The History of Simchat Torah

(33) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (34) Say to the Israelite people: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast of Booths to יהוה, [to last] seven days. (35) The first day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations; (36) seven days you shall bring offerings by fire to יהוה. On the eighth [sh'mini] day you shall observe a sacred occasion and bring an offering by fire to יהוה; it is a solemn gathering [atzeret] :you shall not work at your occupations.

(35) On the eighth day [sh'mini] a solemn gathering [atzeret] you shall hold; you shall not work at your occupations. (36) You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to יהוה; one bull, one ram, seven yearling lambs, without blemish; (37) the meal offerings and libations for the bull, the ram, and the lambs, in the quantities prescribed; (38) and one goat for a sin offering—in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.

Lovingly, You have bestowed on us, Adonai our God, [Shabbat for rest,] festivals for joy, holidays and occasions to delight in, among them this:

On Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah: Festival of Sh'mini Atzeret, season of our rejoicing, [with love,] a sacred day, a symbol of the exodus from Egypt.

(10) And Moses instructed them as follows: Every seventh year, the year set for remission, at the Feast of Booths, (11) when all Israel comes to appear before your God יהוה in the place that [God] will choose, you shall read this Teaching [Torah] aloud in the presence of all Israel. (12) Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere your God יהוה and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching [Torah]. (13) Their children, too, who have not had the experience, shall hear and learn to revere your God יהוה as long as they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.

(13) On the second day, the heads of the clans of all the people and the priests and Levites gathered to Ezra the scribe to study the words of the Teaching. (14) They found written in the Teaching that the LORD had commanded Moses that the Israelites must dwell in booths during the festival of the seventh month, (15) and that they must announce and proclaim throughout all their towns and Jerusalem as follows, “Go out to the mountains and bring leafy branches of olive trees, pine trees, myrtles, palms and [other] leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” (16) So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves booths on their roofs, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the House of God, in the square of the Water Gate and in the square of the Ephraim Gate. (17) The whole community that returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths—the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua. son of Nun to that day—and there was very great rejoicing. (18) He read from the scroll of the Teaching of God each day, from the first to the last day. They celebrated the festival seven days, and there was a solemn gathering on the eighth, as prescribed.

(5)How is the mitzva of the willow branch fulfilled? There was a place below Jerusalem, and it was called Motza. They would descend there and gather willow branches [murbiyyot] from there. And they would then come and stand them upright at the sides of the altar, and the tops of the branches would be inclined over the top of the altar. They then sounded a tekia, a simple uninterrupted blast, sounded a terua, a broken sound and/or a series of short staccato blasts, and sounded another tekia. Each day they would circle the altar one time and say: “Lord, please save us. Lord, please grant us success” (Psalms 118:25). Rabbi Yehuda says that they would say: Ani vaho, please save us. And on that day, the seventh day of Sukkot, they would circle the altar seven times. At the time of their departure at the end of the Festival, what would they say? It is beautiful for you, altar; it is beautiful for you, altar. Rabbi Elazar said that they would say: To the Lord and to you, altar; to the Lord and to you, altar.

(8)How is the portion of the Torah that is read by the king recited at the assembly, when all the Jewish people would assemble? At the conclusion of the first day of the festival of Sukkot, on the eighth [year], after the conclusion of the Sabbatical Year, they make a wooden platform for the king in the Temple courtyard, and he sits on it, as it is stated: “At the end of every seven years, in the Festival of the Sabbatical Year” (Deuteronomy 31:10). ...

The baraita continues: ...On the last Festival day of Sukkot, i.e., the Eighth Day of Assembly [Sh'mini Atzeret], they read the portion of “All the firstborns,” starting with the portion of “You shall tithe,” since it includes many mitzvot and statutes relating to gifts for the poor, who should be helped during this period of rejoicing, and it concludes with the halakhot governing firstborns (Deuteronomy 14:22–16:17). And they read as the haftara the portion of “And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying” (I Kings 8:54–9:1), which occurred on that day. On the next day, the second day of the Eighth Day of Assembly [Sh'mini Atzeret] in the Diaspora, they read the portion of “And this is the blessing” (Deuteronomy, chapters 33–34) until the end of the Torah, and they read as the haftara “And Solomon stood” (I Kings 8:22–53).

the people of the West, i.e., Eretz Yisrael, who complete the cycle of reading the Torah not in one year but in three years.

