Simchat Torah at Beit Shalom
The days of repentance and atonement –
Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and its intervening days – are followed by
festival days filled with rejoicing and praise. On the 15th
day of the month of Tishrei, the festival begins and lasts eight days
as stated in the Torah/Bible. The first seven days are the
Festival of Sukkot. The eighth day is called Hoshana
Raba. During this time, Jews build a sukkah/temporary
booth to acknowledge and remember that through G-d’s help, the Hebrew’s
left slavery in Egypt and dwelt in temporary booths for 40 years before
being allowed into the land of Israel. In the sukkah, Jews
eat their meals, dance, spend quality family time together, and even
sleep. The sukkah is also a dwelling for the
Shechinah/Divine Presence.
The congregation’s sukkah will remain open for
those wishing to eat their meals inside, study, and pray throughout the
holiday.
Shmini Atzeret is
a separate festival from Sukkot, otherwise known as the Eighth Day of
Assembly, when Jews pray for rain. In Israel, Shmini
Atzeret and Simchat Torah are two festivals on the same day, but outside
of Israel, the festivals are observed on separate days, one after the
other. Simchat Torah is reserved for rejoicing over the
eternal cycle of the Torah. On this day, the last portion
of the Torah is read, the scroll is rewound back to the beginning where
the first portion is read to restart the cycle again. It
takes an entire year to read all the portions of the Torah on their
designated days. Traditionally, a feast is held and Jews
rejoice, dance, sing, and praise G-d in honor of the Torah.
The
Jewish Congregation of Maui’s schedule of services are as follows:
- September 22 – 6:00pm Sukkot evening Service.
- September 23 – 9:30am Sukkot morning Service.
- September 24 - 9:30am Sukkot morning Service; 6:00pm Shabbat
Service.
- September 29 – 6:00pm Shemini
Atzeret evening service.
- September 30 – 9:30am Shemini Atzeret morning
service
- September 30 – 6:00 p.m. Simchat Torah evening
service with dancing.
- October 1 – 9:30 a.m. Simchat Torah morning service with dancing.
Everyone will be
called
to the Torah including children!