In the morning, the festival morning prayer service is recited, as appears in the prayer books. After the Amida prayer, the congregation recites Hallel. In some congregations, the Psalm of the day is recited at this point. At this stage, as on every other festival and Shabbat, the Torah reading is begun. The Torah reading on this day, apart from the maftir, is from Deuteronomy (14:22–16:17) and it mentions the three pilgrimage festivals. The haftara, from I Kings (8:54–9:1), describes the lavish celebrations of King Solomon and the people for the inauguration of the Temple, which took place during Sukkot (I Kings 8:2), and climaxed “on the eighth day” (8:66).

A resident of Israel who is staying abroad for the festival should consult with a rabbi ahead of time on how to observe Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah there.

According to Ashkenazic custom, the remembrance prayer for the departed [Yizkor] is recited before the Musaf service. For more on Yizkor and how it is performed, see p. 171.

Next the congregation recites the Musaf prayer service in which it is customary in most communities to recite the “prayer for rain,” or the “tikkun for rain,” which is a sequence of liturgical passages of praise to God for the rain that He brings, and a request for rains of blessing in the new year. Some congregations recite the prayer for rain before the silent Amida prayer of the Musaf service (that is, the prayer that each of the congregants recites himself), while others recite it in the course of the cantor’s repetition of the Amida. From the time this prayer has been recited until the festival of Passover, one mentions in the second blessing of the Amida prayer the fact that God “causes the wind to blow and the rain to descend.”

After prayers, a festival meal is served. Kiddush is recited before the meal, as on every festival.

For Ashkenazim:

If it is Shabbat, one starts here:

“If you restrain your walking because of the Sabbath, pursuing your needs on the day of My holiness and you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s sacred, honored, and you honor it by refraining from doing your business, from seeking your needs and from speaking of matters, then you will delight in the Lord and I will mount you onto the heights of the earth and I will feed you the inheritance of Jacob your forefather, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13–14). “The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath for their generations an eternal covenant. Between Me and the children of Israel, it is a sign forever. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and on the seventh day, He rested and was invigorated” (Exodus 31:16–17). “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall work and perform all your labor. The seventh day is Sabbath for the Lord your God; you shall not perform any labor, you, and your son, and your daughter, your slave, and your maidservant, and your animal, and your stranger who is within your gates, because in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them and He rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and He sanctified it” (Exodus 20:8–11).

On a weekday, one starts here:

“These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations, that you shall proclaim at their appointed time” (Leviticus 23:4). “And Moses spoke to the children of Israel the appointed times of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:44).

“Attention, my masters, gentlemen, teachers.

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”

For Sephardim:

If it is Shabbat, one starts here:

“A psalm by David. The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing. He has me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is full. May only goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever” (Psalms 23).

“If you restrain your walking because of the Sabbath, pursuing your needs on the day of My holiness and you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s sacred, honored, and you honor it by refraining from doing your business, from seeking your needs and from speaking of matters, then you will delight in the Lord and I will mount you onto the heights of the earth and I will feed you the inheritance of Jacob your forefather, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13–14).

“The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath for their generations an eternal covenant. Between Me and the children of Israel, it is a sign forever. For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth and on the seventh day, He rested and was invigorated” (Exodus 31:16–17).

On a weekday, one starts here:

“These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations, that you shall proclaim at their appointed time” (Leviticus 23:4). “And Moses spoke to the children of Israel the appointed times of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:44).

“Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place that He shall choose: On the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and on the Festival of Weeks, and on the Festival of Tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Each man according to the gift of his hand, in accordance with the blessing of the Lord your God that He gave you” (Deuteronomy 16:16–17).

(On Shabbat: “Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and He sanctified it” (Exodus 20:11).)

“Attention, my masters.”

Those listening respond: “To life!”

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”

At this meal too, some dip the first piece of bread in honey.

One recites the afternoon prayer service for a festival, even if the festival falls on Shabbat.

On the night of Simhat Torah, the evening prayer is recited, just as on the previous night. If it is Saturday night, a special paragraph is inserted into the Amida prayer. After the Amida, all the Torah scrolls are removed from the synagogue ark amid singing and rejoicing, accompanied by the recitation of certain verses that can vary depending on the community. Next, prayers and verses are recited while the bima is circled seven times. These circuits are known as hakafot.

Regarding the procedure of the hakafot, there are many different customs that vary from one community to another:

Some circle the bima while holding all the Torah scrolls, while others place the scrolls on the bima and circle it. Some communities honor certain individuals in the congregation with holding the Torah scrolls during the hakafot, while in other communities it is customary to sell the right to hold a Torah scroll in return for a donation to the synagogue or a personal resolution that is announced publicly. In some congregations, the hakafot are very lengthy, and for this reason they are sometimes accompanied by Kiddush and light refreshments. In certain synagogues children are given special flags to wave during the dancing, and in some places the children are allowed to hold the silver decorations of the Torah and dance with them.

At the end of the hakafot, the Torah scrolls are returned to the ark. In many communities, one Torah scroll is left out and three or five men are called up to the Torah reading, which is from the beginning of the final portion of the Torah (VeZot HaBerakha).

