Giving the Torah feet

 Moadim Lesimcha, happy Sukkot!

“Simchat Torah,” the final day of this glorious holiday, celebrated this Saturday night and Sunday, is usually translated as “rejoicing with the Torah,”  which is exactly how we spend the day.  We celebrate the conclusion of the annual cycle of Torah reading and immediately begin  the cycle anew.  

But the literal translation of the two words “Simchat Torah,” is actually “the joy of the Torah,” or “the Torah’s joy.”  And in fact our Sages teach that both meanings are correct.  We celebrate with the Torah, and the incredible gift and opportunity of living a life of meaning and connection to Hashem.  In addition, the Torah “celebrates” its completion and restarting.  

There is one major problem –the Torah scroll is inanimate and has no way to physically express its joy.  So on this day of Simchat Torah, we become the Torah’s feet, so to speak.  When we dance with the Torah as an expression of our own joy, we give the Torah the ability to dance and celebrate too. 

There is a deeper, mystical interpretation of the Torah’s happiness and “desire to dance.”

 What happens when a person dances?  On the body, the head is higher than the feet, and the brain controls the body.  When we dance, the feet, at the bottom of the body, lift and elevate the head.   The head represents intellect, and the feet represent action.  The feet don’t think about what they need to do.  When a person decides to move, the feet move.  The head, on the other hand, thinks and decides what is right.  But the head can’t elevate itself, it needs the feet to do that.

Now let’s look at dancing with the Torah.  Torah needs to be studied and understood.  It gives us direction on how to live our lives, and we need to work with our minds to understand the depth of what it is teaching.  But it doesn’t end with our intellect.  Left to its own devices,  the mind can come up with all kinds of interpretations that can go in many directions.  

There is another dimension to Torah, and that is accepting that the Torah is Hashem’s will.  More important than intellectual prowess is the focus on what the law is and how Hashem wants us to behave, which is not something that we can arrive at with our own minds.  When we accept that the Torah is Hashem’s will, we make sure to work hard to understand exactly what the Torah is teaching us, and not rely on our own interpretations.

This idea is represented by specificallyusing our feet to dance with the Torah. This is why, on the day of Simchat Torah, we don’t spend the day studying, but rather dancing and celebrating.  When we dance with the Torah we are “elevating” it to something much greater than a brilliant intellectual document.  We recognize it as Hashem’s word to us, which teaches  us how to live and fulfill our purpose on earth.

This is also why we dance with the Torah with its cover on.  It’s not about the words and content specifically.  It is about our bond with Hashem that the Torah brings us.  So regardless of how much we each know or understand, the joy and dancing with the Torah is for all of us.  

So celebrate with abandon.  Lift the Torah up and recognize that with your feet - your acceptance of the laws and practice of Torah - you are giving the Torah the ability to celebrate its true greatness.

There is no place like Chabad to celebrate Simchat Torah.  Please join us and let’s enjoy the day together.