(י) וַיְצַ֥ו מֹשֶׁ֖ה אוֹתָ֣ם לֵאמֹ֑ר מִקֵּ֣ץ ׀ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֗ים בְּמֹעֵ֛ד שְׁנַ֥ת הַשְּׁמִטָּ֖ה בְּחַ֥ג הַסֻּכּֽוֹת׃ (יא) בְּב֣וֹא כָל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל לֵרָאוֹת֙ אֶת־פְּנֵי֙ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ בַּמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְחָ֑ר תִּקְרָ֞א אֶת־הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּ֛את נֶ֥גֶד כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּאָזְנֵיהֶֽם׃ (יב) הַקְהֵ֣ל אֶת־הָעָ֗ם הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֤ים וְהַנָּשִׁים֙ וְהַטַּ֔ף וְגֵרְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֨עַן יִשְׁמְע֜וּ וּלְמַ֣עַן יִלְמְד֗וּ וְיָֽרְאוּ֙ אֶת־ה' אֱלֹֽקֵיכֶ֔ם וְשָֽׁמְר֣וּ לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת׃ (יג) וּבְנֵיהֶ֞ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־יָדְע֗וּ יִשְׁמְעוּ֙ וְלָ֣מְד֔וּ לְיִרְאָ֖ה אֶת־ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶ֑ם כָּל־הַיָּמִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר אַתֶּ֤ם חַיִּים֙ עַל־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אַתֶּ֜ם עֹבְרִ֧ים אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֛ן שָׁ֖מָּה לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃ (פ)
(10) And Moses instructed them as follows: Every seventh year, the year set for remission, at the Feast of Booths, (11) when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place that He will choose, you shall read this Teaching aloud in the presence of all Israel. (12) Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere the LORD your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching. (13) Their children, too, who have not had the experience, shall hear and learn to revere the LORD your God as long as they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.
(א) וַיֵּאָסְפ֤וּ כָל־הָעָם֙ כְּאִ֣ישׁ אֶחָ֔ד אֶל־הָ֣רְח֔וֹב אֲשֶׁ֖ר לִפְנֵ֣י שַֽׁעַר־הַמָּ֑יִם וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ לְעֶזְרָ֣א הַסֹּפֵ֔ר לְהָבִ֗יא אֶת־סֵ֙פֶר֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה ה' אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (ב) וַיָּבִ֣יא עֶזְרָ֣א הַ֠כֹּהֵן אֶֽת־הַתּוֹרָ֞ה לִפְנֵ֤י הַקָּהָל֙ מֵאִ֣ישׁ וְעַד־אִשָּׁ֔ה וְכֹ֖ל מֵבִ֣ין לִשְׁמֹ֑עַ בְּי֥וֹם אֶחָ֖ד לַחֹ֥דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִֽי׃ (ג) וַיִּקְרָא־בוֹ֩ לִפְנֵ֨י הָרְח֜וֹב אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ לִפְנֵ֣י שַֽׁעַר־הַמַּ֗יִם מִן־הָאוֹר֙ עַד־מַחֲצִ֣ית הַיּ֔וֹם נֶ֛גֶד הָאֲנָשִׁ֥ים וְהַנָּשִׁ֖ים וְהַמְּבִינִ֑ים וְאָזְנֵ֥י כָל־הָעָ֖ם אֶל־סֵ֥פֶר הַתּוֹרָֽה׃
(1) the entire people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the scroll of the Teaching of Moses with which the LORD had charged Israel. (2) On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Teaching before the congregation, men and women and all who could listen with understanding. (3) He read from it, facing the square before the Water Gate, from the first light until midday, to the men and the women and those who could understand; the ears of all the people were given to the scroll of the Teaching.
מיתיבי חל להיות בפרשה הסמוכה לה בין מלפניה ובין מלאחריה קורין אותה וכופלין אותה בשלמא למ"ד כי תשא היינו דמתרמי בההוא זימנא אלא למ"ד צו את קרבני מי מתרמי בההוא זימנא אין לבני מערבא דמסקי לדאורייתא בתלת שנין
The Gemara raises an objection: If the New Moon of Adar occurs on the Shabbat on which the portion to be read is adjacent to the portion read as Shekalim, whether on the Shabbat preceding or following it, then they read and repeat Shekalim. According to the one who said that the portion of “When you take the count”, that portion could occur at that time. However, according to the one who said that the portion of “Command...My offering” is read as Shekalim, does that portion ever occur at that time? Yes, for the people of the West, i.e., Eretz Yisrael, who complete the cycle of reading the Torah not in one year but in three years.
