Editing Simchat Torah (section)

{{Short description|Jewish holiday marking the conclusion of public Torah readings}}
{{Infobox holiday
| image         = Solomon Alexander Hart - The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in Leghorn, Italy - Google Art Project.jpg
| caption       = ''The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in [[Livorno]]'' by [[Solomon Hart]], 1850. [[Jewish Museum (Manhattan)|Jewish Museum]], New York
| holiday_name  = Simchat Torah
| official_name = {{Script/Hebrew|שמחת תורה}}
| nickname      = Translation: 'Rejoicing with/of the Torah'
| observedby    = [[Jew]]s
| date          = 22nd (outside of Israel 23rd) day of [[Tishrei]]<ref name="hebcal.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/|title=Jewish Holidays – Hebcal Jewish Calendar|website=www.hebcal.com|access-date=September 30, 2018|archive-date=September 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910164532/https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| date{{LASTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=last}}
| date{{CURRENTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=current}}
| date{{NEXTYEAR}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=next}}
| date{{NEXTYEAR|2}} = {{Calendar date/infobox|year=next2}}
| celebrations  = Dancing in [[synagogue]] as all the Torah scrolls are carried around in seven circuits (''hakafot''); [[melakha]] (work) is prohibited
| type          = Jewish
| significance  = The culmination of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. Conclusion of the annual Torah reading cycle. Final [[Parasha]] from [[Deuteronomy]] is read in synagogue. Everyone is called to the Torah reading. Then first Parasha from [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] is read.
| relatedto     = Culmination of [[Sukkot]] (Tabernacles)
}}
'''Simchat Torah''' ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה|Torah celebration}}}}; [[Ashkenazi]]: {{Transliteration|he|Simchas Torah}}), also spelled '''Simhat Torah''', is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public [[Torah reading]]s, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the [[Hebrew Bible|Biblical]] [[Jewish holiday]] of ''[[Shemini Atzeret]]'' ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of [[Sukkot]] in the month of [[Tishrei]] (occurring in September or October on the [[Gregorian calendar]]).

Simchat Torah's main celebrations occur in the [[synagogue]] during evening and morning services. In many [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] as well as many [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] congregations, this is the only time of year on which the [[Sefer Torah|Torah scrolls]] are taken out of the [[Ark (synagogue)|ark]] and read at ''night''. In the morning, the last ''[[parashah]]'' of [[Deuteronomy]] and the first ''parashah'' of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that lasts several hours.

The morning service is also uniquely characterized by each member of the congregation being called up for an ''[[Aliyah (Torah)#Simchat Torah|aliyah]]''. There is also a special ''aliyah'' for children.