Simchat Torah: A New Beginning
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
In a sense, Simchat Torah is the culmination of the High Holy Day season.
Simchat Torah—the holiday of rejoicing with the Torah—marks the occasion on which we conclude the annual cycle of the reading of the Torah, followed immediately by beginning it all over again.
The ancient Rabbis have described the Torah as “the blueprint of Creation,” hence the connection of the holiday to Rosh Hashana, which Judaism marks as the anniversary of the world’s creation. There are—aren’t there always?—two interpretations for this teaching. One is that God consulted with the Torah even before starting the work of Creation, implying that the Torah existed even prior to Creation itself.
But there is another explanation: the Torah didn’t serve as a blueprint for God, as God is the source and fount of all knowledge and wisdom and certainly does not need to consult any reference book, especially one that God authored and dictated. Rather, it is a blueprint for us, human beings, as we continue the work of Creation, which of course God ceased at the end of the sixth day.
The Torah is the central pillar of Jewish thinking—and of all Western Civilization. It accounts not only for much of the theological thinking of the western world but is also the basis of much of our modern legal justice system.
The Torah adds the elements of hope, purpose and meaning to our understanding of our existence in the world.
But above all that, by its teaching that there is only one God, the Torah has given us the magnificent concept of equality. If there were many gods, there would be violent competition between them for supremacy (as we see in many of the world’s mythologies), and the conclusion would inevitably be that might is always right. If, on the other hand, there were no God at all, each of us would look at ourselves and think that we might be gods ourselves. Each of us would assume that he/she is smarter, more capable, more talented and powerful than anyone else, and therefore more deserving of honor and praise, even of worship.
But the principle that only God reigns supreme means that we are all actually equal in God’s eyes. Though each of us has different and unique talents and abilities, that doesn’t make any one of us “better.” In God’s heavenly court, we are all judged by what we did during our lifetime, by how we contributed to society and the world, not by what gifts we might have inherited or gained during our days on earth.
In God’s eyes, our worth is calculated by the good deeds—the mitzvot—that we fulfill.
For God’s own, mysterious, reasons, the world was left incomplete. Human beings, created at the very end of the Sixth Day, were then charged with two tasks: the safekeeping of the world and its inhabitants, and completing the sacred task of Creation. It is this that gives our existence meaning, hope and purpose. Our lives are not pointless and irrelevant. Every one of our actions is a step forward into the yet-unfinished Seventh Day.
And that is why we rejoice on the holiday of Simchat Torah. We not only have a sacred trust and mission, but also a method—a blueprint for the work we must engage in. The Torah is there not to serve God, but rather to help us understand how to accomplish what God intended for us. We don’t ever need to feel lost or confused. The Torah is a map into the unknown, and as such it is a great gift to all humanity.
The work of Creation is never ending. That is why as soon as we finish reading the last few words of the Torah, we immediately start again at the very Beginning. There is a lesson for every moment of our life, a message that unfolds and deepens with every passing day and year. The more we study, the more we discover about ourselves and the world around us.
As with all learning, as with all life, there is no beginning, and there is no end—it is one cycle, never ending. All paths intertwine, cross and weave, and all ultimately lead up to the source of all knowledge and wisdom, our one God.
© 2019 by Boaz Heilman
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