Simchat Torah: Interpreting Joy

One of my closest friends has a birthday that falls within five days of the birthdays of each of his three children. That makes for a wonderful week of celebration, but, as the father, the festivities in his honor tend to be rather muted.  The same, alas, is the case for Simchat Torah.

Wouldn’t you expect that after a year of prayer and study, the conclusion of the reading of the Torah would deserve a grand commemoration of its own?  Sure, but it gets somewhat lost coming so shortly after Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.  Don’t you wish we could spread out the holidays just a bit?

This is a real shame since Simchat Torah is such a joyous occasion, as indicated by its name, which translates roughly to “Rejoicing with the Torah.”  It is often marked with raucous dancing and singing as the Torah scrolls are paraded through the congregation. What a striking contrast to the solemnity of Yom Kippur.

But even if you don’t attend weekly services, the end of a cycle of Torah reading merits celebration and reflection. Whether the 54 parashiyot are read over a three-year period, in the familiar triennial fashion of many synagogues, or read in their entirety over a single year, the holiday reminds us that Torah study never really ends. The final beautiful parsha of Deuteronomy, celebrating Moses as a prophet appointed by the Lord who freed the Israelites from bondage, transitions into the first words of Genesis, describing the creation of the world.

For many years now, when I return home from Shabbat services, I write a few lines reflecting upon that week’s parsha. When I compare the newest entry with ones for the same parsha in years past, I am amazed by how much they differ. Why is that? After all, the Torah doesn’t change from year to year.

But the world is different, and so are we. How we interpret the holy texts depends both on the global events of the day and on where we happen to be in our own lives. If it is true, as the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said, that ‘No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man,” it must also be true when considering the Torah.

So when we read shortly in Genesis chapter 2 about planting a garden, growing fruit trees, and having them nurtured by a river that went forth from Eden, how can we not think of the environmental disasters of the past year — floods, hurricanes, and fires that have been exacerbated by human neglect of one of G-d’s greatest gifts?

“Justice, Justice shall you pursue,” from Deuteronomy 16:20, means something very different this year in light of the judicial uproar in Israel.  And so does Leviticus 19:16, “Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened,” given the ongoing suffering in Ukraine.

The world changes, and we change alongside it. I recently turned 70, and I can understand better than ever why 80 year old Moses argued with the Lord about being the wrong person to lead his people to freedom.

And having just been blessed with my first grandchild, the obligation laid out in Deuteronomy 4:9 to pass along the laws and customs of Judaism not only to your children, but to your grandchildren, affects me in ways I couldn’t begin to imagine a year ago.  

As I continue my daily adventure with trying to learn Hebrew, any progress in being able to translate the words of the Torah on my own brings special joy.  Should I live as long as Moses (who died at the age of 120), perhaps I might eventually be capable of fully understanding our holy texts!

Simchat Torah is a perfect occasion to take stock of our lives – to recognize our vulnerabilities and rejoice in our blessings.

Simchat Torah is a perfect occasion to take stock of our lives – to recognize our vulnerabilities and rejoice in our blessings. One chapter concludes; another commences. May each new cycle bring us greater happiness, deeper understanding, and more enduring peace.

Morton Schapiro is the former president of Williams College and Northwestern University.  His most recent book (with Gary Saul Morson) is “Minds Wide Shut:  How the New Fundamentalisms Divide Us.”