בשני ובחמישי בשבת במנחה קורין כסדרן ואין עולים להם מן החשבון שנאמר (ויקרא כג, מד) "וידבר משה את מועדי ה' אל בני ישראל" מצותן שיהו קורין כל אחד ואחד בזמנו:
..,יו"ט האחרון קורין "כל הבכור" מצות וחוקים ובכור ומפטירין (מלכים א ט, א) "ויהי ככלות שלמה". למחר קורין "וזאת הברכה" ומפטירין (מלכים א ח, כב) "ויעמד שלמה"
תניא ר' שמעון בן אלעזר אומר עזרא תיקן להן לישראל שיהו קורין קללות שבתורת כהנים קודם עצרת ושבמשנה תורה קודם ר"ה מאי טעמא אמר אביי ואיתימא ריש לקיש כדי שתכלה השנה וקללותיה
It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Ezra enacted for the Jewish people that they should read the portion of the curses that are recorded in Leviticus before Shavuot and the portion of the curses that are recorded in Deuteronomy before Rosh HaShana. The Gemara asks: What is the reason for this? Abaye said, and some say that it was Reish Lakish who said: In order that the year may conclude together with its curses.
כתב מהרי"ק שורש כ"ו בשם תשובת הגאונים דביום שמחת תורה נוהגין לרקוד אפילו זקנים בשעה שאומרים קלוסים לס"ת אע"פ שאין מרקדין בי"ט משום כבוד התורה נהגו היתר עכ"ל
רי"ץ גיאת הלכות לולב
רגילין ביום זה הואיל ובו מסיימין את התורה לעשות כמה קילוסין והידורין לספר תורה ואומרים כמה דברי שבח והודאות לכבוד ספרי תורה וכמה מיני שבחות ושמחות רגילין לעשות בו ונתכנה יום שמחת תורה.
Benjamin of Tudela, "Itinerary", 1170
"[In Memphis] are two synagogues, one of the congregations of Palestine, called the syrian, the other the Babylonian Jews. They follow different customs regarding the division of the Pentuach into Parshiot and Sedarim. The Babylonians read one Parsha every week, as is the custom throughout Spain, and finish the whole Pentuach every year, whereas the Syrians have the custom of dividing every Parsha into three Sedarim and concluding the lecture of the whole every three years. They uphold however the long-established custom to assemble both congregations and to perform the public service together, as well as on the day of the joy of the law as on that of the dispensation of the law."
"The Nature of Shemini Atzeret and its Transition into Simchat Torah", Rav Amnon Bazak
After the destruction of the Beit Ha-mikdash and Benei Yisrael's dispersion throughout the world, our connection to agriculture was lost; as a result, many mitzvot lost their essential qualities, to one degree or another...The Jewish festivals faced the same danger of losing their meaning with the loss of the Beit Ha-mikdash. However, both the Torah itself as well as the Oral Tradition provided an additional component to the nature of the holidays. Two of the festivals received this additional element explicitly in the Torah...The significance of Sukkot involves not only the agricultural element but also, "In order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land Egypt" (Vayikra 23:43)...
No such historical reference appears in the Torah regarding Shavuot or Shemini Atzeret. As a result, these holidays ran the risk of having their unique qualities lost throughout the years of national homelessness. The Oral Law, however, proceeded to elucidate an additional aspect latent in these festivals. As opposed to the "Biblical Jew," for whom agriculture stood at the center of existence, the "post-Temple Jew" concentrates his religious life in the proverbial "four cubits of Halakha." Therefore, the agricultural calendar was replaced by the "Torah calendar." In this system, the festival of the first harvest (Shavuot), which commemorated the first opportunity to benefit from one's produce, was transformed into the holiday of Matan Torah, the first step in the nation's acceptance of the Torah. Shemini Atzeret, which, for the agrarian society, was celebrated as the end of the year, evolved into the celebration of the completion of the Torah reading, Simchat Torah.
