Simchat Torah: Celebrate the Wisdom

The festival Simchat Torah — the Joy of Torah — begins tonight and urges us to celebrate the wisdom we have gathered and raise it up with song and dance. 

In celebration, we open the sefer Torah and read from the last few verses in Deuteronomy and from the opening lines in Genesis. We never read the end of the Torah without also reading from the beginning.

The very last letter of the Torah is a lamed. The first letter is a beit. Put together these letters spells lev—heart—reminding us that the journey of Torah is a journey of the heart. 

May we return again and again to loving hearts and open minds.

And may the joys of life inspire our words and actions.

Chag samayach. Blessings to all.