On Simchat Torah, the day on which we literally celebrate the Torah, we read the very end of Deuteronomy and the very beginning of Genesis.

In the final verses of Torah, we read Moses’ blessing of the Israelites, offered before the prophet dies. Moses then ascends Mount Nebo, from which he sees the Promised Land and takes his final breath. God buries Moses and we are told there will never be another prophet like him. From this passage, we immediately begin our new cycle of Torah reading with the story of creation from the beginning of Genesis. And we create a new year of studying Torah. While each year we return to the same verses, it is we who are different. With each passing year, we grow and change, celebrate and mourn. And it is as if we are reading these sacred words for the very first time.

Simchat Torah is also the time that we consecration our new Pre-Kindergarten through 3rd Grade students as they begin their formal Jewish education at Temple Sinai. Register below to join us in person or watch via Zoom or livestream.

(Source: https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/shmini-atzeret-simchat-torah; Photo: Dale Lazar)