchah, gilah, eitz chayim, hakafos.

Sources