# 985 Where is My Day of Joy?

On Vayikra

(Leviticus 29: 39) “But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,

when you gather in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the

festival of Hashem for a seven day period; the first day shall be a

rest day, and the eighth day shall be a rest day.”

And on Bamidbar (Numbers 29:

35) “The eighth day shall be a time of restriction

(Bayom Hashmini Atzeres) for you; you shall not perform any

mundane work.”

The 22 day of

Tishrei, the day after the seventh day of Sukos, is the holiday of

Shemini Atzeres. In Israel, Shemini Atzeres is also the holiday of

Simchas Torah. Outside of Israel, where two days of Yom Tov are held,

only the second day of Shemini Atzeres is Simchas Torah:

Sh’mini

Atzeret is not the eighth day of Sukkot; but a Yom Tov of Pilgrimage

on its own accord (Rosh HaShanah 4b, Suka 47a, Chagiga 17a et. al.)

Simchas Torah

is not mentioned in the Torah itself. The

name Simchas

Torah

is relatively new. One of the early sources is Darchei Moshe (O.H.

669: 3) who cites Maharik responsa (26) quoting from the Geonim the

custom of dancing on the Yom Tov of Simchas

Torah.

However,

it goes back even further. Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit’a pointed out

that the Talmud (Megila 31a) tells that they would finish the

reading the Torah on that day.

Remah

in Shulchan Aruch (O.H. 669: 1) mentions that we call

the day Simchat Torah, since we rejoice when we finish reading the

Torah. Biur Hagrah (ad loc.) cites as the source the Midrash Rabbah

at the beginning of Koheles. Besides

other Midrashic sources, Simchat Torah is also mentioned in Zohar

(Pinchas 256) and Tikuney Zohar (Tikun 21)

Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a