SIMCHAS TORAH
BONDING IN JOY FOREVER!
Simchas Torah is the happiest, most joyous festival on the Jewish calendar. It is so joyous that even its name contains the Hebrew word for joy – something that does not exist in any other festival, despite the fact that all festivals are a time for joy.
What fuels the joy of this festival? A number of factors: First and foremost, this is the day the Jewish world finishes its yearly reading and studying of the entire Torah, the five books of Moses. It is also the day the Jewish people begin the Torah anew, at the beginning of the book of Genesis. One never stands still when it comes to the Torah. It is also the final day of the joyous festival of Sukkos, and is the last of the biblical festivals until Passover, some six month later.
As such, this festival is designed to be unusually joyous. Dancing while holding the Torah is on the agenda, and gatherings of joy and happiness dictate the day. Several routine behaviors in synagogues are normally suspended, or changed, mostly to the delight and joy of the assembled.
Following the joyous dancing, the Torah is read, just as it is read on every Jewish Shabbos and festival. The Torah reading for this festival, as mentioned, is the Torah’s last portion, “V’zos Habrochoh.” This Torah portion contains the final moments of Moses’ life, during which he elected to bless all the tribes individually, and then all of the Jewish people collectively. Following this, Moses ascended Mount Nebo, was shown the entire Land of Israel, and then he passed away.
The Torah spends its final verses extolling the virtues of Moses. He is classified as the greatest prophet every to live, who performed amazing miracles as the Almighty’s agent.
It seems quite anticlimactic, therefore, to be celebrating with such unbridled joy. This is, after all, a day in which the reading contains such sadness: The passing of the greatest of prophets!
To compound this strange behavior, the “Haftorah,” the extra reading from the prophets read on this day – as is the case on Shabbos and holidays – is the first chapter of the book of Joshua, which begins with the words, “And it was after the death of Moses.”
How appropriate is it to establish the most joyous holiday on a day where the focus is death, and the death of none-other than Moses, our teacher?
It must be that it is specifically the passing of Moses that actually inspires this great joy of Simchas Torah.
There is a verse in the Torah’s final portion according to which the above query can be resolved. This verse is not just telling, but is one of the Torah’s most common of verses: “Torah Tzivah Lonu Moshe, The Torah which Moses commanded us is an inheritance for the congregation of Jacob.” Jewish law encourages parents to teach their children this verse as soon as they can speak.
This verse maintains that the Torah, as an inheritance, is eternal and will never be abandoned. It also maintains that this Torah was commanded to the Jewish people by Moses.
The term “inheritance” in connection with the Torah makes quite a statement. An inheritance indicates that the recipient has an inherent connection with the benefactor. At the same time, the recipient receives the bequest without any essential action on his or her behalf.
In other words, the one receiving the inheritance – a child, for example – must be worthy of the consideration of being an inheritor. At the same time, because the connection between the child and parent is so essential, the connection must remain strong and prevailing. As such, the less the child interferes with the process, the better.
Once the recipient has prepared him or herself worthy of this gift – by simply showing up with no interference – the inheritance arrives with much greater appreciation than without this preparation. Like anything else, that which a person is given is not nearly appreciated as much as which a person actually earns. The creating of a “vessel,” as it were, in order to receive the inheritance, allows the recipient this appreciation. And, as mentioned, this “vessel” is achieved by simply being open, without interference.
This inheritance metaphor is how the Torah views itself: The Torah emanates from on High. Its source is the essence of G-d and it is bequeathed to the Jewish people as an inheritance. In order to receive this gift in its highest form, it is necessary for the person simply “show up” and not interfere.
At the same time, the Torah is an “inheritance” to every single person, just like an inheritance bequeathed to an inheritor. At the end of the day, the inheritance arrives regardless of the action, or inaction, of the recipient.
The festival of Sukkos and its continuation into Simchas Torah is, historically, the time when the Jewish people achieved forgiveness following their worshiping of the Golden Calf in the desert. It took two months of Moses being present on Mount Sinai with the Almighty for this to be successfully completed. This feat is marked by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The joy and celebration of this accomplishment spills into the festival of Sukkos, and its pinnacle is the unbounded joy of Simchas Torah.
The joy of this time in the year is not merely because of the forgiveness. It is for the realization that the connection between the Jewish people and the Almighty through the Torah is an “inheritance,” that is, it is automatic. It is the realization that, regardless of what anyone will do, the intrinsic connection is an inheritance. It cannot be broken.
And this is the reason the Torah emphasizes that Moses is the one who commanded the Torah as an inheritance. It was Moses’ great efforts on behalf of the Jewish people which achieved this forgiveness and its subsequent joy. It was these efforts that revealed how the essential connection is an inheritance which will, for all eternity, remain that way.
The Torah is replete with instances of how Moses interceded on behalf of the Jewish people. Moses, as the appointed leader who was the intermediary between the Almighty and the Jewish people, delivered the Tablets with the Ten Commandments, performed supernatural miracles, and achieved forgiveness at many times.
It was after Moses’ passing that these miracles and open Divine revelations subsided. True, the Almighty performs miracles all the time, but the vast majority of them are not in a revealed manner, certainly nowhere near the revelations that occurred during the time Moses was alive.
In the many centuries since Moses’ time, through the conquest of the Holy Land, the building of two Temples, the destruction of both Temples, the long exiles, and the many troubles of persecution, expulsions, pogroms, and Holocaust, it has been a struggle to maintain the inherent connection, the “inheritance,” between the Jewish people and our Father in Heaven.
Yet, it is specifically this struggle which is precious in the eyes of G-d. The darkness, at times, seems to hide the link between the Father who is eternally bequeathing His inheritance to His children. The troubles, though, still has been unsuccessful in severing the eternal link between the Jewish people and the Almighty. Instead, the Jewish people have been holding strong despite every trial and tribulation.
So much so, that the Jewish people continue to flock to synagogues and places of worship in order to join the joy and exultation of Simchas Torah, this very connection and eternal bond.
Thanks to Moses, this connection exists. It is, though, only after his passing that the true bond and union can be properly appreciated and realized.
In the final analysis, then, the unbridled joy of Simchas Torah is thanks to Moses for revealing the unbreakable bond between the Almighty and His people, through the “inheritance” of the Torah. This bond is only truly realized following the passing of Moses – illustrating that this bond does, indeed, continue to this day.
SUMMARY: It is Moses who revealed the Torah as an inheritance to the Jewish people. The joy of this inheritance, however, can only be achieved following his passing.