Greatest Gift of All

Simchat Torah
What are we celebrating on Simchas Torah?

Some focus on our completing the cycle of the Torah reading for the year, others focus on beginning anew. Some prefer to take the whole picture into account and say it is a celebration of the Torah in general.

I like this latter approach simply because it seems more complete. The Torah does not need a specific event, moment, or anecdote to be celebrated. It just is. It is special, it is unique, and it is ours.

The Mas'as Hamelekh (Shimon Moshe Diskin) shares an insight on this subject that seems so obvious, yet is quite profound. He looks at the verse in Devarim 28:47, the explanation for the tokhacha (rebuke) which says "These things will come upon you on account of your not serving God with joy and a good heart." From this verse, he deduces that the service of God must include two ingredients: a joyous heart and a good heart. Having either one or neither of these ingredients is an incomplete form of serving God.

He goes on to describe our celebration of Simchas Torah:

"If we focus on the completing of the Torah, we lose sight of the joy of the holiday. Rejoicing with the Torah is a 'rejoicing of the heart,' but is not called 'tov' – goodness. We are therefore minimizing the joy of the holiday because we need "simcha v'tuv levav" (a joyous and good heart) and all we have is a joyous heart.

"There is therefore a simple solution to the problem. The joy of 'Pikudei Hashem' (Tehillim 19:9) – which refers to the study of Torah, is only joyous but is not called 'tov' – good. But the joy over the Torah, celebrating the fact that we have the Torah – this is an entirely different story, falling into the category of 'the joy of a good heart.'"

We certainly celebrate the completion and the new beginning of the Torah cycles. More importantly, we celebrate that we have the Torah, that it was given to us, and that it is ours.

In a world dominated by other monotheistic religions, we ought to be proud that our religion is the original, the Coke of religions ('the real thing').

In a country that prides itself on "Judeo-Christian values," we can be proud of the prominent role Judaism's values play in guiding our society (well, the part of it that is moral, anyway).

Mostly, we can take pride in the Torah because of the wonderful gift that it is. That our people were chosen to carry its responsibilities, and that our people made it available to the world to learn from. Though the "Targum ha-70 (Septuagint)" is considered in our tradition to have been a negative moment in our people's history, the fact remains that God-fearing people view the Aseret Hadibrot (aka "Ten Commandments") as essential religious dogma, and a clear guide to a certain moral code that unites a society.

For those of us who do not yet appreciate the amazing gift that the Torah is, who do not understood what it means to simply celebrate that we have it – that it was given to us and that it is ours – this now becomes the challenge which should define your Jewish experience. How can you come to appreciate the amazing nature of our being the ones who 'have' the Torah?

In a similar vein, I once heard Rabbi Moshe Tendler share an insight in the Haggadah's song Dayenu. We say "Ilu kervanu lifnei har Sinai v'lo nasan lanu es haTorah, Dayenu" – had you brought us close to Mt. Sinai and not given the Torah to us, it would have been enough.

What would have been the point if we hadn't received the Torah?

Rabbi Tendler explained that "bringing us close to Mt. Sinai" refers to the giving of the Torah. "Not giving us the Torah" refers to the ability to delve, discuss, analyze, and decide what the law should be. The Torah was not given as a sealed book, closed to interpretation and practical application. It is a living book, which lives, thrives, and finds a way to re-present itself in every generation - God gave it to us with this purpose and design in mind..

May we merit all the blessings in the world as we celebrate Simchas Torah for what it is: a day of joy (which comes from completing, beginning and generally learning Torah), and a day filled with a good heart, one that celebrates the greatest gift of all – our having the Torah, our being the spiritual and rightful heirs of its teachings, and our being the bearers of its banner and its tradition in the truest sense of all of its teachings.