At home, Kiddush is recited and a festive meal is served, as on the previous night.

In the morning, the festival morning prayer service is recited, as appears in the prayer books. After the Amida prayer, the congregation recites Hallel. In some congregations, the psalm of the day is recited at this point. At this stage, on every other festival and Shabbat, the Torah reading is begun. On Simhat Torah, the hakafot are performed before the reading of the Torah. The procedure for these hakafot is identical to that of the hakafot at night. In many communities there is a kiddush with refreshments before or after the hakafot, so that the lengthy service will not be uncomfortable for the congregants.

At the conclusion of the hakafot, all the Torah scrolls that had been taken out for the hakafot are returned to the ark, except for three scrolls that are left out for the Torah reading. The reason for requiring three Torah scrolls is that three different sections are read, from different places in the Torah. From the first scroll, the section of VeZot HaBerakha, the concluding portion of the Torah; from the second, the opening section of the Torah in the book of Genesis; and from the third, the passage dealing with the sacrifices of Shemini Atzeret.

The procedure of reading and calling men up to the Torah on Simhat Torah differs from the rest of the festivals, and it also varies from community to community. The following are some common practices:

Five men are called up for the reading from the first Torah scroll, and a passage in VeZot HaBerakha is read for them, from Deuteronomy 33:1-26. If Simhat Torah falls on Shabbat (in Israel), a sixth man is called up, for whom the next three verses are read, until the end of the chapter.

In many communities it is customary to call up to the Torah reading every single man in the congregation. This expresses the idea that each and every one of the Jewish people has a portion in the Torah. In order to enable everyone to be called up, the passages intended for the first five men are repeated many times over. If the congregation is especially large, they may divide into several groups of at least ten men each, so that several Torah readings can be conducted simultaneously.

Further reading: For more information on the connection of every Jew to Torah, see A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 268.

In many communities, the last man to be called up in completion of the repeated reading from Deuteronomy 33:1-26 is accompanied by all the children in the synagogue who are not yet the age of bar mitzva, too young to be called up to the Torah themselves. This aliya is referred to as kol hane’arim (“all the boys”). The adult recites the blessings before and after the reading together with the children. In certain communities it is customary to spread a prayer shawl [tallit] above the heads of the children, like a canopy.

At the end of this reading, the custom is for the children to recite or sing together the verse:

“May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the lads and let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be called upon them and may they proliferate like fish in the midst of the earth” (Genesis 48:16).

In some Sephardic communities, a sixth section, consisting of Deuteronomy 33:27-29, is read separately after all the men of the congregation have been called up to the Torah. It is considered a special privilege to receive this aliya, and the one who is so honored is called “the bridegroom of me’ona” [hatan me’ona], after the first Hebrew word of this section.

The last man called to the reading of the first Torah scroll is called the “bridegroom of the Torah,” the hatan Torah, as he concludes the reading of the entire Torah. Before he is called up, it is the custom in many communities to invite him to come forward as a special liturgical poem is recited in his honor, and a tallit is spread out above the bima, like a wedding canopy. The right to be called up to the Torah for this reading (as well the subsequent one) is generally granted to community dignitaries, or to benefactors who have pledged a substantial contribution to the synagogue. Some have the custom to read once again from the beginning of the final Torah portion VeZot HaBerakha until its conclusion, while others read only from verse 33:27 until the end of the Torah. At the end of the reading, the entire congregation, followed by the Torah reader, declares: Hazak, hazak venit’ĥazek, “Be strong, be strong, and let us [all] be strengthened!” During the year, this same phrase is chanted at the conclusion of each of the five books of the Torah.

The man called up for the reading from the second Torah scroll is called the “bridegroom of Bereishit” [hatan Bereshit], as he begins the new reading cycle of the Torah, from the book of Bereshit, Genesis. Before this reading as well, it is customary in many communities to invite the honoree to come forward with a special liturgical poem in his honor, and to spread out a tallit above his head, in the form of a wedding canopy.

The reading from the second Torah scroll includes the story of the creation of the world, from the beginning of Genesis until the end of the seventh day (Genesis 1:1–2:3).

The maftir is read from the third scroll. This passage describes the sacrifices of the day (Numbers 29:35–30:1), followed by the haftara from the beginning of the book of Joshua (1:1–18, in accordance with the Ashkenazic custom, and up to verse 9 according to the custom of the Sephardim and the Yemenites). This section, which begins with the words, “It was after the death of Moses, servant of the Lord,” is a direct continuation of the end of Deuteronomy.

In some Ashkenazic communities, the one who lifts up the Torah scroll on Simhat Torah at the end of the reading turns the scroll outward, so that the written side of the parchment faces the congregation.

It should be noted that in Israel, the Yizkor service and the prayer for rain are recited on Simhat Torah, as there is no separate day of Shemini Atzeret.

Following the prayer services, a festive meal is eaten and Kiddush is recited, as on the previous day. The afternoon prayer service is the same as on other festival days.