13/10/2025
BS”D. SIMCHAS TORAH
FOR THE LOVE OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE
The final festival of the Jewish High Holiday season is “Simchas Torah,” which begins this Tuesday night (immediately following the festival of Shemini Atzeres, which begins this Monday night). The name of the festival means the “Joy of the Torah.” In many communities, the joy experienced on this festival is greater and more pronounced than joy experienced on any other occasion throughout the year.
What is this joy of the Torah? Many are led to believe that the joy of the festival is due to the conclusion of the yearly Torah cycle on the day of Simchas Torah. But this cannot be the main reason. The yearly reading and studying of the Torah cycle happens in front of open books and Torah scrolls. The dancing – and joy - of Simchas Torah, however, is performed specifically while the scrolls are bound and tied; closed and covered, they provide no opportunity to see, let alone study, one single word of the holy Torah!
Additionally, the joy of Simchas Torah is not merely for Torah scholars or for those who studied and concluded the Torah, but for all Jewish people of every type and background. Moreover, the dancing and rejoicing on Simchas Torah commence at the onset of the day. The conclusion of the Torah is read sometime in the late morning of the next day – this Wednesday for this year – long after the celebration and joy have taken place.
No, the joy and celebration of Simchas Torah are not generated through the study of the Torah. Simchas Torah is about the crucial importance of the Jewish people themselves, even above the importance of the Torah. The Jewish people, in fact, infuse joy into the Torah by dancing on Simchas Torah. They have the power to cause the Torah to be happy, so to speak, because the Torah is addressed to them. On numerous occasions, the Torah states: “Speak – tell, command – the Children of Israel.” It is obvious that without the Jewish people there is no Torah!
And since the people are that important – even more than the Torah itself – Moses, the faithful leader and shepherd of the Jewish people, did not hesitate to shatter, to break into pieces, the Holy Tablets he had been commissioned to deliver to the Jewish people.
The Tablets containing the Ten Commandments are compared to the wedding ring or the wedding contract (the “Ketubah”) presented by the groom to his bride at the wedding ceremony. And it makes sense: The tablets did not contain anything new. Those words were already conveyed at Mount Sinai to the entire assembled Jewish people. The Tablets were designed as an affirmation to the people of the words delivered by the Almighty at Sinai some 40 days prior. They were similar to the object that is given by the groom to his bride after betrothing her with words.
These same tablets, however, were about to cause a terrible calamity for the Almighty’s beloved chosen people. As Moses descended the mountain, he encountered a small minority of the people – just 3,000 in total – who were actively worshiping the pagan Golden Calf, being unfaithful to the true G-d. the Divine “Groom.” In assessing the situation, Moses realized how troubling this small segment of his people were, and the danger they posed, by osmosis, to the entire nation.
So, Moses did not hesitate. Without consulting anyone – not even with the Heavenly “Husband” – he took it upon himself to shatter the Tablets, thus breaking the “marriage contract”, the connection, between the Jewish people and the Divine “Husband.”
Of all people, Moses well understood the precious value of these Tablets, created by the Creator of all. Moses also knew that these Tablets were not his to break; they belonged to the entire nation.
Nevertheless, in his unbounded passionate love and leadership for his people, Moses knew that, as important as the Torah might be, it was not as important as the people to whom this Torah was being given and for whom he, Moses, was ultimately responsible. Moses, therefore, performed an action on behalf of his people that could have cost him everything he had earned. Drastically and dramatically, he severed that connection between the Tablets and the Jewish people, averting the disaster that could have overtaken them in their moment of weakness, thus saving them. Instead, Moses left himself in jeopardy and susceptible to G-d’s wrath.
Moses took matters into his own hands, ready to sacrifice everything at first glance, without quite knowing what had really transpired! He acted because the welfare of every individual comes before the welfare even of the Torah and the holy Tablets!
That, my dear friends, is true leadership from the greatest leader of all. Leadership is never about earning recognition, power, and honor. It is always about the people who are being led and their welfare. And it is worth sacrificing for.
This is why the final words of the Torah, containing the greatest praise of Moses and his eulogy, describe his shattering the stones of the Tablets – as discussed in the previous article. As a reminder, the topic was the final words of the Torah which praise Moses, and they reference Moses’ shattering of the Tablets, not that he secured forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf. The questions were: In praising Moses, is it necessary for the Torah to recall this dark moment? And if something praiseworthy would be found, does this need to be the final and the greatest praise? And how would this inspire the great joy of Simchas Torah?
The answer to all this is: There can be no greater praise of a leader than how much he was willing to put his very existence, his essence, on the line for those people whom he led! And for which people? For a small minority of “sinners,” of wayward people. Yet, Moses did not hesitate. Motivated by a pure and burning love for his people, he took it all upon himself in an instant! This is the greatest testimony to his greatness possible.
Simchas Torah, the day on which these words are read from the Torah, is the day on which the ultimate importance of the people is celebrated. The joy, the rejoicing and the celebration are about the restored connection of the Jewish people and their Divine “Groom” through the Torah, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, through Yom Kippur, and through the festival of Sukkos.
It is about celebrating the importance of one’s fellow man despite any reasons, even legitimate ones, to the contrary.
During the celebration on Simchas Torah, the Torah scroll is tied shut and wrapped in its cover. It is not about the words. It is about human joy, generated to inspire even the holy Torah to joy. Every year and with every dance, this joy declares, thanks to the great leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses our teacher: Nothing can, or will, come between the Jewish people and the Almighty!
Ever!
* * *
I was privileged to hear the above explanation from the Rebbe, the saintly Lubavitcher Rebbe, thirty-nine years ago to the day, on Saturday night, the evening of Simchas Torah, 1986. The Rebbe was leading the traditional “Farbrengen” – Chassidic gathering – for several hours prior to the eventual dancing of Simchas Torah – inspiring the thousands assembled for the upcoming dancing and celebration of Simchas Torah which would last through the night.
Predicated by passionate love of his own, the Rebbe exemplified the above quality of Moses, leading his followers – but really all people – with his legendary belief in all people. This was the driving force behind each of his great accomplishments on behalf of mankind. He always placed the welfare of others ahead of anything else, including himself.
All those present on that night were able to witness this amazing love, for hearing the Rebbe deliver the above explanation was only half of the story. During this talk, the Rebbe’s eyes flooded with tears and his voice was choked with deep emotions. I had witnessed the Rebbe breaking down and crying, usually when discussing the unbearably painful persecution and troubles of the Jewish people, or other emotional matters. I had never, though, before or since, seen the Rebbe weep and sob this way.
Perhaps the Rebbe’s cries were a plea to all: “Do not forget the importance of each and every person. Celebrate it on Simchas Torah, and carry it with you for the rest of the year.” I know that, thanks to the Rebbe, the Moshe Rabbeinu, the “Moses” of our generation, I will never forget it. Neither will any of his many thousands of followers who were present then, or who heard about it since. Neither should anyone forget the great importance of people over anything else.
Without the Jewish people, there is no Torah. And with the Jewish people, the Torah gets its day to rejoice through them. And the Almighty says thank you – as He did to Moses when Moses took it upon himself to teach this eternal lesson.
Now it’s time to dance, to be joyful, and to be unified together with all the people.
SUMMARY: The ultimate and greatest praise of Moses, the greatest leader, is for shattering the Tablets – and for that, it is worth dancing and celebrating.
DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR: Find your nearest Chabad House or Chabad synagogue on Simchas Torah, this coming Tuesday evening (and Wednesday), and have a ball!
(From: RYL, CPC)
