Holidays

Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah, the celebration of completing a cycle of reading the Torah and beginning anew, is coming up!

• Monday, October 13 — Erev Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
  • 6:00 PM: Evening Services in-person only in the Kleiman Sanctuary, which can now accommodate dancing! Monday evening services will include Hakafot (singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls) and reading the very end of the Torah.
• Tuesday, October 14 — Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
  • 9:30 AM: Morning Services with Hakafot, reading the beginning & end of the Torah, and Yizkor in the Kleiman Sanctuary and over Zoom (hybrid services)
    • Click here to join on Zoom
    • Link for siddur (prayer book) coming soon
    • Click here for Torah readings (PDF link)
• Wednesday, October 15: No services at TBB

As part of our decision to hold services on one day of Yom Tov (more info here), we are holding a single day of services for Shmini Atzeret (the holiday at the end of Sukkot) and Simchat Torah. Because of historical uncertainties about the lunar calendar, these are traditionally celebrated on adjacent days in the diaspora and are observed on a single day in Israel; as there is no longer any doubt in how to calculate the lunar calendar, many diaspora communities celebrate them on a single day as well.

In this context, the Tremont Street Shul in Cambridge, which separates Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, will have its large and raucous Erev Simchat Torah gathering on the evening of Tuesday, October 14th starting at 6:30 PM; check it out if you are looking for a celebration on that date.