“And [Shlomo] went to Jerusalem, stood before the Ark of the Covenant of God and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings... and he made a banquet for all his servants” (Kings I 3:15). Rabbi Elazar said: From here we learn that one makes a feast for the completion of the Torah.

On this second day of Yom Tov, which is the last, we are accustomed that even some of the elders dance when praises are said to the Torah. But this is because [the prohibition against dancing] is shevut [rabbinic] and they acted leniently on this day only, in honor of the Torah.

On the ninth day of Sukkot (which is safek shemini), we read Vezot HaBeracha, in order to align the Simchat Torah – which we have merited to complete – with the Simchat HaChag. For the verse uses the term “Simcha” twice in discussing Shemini Atzeret, since the happiness of the festival is abundant. Further, [we read this portion] so as to align the “Blessing of the King” with the Blessing of Moshe. As our wise men say, the final day of Yom Tov is the King’s Blessing, which is set apart from the rest of the festival for its’ own blessing.

Halacha 1
The custom prevailing through Yisrael is that we complete [reading] the Torah within one year. We begin on the Shabbat after Sukkot by reading the portion “In the Beginning” (Gen. 1:1). On the second Shabbat, “These are the generations of Noah” (Gen. 6:9); on the third, “And God said to Avraham" (Gen. 12:1); and we continue on reading in this order until we complete the Torah on Sukkot. There are some who complete the Torah every three years, but this is not the prevalent custom.
Halacha 2
Ezra instituted for Yisrael that the portion containing the Curses in the book of Vayikra (26:3-end of book) should be read before Shavuot; and those in Devarim (26:1-29:8) before Rosh HaShana. The prevalent custom is to read the portion Bemidbar Sinai (Num. 1:1-4:20) before Shavuot; Va’etchanan (Deut. 3:23-7:11) after the Tisha B’Av; Atem Nitzavim (Deut. 29:9-30:20) before Rosh HaShana; [and] Tzav et Aharon (Lev. 6:1-8:36) before Pesach in an ordinary year (of twelve months). Hence, on some Shabbats, two portions are read during the morning service, for example, Isha Ki Tazria (Lev. 12:1-13:59) and Vezot Tiheyeh Torat HaMetzora (ibid. 14:1-15:33); Bechukotai (ibid. 26:3-end of book) and Behar Sinai (ibid. 25:1-26:2) and so on; the purpose being to ensure that the reading of the Torah shall be completed in one year and that the portions above mentioned shall be read at their appointed periods.

“And on the eighth day, a finale, one bull, one ram”. The bearers of our tradition have explained: This is like a king who invited guests, and after he sent them away, he said to his household, “You and I, let’s make a small meal together”.
And what is “Atzeret”? It means as it says (Shmuel I 9:17), “This [man] will govern my nation” – the word עֶצֶר means Malchut, kingship. From the side of the Upper Shechina, a large feast is made; while from the side of Malchut, a small meal.
And Yisrael is accustomed to rejoice on this day, and call it Simchat Torah. And they crown the Sefer Torah with its’ crown, as the Sefer Torah is a hint to Tiferet, the Shechina – the crown of Tiferet.

The night of the ninth [of Sukkot] we pray like on the night before [of the eighth, i.e. Shmini Atzeret] and say the kiddush on the holiday. Then the next day we pray as on the previous day. After that, we remove three Torah scrolls. From the first one we read Ve-Zot ha-Bracha and the one saying the Maftir reads from the second scroll just like on the day before and concludes with the section in Melachim [Alef], Ve-Yaamod Shlomo lifnei Hashem. There are those in Jerusalem who say as the Maftir Va-Yehi acharei mot Moshe, and so is our custom. From the third Torah scroll, he begins Bereshit. We call this Simchat Torah since we complete the Torah. It is appropriate to rejoice in its conclusion but we are used to beginning Bereshit immediately so that there won't provide Satan with a reason to defame us by saying, "See, they've just finished it and they don't want to read it anymore!" We also say many poems...and there are places where they remove all the Torah scrolls [from the ark] and say on each and every one a poem, each locale according to its own custom. In Ashkenaz it is the custom that the one who reads the end [of the Torah] and the one who reads the beginning take up a collection and call upon all their friends and make a feast and rejoice at the conclusion of the Torah and its beginning.