דִּבְרֵי קֹהֶלֶת בֶּן דָּוִד מֶלֶךְ בִּירוּשָׁלִָם, זֶה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב בְּרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַל יְדֵי שְׁלֹמֹה מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל (משלי כב, כט): חָזִיתָ אִישׁ מָהִיר בִּמְלַאכְתּוֹ לִפְנֵי מְלָכִים יִתְיַצָּב,
כָּךְ בְּגִבְעוֹן נִרְאָה ה' אֶל שְׁלֹמֹה בַּחֲלוֹם הַלַּיְלָה (מלכים א ג, ה): וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים שְׁאַל מָה אֶתֶּן לָךְ, אָמַר שְׁלֹמֹה אִם אֲנִי שׁוֹאֵל כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב וּמַרְגָּלִיּוֹת הוּא נוֹתֵן לִי, אֲלָּא הֲרֵינִי שׁוֹאֵל אֶת הַחָכְמָה וְהַכֹּל בִּכְלָל, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (מלכים א ג, ט): וְנָתַתָּ לְעַבְדְּךָ לֵב שֹׁמֵעַ, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַחָכְמָה שָׁאַלְתָּ וְלֹא שָׁאַלְתָּ לְךָ עשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד וְנֶפֶשׁ אוֹיְבֶיךָ, לְפִיכָךְ הַחָכְמָה וְהַמַּדָּע נָתוּן לְךָ, וְעַל יְדֵי כֵן גַּם עשֶׁר וּנְכָסִים וְכָבוֹד אֶתֶּן לְךָ, מִיָּד (מלכים א ג, טו): וַיִּקַּץ שְׁלֹמֹה וְהִנֵּה חֲלוֹם. אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק חֲלוֹם עוֹמֵד עַל כַּנּוֹ, צִפּוֹר מְצוֹיֵץ וְיוֹדֵעַ עַל מָה מְצוֹיֵץ, חֲמוֹר נוֹהֵק וְיוֹדֵעַ עַל מָה נוֹהֵק, מִיָּד (מלכים א ג, טו): וַיָּבוֹא יְרוּשָׁלָיִם וַיַּעֲמֹד לִפְנֵי [ארון ברית אדושם ויעל עלות ויעש שלמים] וַיַּעַשׂ מִשְׁתֶּה לְכָל עֲבָדָיו, אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק מִכָּאן שֶׁעוֹשִׂין סְעוּדָה לְגָמְרָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה
The words of Koheleth, king in Jerusalem. Midrash: This is to say that this the writing is done with "ruach hakodesh" (divine inspiration) by the hand of King Solomon (Mishlei 22:29). You see [that the work of] a man [who is] adept at his trade will endure [when it is done] in front of kings. It happened that Rebbe Chanina ben Dosa saw people in his city taking up vow-offerings and free-will offerings to Jerusalem. He said, "Everyone is bringing up vow-offerings and free-will offerings to Jerusalem, and I don't have a thing to bring up." What did he do? He went to the walkway of his city and saw one stone and chipped it, chiseled it, and polished it and said: "Now I have something to bring up to Jerusalem." He sought to hire workers. Five men passed by him. He said to them "Will you take this stone for me up to Jerusalem?" They said to him, "Give us 5 Selayim [currency] and we will bring it up to Jerusalem." He sought it for them but he could not find a single thing...
ספר האשכול, הרב אברהם ב"ר יצחק (אב בית דין)
לכך עושין סעודות גדולות ותענוגים גדולים ביום שמחת תורה לכבוד סיום התורה
(א) וכתב מהרי"ל יש מקומות שנהגו התינוקות סותרים הסוכות ומבערים אותם בשמחת תורה ונותנים טעם להיתר זה אבל אבא מורי ז"ל כשהייתי נער מוחה בידי מלסתור בי"ט עכ"ל:
Samuel Pepy's Diary
Wednesday, October 14th, 1663: Thence home and after dinner my wife and I, by Mr. Rawlinson’s conduct, to the Jewish Synagogue: where the men and boys in their vayles, and the women behind a lattice out of sight; and some things stand up, which I believe is their Law, in a press to which all coming in do bow; and at the putting on their vayles do say something, to which others that hear him do cry Amen, and the party do kiss his vayle. Their service all in a singing way, and in Hebrew. And anon their Laws that they take out of the press are carried by several men, four or five several burthens in all, and they do relieve one another; and whether it is that every one desires to have the carrying of it, I cannot tell, thus they carried it round about the room while such a service is singing. And in the end they had a prayer for the King, which they pronounced his name in Portugall; but the prayer, like the rest, in Hebrew. But, Lord! to see the disorder, laughing, sporting, and no attention, but confusion in all their service, more like brutes than people knowing the true God, would make a man forswear ever seeing them more and indeed I never did see so much, or could have imagined there had been any religion in the whole world so absurdly performed as this. Away thence with my mind strongly disturbed with them, by coach and set down my wife in Westminster Hall
"Persistence and Flexibility: Anthropological Perspectives on the American Jewish Experience", Fran Markowitz
Although public declarations of Jewishness are not made - either by synagogue attendance or by not working on the Jewish holiday...Some informants tell of going to the synagogues in Moscow and Leningrad when the 1967 Arab-Israeli war broke out and of attending yearly Simchat Torah celebrations. These were specific, mass demonstrations of Jewish youth, linked to assertions of Jewish pride and the gathering momentum of the emigration movement, not ordinary expressions of Judaism.