Simchat Torah
Dancing! Singing! Epic Torah readings! Simchat Torah is time of mystical, transcendent fun. Uncover the deepest meanings of Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret.
The joy of Sukkot reaches its peak during its final day — Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. At the conclusion of the Torah reading cycle, we dance with the Torah during Hakafot. These autumn festivals are a celebration of reuniting with the Creator and transcending our personal boundaries. During Simchat Torah, dancing is a form of repentance — we return to our purest selves through uninhibited joy. Discover the mystical, Kabbalistic meaning of Simchat Torah in the Meaningful Life Center’s Simchat Torah archives. Whether you are a seasoned scholar or are new to learning Torah, we offer insights and stories that will lift your spirit and prepare you for the Simchat Torah of your life!
60 Days: A Spiritual Guide to the High Holidays
Prepare for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot with insights from spiritual healer and renowned teacher Rabbi Simon Jacobson. Discover tools to revitalize and invigorate your High Holiday experience.
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The Liberating Power of Dance
Dance manifests our natural internal movement. When we freeze up, we muzzle and shackle our inner spirit. When we break out into an unbridled dance, with our hands waving free and our bodies unchained, our inherent inner rhythm is liberated and comes gushing forth.
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60 Days Daily Audio Journey
Follow along with the Meaningful Life Center’s NEW daily audio series by Rabbi Simon Jacobson: 60 Day Journey Toward Hope, Renewal, and Joy.
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Dance Away
Is dancing on Simchat Torah in oblivion of the world a form of escapism, or is it in fact a different means of experiencing reality?
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The Four Species: Four Mysteries of King Solomon Explained
“And you shall take for yourselves… the splendid fruit of a tree, fronds of dates, the branch of a thick-leafed tree and aravot of the river.” King Solomon, the Midrash tells us, was mystified by this verse.
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Simchat Torah: Through Water and Fire
The joy and the tears all dissolved into one transcendent dance; a dance that captured the essence of joy and pain, ecstasy and agony – the indestructible core of life itself.
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A Non-Parting Party
Our sages explain the significance of Shemini Atzeret. Shemini Atzeret is the one-day festival that immediately follows the seven-day festival of Sukkot.
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Simchat-Torah: From Chickens to Vegetables
As we move right along from fauna to flora, from swirling chickens before Yom Kippur to thrusting shrubs on Sukkot, the holidays have an organic nature…
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Absorbing The Joy: The Significance of Shemini Atzeret
Sukkot is followed by a day in which our joy reaches its peak and the holiday that preceded this day is internalized.
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Simchat Torah: Absolute Passion in the Face of Complacency
As we enter the climax of the High Holiday season we are challenged to ask ourselves: What do we stand for, what do we fight for? Movingly discussed here…
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“I want to thank you so much for your inspiration and guidance on this journey we call life. Your books and teaching have changed my life! You give me peace and grounding. Each year I find my eye’s and senses have opened wider and see more and feel more of G-d’s hand in our world.”
-Michael Faber