The Never-Ending Journey
October 14, 2012 - 5:00 am“On the eighth day hold a closing special assembly and do no regular work.” — Numbers 29:35
As Sukkot ends and the holiday season draws to a close, God says, “Stay one more day!” “On the eighth day hold a closing special assembly.” After a month of closeness, God wants to extend our time together just a little bit longer. But what do we do on that day? On Rosh Hashanah, we blow the shofar; on Yom Kippur, we fast; on Sukkot, we sit in the homemade huts, sukkah, and wave the four species. What do we do on this final day?
We celebrate the Torah, God’s Word to man, in a celebration known as Simchat Torah, the Joy of the Torah.
On Simchat Torah, Jews all over the world will read the last verses in the Torah. They will sing and dance and celebrate. And then, just a few moments later, they will start reading the Torah all over again.
Can you think of any other book in the world that just as you finish it, you start it again? There isn’t any! Once you’re done with a book, you’re done. Maybe if it’s a really good book, you read it again months or years later. But right away? Why?
A student once approached his rabbi with a huge grin on his face, obviously feeling very good about himself. “Rabbi! I just finished learning the Five Books of Moses! I went through the entire Torah!” The rabbi didn’t look very impressed. He said, “That’s nice that you went through the whole Torah, but how many times did the Torah go through you?” The Bible isn’t a book that you start and finish. It’s a learning experience that never ends!
That’s why we start reading the Torah immediately after completing it. Just as the cycle ends, it begins again. There is no end – the learning goes on forever! When we dance on Simchat Torah, we dance around the Torah in a circle. A circle has no end and no beginning. We emphasize that while we go through the cycle every year, we are never finished learning.
Friends, I’d like to invite you to join me on the never-ending journey of Bible study. I’m excited to announce that for the next year, our daily devotions will follow the cycle of Torah study all over the world. The Five Books of Moses are broken up into different portions, and each week, one of them is read in the synagogue and studied in homes. There is also a small portion from the prophets that accompany the Torah readings. Every week, we will learn from the portion of the week, and finish the Five Books of Moses together with millions around the world.
And then of course, we’ll start reading it all over again.
LOL YAY!!!!!!! <3 GLORY ALLELUYAH<3<3<3<3!!!!PRAISE HIS MOST HOLY NAME<3!!!! GODSPEED YALL!!!
Rabbi Eckstein, thank you so much for taking us through the books of Moses! I am so looking forward to learning this.
Please know that a small group of my friends and I pray for Israel every day. I pray when I wake and just before sleep. It’s a special time.
Judith Marks
I look forward to the-never-ending study.
I can attest that the Bible is the only book that I have ever picked up and not put down. Think about this, man has been trying his best to get rid of this Book and the original Torah for millinia, yet it is still on the NYT’s best seller list. Not raised in a particularly religious home (We knew the Pope was Catholic and that Santa came on Christmas eve.), I had always said that I wanted to read it to see what it had to say. So in the late fall of 1993, I started to read the the most amazing Book that I have EVER picked up! I don’t even know how many times I’ve been through it since then, I’ve even read the Catholic version twice. Still today I’ll read a verse or a passage that I’ve read over many times before without complete understanding, and it will reach out and smack me upside of my noggin! It is definately a LIVING Book!!! I look forward to this upcoming year’s study!
Mah Shalomkah Rabbi!
I just want to say thank you for starting a bible study of the torah. I feel drawn and honored to learn from you! GOD bless you!
I really appreciate this web site. Thank you for the explanation of many of Judaism’s customs as well as words with their pronunciations. Blessed are the peacemakers, (in this case, between Christians and Jews), for they shall see God. May God bless you! *Eye
Dear Rabbi Eckstein,
Thank you so much for making the daily devotions a Bible study for the next year. What a wonderful idea! Thank you for sharing your Faith in such a beautiful and special way.
May God Bless You Always,
Diana L’Heureux
Praise to Him for Torah study. It is a tree of life to those who take hold of it!
I love you ministering words of encouragement and wisdom every day.
Learning is taking place!! Blessings