Finishing the Torah, beginning it again, and dancing in between.
In the Diaspora, Simchat Torah is observed on 23 Tishrei, the second day of Shemini Atzeret. In Israel, it is observed on 22 Tishrei, together with Shemini Atzeret.
Simchat Torah (also spelled Simhat Torah) means “Rejoicing of the Torah.” We read the last words of Devarim, begin Bereshit without a pause, and carry the Sifrei Torah around the tevah in seven joyful hakafot.
This guide follows the Sephardi practice recorded in Yalkut Yosef and the rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and notes where Moroccan, Syrian, Iraqi, Balkan, Spanish-Portuguese and other communities differ.
Time | Order |
|---|---|
Night | Arvit → seven hakafot → celebration |
Morning | Shacharit → Hallel → Torah reading → Kol HaNearim → Chatan Me’onah → Chatan Torah → Chatan Bereshit → maftir → haftarah → Mussaf |
After Mussaf | Seven hakafot → festive meal |
Afternoon | Minchah, with additional hakafot in many communities |
After the holiday | Hakafot shniyot, where practiced |
The order follows Yalkut Yosef. Your synagogue’s order may differ; follow local custom.
In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are one day, 22 Tishrei. In the Diaspora, 23 Tishrei is the second day of Shemini Atzeret, and it is the day called Simchat Torah.
The difference shapes the prayers. Tikkun HaGeshem, the prayer for rain, belongs to Shemini Atzeret, so in the Diaspora it is said the day before the Torah is completed. Yalkut Yosef notes that some Diaspora communities hold hakafot on both nights.
An Israeli spending Simchat Torah abroad treats the Diaspora’s second day as a weekday: tefillin in private, then holiday clothes and the community’s celebration.
A hakafah is a circuit around the tevah with the Sifrei Torah, accompanied by verses, piyyutim, singing and dancing. There are seven. In many Sephardi and Mizrahi synagogues, the scrolls circle in their upright cases, the tikim.
At night, the hakafot follow Arvit. By day, Yalkut Yosef places the seven hakafot after Mussaf, followed by a festive meal, rather than before the Torah reading as in most Ashkenazi synagogues. Many communities add hakafot after Minchah.
Everyone joins, including a mourner within the year for a parent. Young children should not carry a full Sefer Torah; flags and small toy Torahs let them share the joy.
The Sages restricted dancing and clapping on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Simchat Torah is the exception. Rabbi Isaac ibn Ghiyath of 11th-century Spain reported that even elders danced on this day, and Maharik permitted it in honor of the Torah. Yalkut Yosef calls dancing and clapping on Simchat Torah a great mitzvah.
The permission has limits. Musical instruments remain forbidden on Yom Tov, including the Diaspora’s second day, and dancing with lit torches or candles before the scrolls is not allowed.
Hakafot shniyot are held after the holiday ends. The practice is associated with the kabbalistic tradition of Safed: Rabbi Chaim Vital records that the Arizal would go from synagogue to synagogue at the close of the festival and dance seven hakafot in each.
It is not a universal Sephardi custom, but it became a beloved Israeli tradition, often with live music, since instruments are permitted once the holiday is over. Yalkut Yosef writes that Diaspora communities may adopt it too.
Three Sifrei Torah are used when available: the first for Vezot HaBerachah, the second for Bereshit, and the third for maftir (Num. 29:35–30:1). Where only two are available, the first is reused for maftir.
Vezot HaBerachah holds Moshe’s final blessing of the tribes and his death. It is read again and again until every man has been called up. Then come the day’s special honors.
The Torah’s last word is “Yisrael,” and within minutes the congregation hears “Bereshit.” Beginning at once shows that Torah study has no finish line.
Honor | Reading | Description |
|---|---|---|
Kol HaNearim | — | All the children go up together under an outspread tallit, and the congregation blesses them with Hamal’ach Hago’el (Gen. 48:16). |
Chatan Me’onah | Deut. 33:27–29 | A Sephardi honor for the Torah’s closing blessing, “Me’onah Elohei kedem,” found in most Sephardi communities. |
Chatan Torah | Deut. 33:1–34:12 | In Sephardi practice, the Chatan Torah rereads all of Vezot HaBerachah and completes the Torah. |
Chatan Bereshit | Gen. 1:1–2:3 | Begins the Torah anew from the second scroll, through “asher bara Elokim la’asot.” |
The haftarah opens “Vayehi acharei mot Moshe,” picking up where the Torah ends. Sephardim read Joshua 1:1–9, closing on “This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth” and “Be strong and courageous.” Ashkenazim continue to verse 18.
