This article is an adaptation of a longer piece by the same author, Max Hollander
Simchat Torah is the celebration of the completion of our one-year Torah reading cycle on Shemini Atzeret, and it’s considered one of Jewish tradition’s most joyful holidays. However, Simchat Torah isn’t a Biblically mandated holiday. It is an invention of the Jewish communities in Babylonia in the second half of the first millennium, meant to add additional celebratory practices to the Biblical holiday, Shemini Atzeret, celebrated at the peak of the harvest festival, Sukkot. From there, this practice spread across the world and evolved into the extravagant celebrations we know of today. 20th-century author Herman Wouk described this holiday as “one of the merriest in the Jewish calendar…The essence everywhere is the same: excitement, music, joking, joy within the usually solemn precincts of worship.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks suggested that Simchat Torah’s popularity probably had something to do with the fact that while other holidays in the Torah had commandments associated with them that every Jew could observe on their own, Shemini Atzeret’s ritual practice was just the prayer for rain and the sacrificial service that needed to be performed at the Temple in Jerusalem, which at that point in Jewish history wasn’t an option. Simchat Torah, on the other hand, could be observed anywhere, and included practices that any community could participate in. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks also wrote about how inspiring the invention of Simchat Torah was. He described it as a miraculous celebration of the Torah and its role as the glue that held the Jewish nation together in the diaspora despite centuries of tragedy and oppression. To invent such a celebratory holiday under the conditions Jews lived in at the time is a reflection of the Jewish people’s resolve and dedication to their identity.
Many scholars see Shemini Atzeret as the perfect time of year for Simchat Torah. The Talmud describes Shemini Atzeret as an intimate conclusion to the High Holiday season when God invites us to spend one last day with Them, and they see the boisterous festivities of Simchat Torah as the perfect way to conclude the season. However, while marking the climax of the season with gleeful music and dancing might work for some people, it doesn’t work for everyone.
The medieval scholar Rashi described the nature of Shemini Atzeret — עצרת הוא — this way: “The word derives from the root עצר “to hold back” and suggests: “I (God) keep you back with Me one day more.” It is similar to the case of a king who invited his children to a banquet for a certain number of days. When the time arrived for them to take their departure, he said, ‘Children, I beg of you, stay one day more with me; it is so hard for me to part with you!’”
This description of the atmosphere of Shemini Atzeret contrasts with our experiences on Simchat Torah, and offers something people experiencing mental illness might need far more than the levity of Simchat Torah. At the precipice of the new year beginning when the holidays are over, and as we prepare to say goodbye to the loved ones who spent the holidays with us, some might prefer our final moments together be spent hugging and holding one another rather than dancing with each other.
This vision of Shemini Atzeret should not be lost in the chaos of Simchat Torah. There is joy in dancing with a loved one, as well as in the intimacy of holding a loved one tightly, and when we love someone, we shouldn’t miss the opportunity for a proper goodbye. We might liken Shemini Atzeret to a goodbye hug that lasts a few seconds longer than it is supposed to — a hug that lingers, not because we don’t know when to let go but because we don’t want to. Shemini Atzeret is an invitation to take the chances we have to hold them. It is an eternal reminder that to cherish is divine.