I’ve seen written that each year, the Kohen Gadol – or the prophet, or Judge, or Gadol HaDor – would [publicly] read a portion of the Torah on Sukkot, and would complete Bereishit through Bamidbar within six years; and in the seventh year, the king would complete the Torah… And it is for this reason that the custom remains in our days that the final [second] day of Shemini Atzeret is called Simchat Torah, on which we complete the Torah, and where a great person within the community goes up to complete it… to be similar to the events of the king during that time.

(1)The Order of Simchat Torah: In places where they do two days of Yom Tov, Kiddush on the ninth night includes Shehecheyanu. The next day, we take out three Torah scrolls. From the first, we read "And this is the blessing" [Deuteronomy 33:1] until the end of the Torah. From the second, we read from "In the beginning" [Genesis 1:1] until "that God made" [2:3]. From the third, the maftir reads the same as the previous day. The haftarah is "After Moses died" [Joshua 1:1]. Rem"a: The last day of Yom Tov is called "Simchat Torah" because we rejoice on it, making a festive meal in honor of the finishing of the Torah. It is customary for the person who finishes the Torah and the one who starts Genesis to make a donation and invite everybody to a party (Tur). It is customary in these countries to take all of the Torahs out of the Ark on Simchat Torah at night and in the morning and to sing songs and praises. Every place should follow its customs. It is also the custom to circle the synagogue's Bimah with the Torah scrolls just like we circle with the lulav. This is all done out of joy. It is also the custom to have many readers from the Torah. We read the same section many times, and this is not forbidden (Minhagim, Rivas"h 84). It is also the custom to call up all of the children to the Torah and to read "the angel who has redeemed me..." [Genesis 48:6]. In the evening, we read the special sections from the Torah that are normally auctioned off, every place according to its custom. It is also the custom that even a child can finish off the Torah, even though there are those who say that specifically a scholar should finish it (Mordechai's small notes). Nowadays when the chazzan does the actual reading, there is no issue (his own opinion). In a place with only two Torah scrolls, we read "And this is the blessing" from the first, "In the beginning" from the second, and then we go back and reuse the first for the section associated with the day. This is done whenever three Torahs are needed but there are only two (found written somewhere).

On the next day, the second day of the Eighth Day of Assembly in the Diaspora, they read the portion of “And this is the blessing” (Deuteronomy, chapters 33–34) until the end of the Torah, and they read as the haftara “And Solomon stood” (I Kings 8:22–53).

(1) Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’minister, saying:

And we read the essence of the holiday as it was celebrated earlier from the first day of Sh'mini Atzeret because that is the essence. The Maftir that we read is the one that we read the day before - "Bayom Hashmini", from Pinchas. And the Haftarah is from Kings - "Vaya'amod Shalom" (1 Kings, 8). And this is to connect the blessings of Moses with the blessings of Solomon that blessed the congregation of Israel. This is like the end of the matter is similar to the beginning. And so that the reading on this day is like the reading on the previous day [also from 1 Kings]. And there are those who do the Haftarah from "And after the death of Moses" (Joshua 1:1) And they are wrong. For our Sages established that we should read "And Solomon stood" until "The Lord God". And I have found old books where they read "After the death of Moses". And this is found in the halachot of Hagaon Rav Alfasi z"l. In order to connect the day before with what comes after.

The next day we read Ve-Zot ha-Bracha with Ve-Yaamod Shlomo as the Maftir. There are places where the custom was to read Va-Yehi Acharei Mot Moshe [Joshua 1] as the Maftir, but they should be ashamed of this because does the Talmud not say explicitly what [the Maftir should be]? There are those who say that it was Rav Hai Gaon who made this decree to say Va-Yehi Acharei Mot Moshe, but this is because they are ignorant. Why change the order in the Talmud?

... concludes with the section in Melachim [Alef], Ve-Yaamod Shlomo lifnei Hashem. There are those in Jerusalem who say as the Maftir [Haftarah]Va-Yehi acharei mot Moshe, and so is our custom. ...

On this second day of Yom Tov, which is the last, we are accustomed that even some of the elders dance when praises are said to the Torah. But this is because [the prohibition against dancing] is shevut [rabbinic] and they acted leniently on this day only, in honor of the Torah.

Rema:...They had the custom in these lands to take out all the Torah scrolls from the aron on Simchat Torah at ma’ariv and shacharit, and sing songs and praises, each place in accordance with its custom...