On Shemini Atzeret, Sephardi congregations recite Tikkun HaGeshem after the haftarah and before Mussaf. From then until Pesach, the Amidah says “Mashiv haruach umorid hageshem.” In Israel this falls on Simchat Torah; in the Diaspora, the day before.
Many Sephardi communities do not recite the Ashkenazi Yizkor; memorial prayers such as Hashkavah follow local custom.
| Common Ashkenazi practice | Sephardi practice (Yalkut Yosef) |
|---|---|---|
Daytime hakafot | Before the Torah reading | After Mussaf |
Special honors | Chatan Torah, Chatan Bereshit | Adds Chatan Me’onah in most communities |
Chatan Torah reads | Deut. 33:27 to the end | Deut. 33:1 to the end, the whole parashah |
Haftarah | Joshua 1:1–18 | Joshua 1:1–9 |
Rain prayer | Tefillat Geshem in the chazzan’s repetition of Mussaf | Tikkun HaGeshem before Mussaf |
Memorial prayers | Yizkor on Shemini Atzeret | Hashkavah by local custom; many have no formal Yizkor |
Torah scrolls | Soft cloth mantles | Rigid cases (tikim) in many Mizrahi and Sephardi communities |
The Diaspora’s Simchat Torah never falls on Shabbat, but it can touch Shabbat on either side.
Shemini Atzeret on Shabbat (Diaspora): preparations wait until Shabbat ends. Second-night candles are lit from an existing flame, and Kiddush includes Havdalah.
Simchat Torah on Friday (Diaspora): make an eruv tavshilin before the festival to cook for Shabbat. Hakafot shniyot wait until after Shabbat.
Simchat Torah on Shabbat (Israel): Shabbat additions apply, outdoor hakafot need an eruv, and hakafot shniyot are Saturday night.
There is no single “Sephardi Simchat Torah.” Communities from Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq, Persia, Turkey, the Balkans, Yemen and Western Europe each kept their own melodies, piyyutim and honors. The hakafot open with Atah Hor’eta; after that, the songs are local.
Some Balkan and Georgian communities add a fourth honor, Chatan Vaya’al. Spanish-Portuguese congregations in Western Europe do not call a Chatan Me’onah.
The Talmud already assigns Vezot HaBerachah to this day (Megillah 31a). One of the earliest descriptions of the celebration comes from Rabbi Isaac ibn Ghiyath of Lucena, Spain, who wrote that the day of completing the Torah is called Simchat Torah. Rabbi Yosef Karo’s Shulchan Aruch later set its order.
The joy is not only the joy of finishing. Within minutes of Moshe’s death, the congregation is back at “Bereshit.” It is a lesson Sephardi communities carried from Spain to Safed and around the world: the Torah is never finished, only begun again.
photo: The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law [Simchat Torah] at the Synagogue in Leghorn [Livorno], Italy, by Solomon Alexander Hart 1806-1881
Outside Israel, on 23 Tishrei, the day after Shemini Atzeret. In Israel, on 22 Tishrei, together with Shemini Atzeret. On the secular calendar it falls in late September or October; the holiday begins at sundown the evening before.
“Rejoicing of the Torah.” It celebrates completing the yearly Torah-reading cycle and beginning it again.
In Israel they share one day. In the Diaspora, Simchat Torah is the second day of Shemini Atzeret.
Seven, at night and again during the day. Many communities add hakafot after Minchah and after the holiday ends.
According to Yalkut Yosef, after Mussaf, not before the Torah reading as in most Ashkenazi synagogues. Some Sephardi communities follow other orders.
Joshua 1:1–9. Ashkenazim read Joshua 1:1–18.
The person honored with completing the Torah. In Sephardi practice, the Chatan Torah usually rereads all of Vezot HaBerachah, from Deut. 33:1 to the last verse.
The person honored with beginning the Torah again, reading Genesis 1:1–2:3 from a second scroll.
A Sephardi honor for the reading of Deut. 33:27–29, “Me’onah Elohei kedem,” called just before the Chatan Torah.
The children’s aliyah. All the children go up together under an outspread tallit and are blessed with Hamal’ach Hago’el.
The Sages’ restriction on dancing and clapping on Yom Tov was waived in honor of the Torah. Musical instruments remain forbidden until the holiday ends.
Yes. Yalkut Yosef rules that a mourner within the year for a parent should take part in the hakafot.
A second round of hakafot after the holiday ends, from the custom of the Arizal. They are widespread in Israel, where they often include live music.
Many do not. Many Sephardi communities do not recite the formal Ashkenazi Yizkor service; memorial prayers such as Hashkavah are said according to local custom.
On Shemini Atzeret, after the haftarah and before Mussaf. In Israel that is the same day as Simchat Torah; in the Diaspora, the day before.
To show that Torah study never ends: as soon as one cycle is completed, the next begins.
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