Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah (“joys of Torah” in Hebrew) is a holiday which celebrates the gift of the Torah (instruction or Law) to mankind. The Torah was given to the Jewish people 50 days after God delivered them from slavery in Egypt on Passover.

On Pentecost the Torah was given and the Jewish faith was born. The first Pentecost was a foreshadowing of the giving of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. The Holy Spirit was given on the feast of Pentecost 50 days after Jesus’ death on Passover.

Each year the Jewish people read a portion of the Torah each week in synagogue. Over the course of the year they read the entire Torah. These portions are known as “parshas.”

In Hebrew parsha means “exact statement.” The people know they are reading the “truth” - the “exact statements” of God. “Then Yehovah said to Moses, ‘Write down these (My) words for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel’ …and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant” (Exodus 34:27-28).

In a similar fashion, Jesus also gave us the “exact words” of God, “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me” (John 12:49-50).

On Simchat Torah the cycle of reading through the Torah for the year begins; this is a cause for celebration! Christians are confused at the celebration of the Law (Torah) because they say they are under grace and not under the Law.

Yes, our salvation is by “grace through faith” and not by keeping the Law (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Law was never intended to be a means of salvation. Its purpose was, in part, to show us it is impossible to keep the Law and merit heaven; therefore, we need a Messiah to take on our sin and pay the penalty for it.

The Law had a second function which Jesus explains. Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

The Jewish people celebrate the giving of the Law because it tells us how to love God and our neighbors. Prior to receiving the Law, mankind could only guess at what pleases God. God blessed man greatly by giving us in detail how to please Him and live in peace with our neighbors.

We are instructed to know God’s instructions, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).