Why do we dance with the Torah on Simhat Torah every year? I know what you’re thinking. Sukkot has passed, Simhat Torah is behind us, and we’re heading into Heshvan, a month devoid of holidays. Still, hear me out. Why do we dance with the Torah every Simhat Torah every single year?
Surely you’ll say it’s because we’re completing the annual Torah reading cycle and celebrating that achievement. Yet we did that last year, and the year before that. What makes this year any different? In fact, did you know that our custom to complete the Torah reading annually is relatively new? In the times of the Gemara, in Israel, the Torah was completed roughly every three years. Those outside of Israel completed it annually (Megillah 29b). You could also suggest that we dance to teach our children to love the Torah and all of its misvot and to celebrate alongside us. There’s certainly truth to that, but there’s a deeper reason.
Take a step back for a moment. Imagine you’re an outsider observing. In one room after another, people are dancing, singing, hugging, and even kissing the Torah. The mood is feverish, everyone is going all out, giving it everything they have. To an outsider, it might even look like a wedding celebration. Then we take a brief “break” to sing praises to G-d before returning to the dancing again and again, ultimately circling the tebah seven times.
Fast forward now to the Torah reading itself. If we are simply celebrating the completion of the annual Torah cycle, why do we immediately begin Beresheet? The Hatan Torah is not even permitted to interrupt with kaddish following his aliyah. Without any pause whatsoever, we begin again. Why the rush? What is the message behind this?
The simple truth is that we are not dancing on Simhat Torah because we finished reading the Torah again. We are not “graduating” from Torah. It’s actually quite the opposite. We are celebrating another year of Torah study and our commitment to begin again. The Torah is not a book that is completed and placed back on the shelf. Just as a circle has no beginning and no end, our relationship with the Torah is a continuous, lifelong pursuit.
The Tur (Orah Hayim 669) explains that we read Beresheet immediately after completing V’Zot HaB’rakhah so that it should not appear as if, having finished the Torah, we have no desire to return to it. By beginning again without interruption, we demonstrate our eagerness to continue learning. The Tur adds that this prevents the Satan from accusing us of wanting to simply finish and move on. The same idea appears when completing a masechet of Gemara. The first words of the prayer recited at a siyum are “we shall return to you, and you shall return to us,” specifically mentioning the masechet that was just completed. The joy is not that the journey has ended, but that it continues, with renewed effort and commitment.
In the book of Iyov, it states, “Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea” (Job 11:9). The Midrash explains that this is referring to the Torah inasmuch that has a finite amount of words, yet its wisdom is endless. We can finish reading its words, but we can never finish understanding them. The Torah is also likened to water. The Gemara (Baba Kamma 82a) explains that the words “Everyone who is thirsty, go to the water,” refer to Torah. Just as water sustains life and never stops flowing, Torah study continually sustains us, because there is always more to learn and discover.
Next week, on 3 Heshvan, on Wednesday, marks the azkarah of Hacham Ovadia Yosef ZT”L, the greatest Torah scholar of our generation. To many, he was a walking Sefer Torah. His knowledge was breathtaking, his memory legendary, and yet he continued learning day and night. You might think that after reaching such a level, there would be little left to learn. Yet the opposite is true. In his sefer, Yabia Omer (Volume 3), he explains that repeated review expands a person’s intellect and allows him to understand Torah on a deeper level. Torah learning requires continual study and review. If Hacham Ovadia never stopped striving to learn more, how much more must we strive to keep growing in our own Torah study?!
As we read Beresheet once again this Shabbat, it’s easy to think, “again!?” Imagine a child who proudly announces that he already knows the story of creation, Noah, Abraham Abinu, or the exodus from Egypt. In a sense, he may be right. Yet there is so much more to learn. These same “stories” that are being taught in elementary schools are still being studied and reviewed diligently by the greatest Torah scholars in the world, past and present. A person can spend a lifetime learning a single sefer and still uncover new meaning.
The Torah’s depth is infinite. Don’t view it as starting over. Think of it as continuing on, carrying with you everything you learned this past year. If you learned a few hours a week last year, take it upon yourself to, beli neder, add another hour, two, or even ten. We celebrate not because we have finished, but because we get to continue. Keep learning. Keep growing, Keep going. Continue on.