JD: There’s another Jewish Holy Day, a one day Holy Day which is called Simchat Torah. Will you please explain what that is and what the Jewish people do on that day?
WM: Well Jimmy actually in the Bible the holiday of the Feast of Tabernacles had an extra day tacked onto it. The holiday seasons have been completed. The month of Tishrei is over. You all go back to your villages, all the Pilgrims return home. And that was turned into what we call Simchat Torah the joy of the Torah especially in the lands which adds on an extra day. But they added on one to celebrate the joy of the Torah. And because the reading of the Torah the annual cycle of reading weekly portions of the Torah ends at Sukkot and immediately within three minutes we’re off opening up the book of Genesis that we never end the Torah. It’s always continuous. So in that sense we celebrate finishing, ending the cycle and immediately beginning it once again.
JD: You know that’s an exciting example for the Christian community. They’re continually reading through the Torah on a yearly bases, an annual bases they read the entire book.
Now this is a night of celebration. They dance with the
Torah. They’re excited about the joy of being able to read the Bible aren’t
they?
WM: Yes, I mean to those who are aware the Bible for
us, the Torah as we call it, it’s sacred. For us this is not only tradition and
it’s not only a book that we read from. It’s the book of life. It gives us
everything we need to know, to do, to think about ourselves and the nations
around us and everything else. So for us those who celebrate the holiday
properly take joy in the fact that we have that Torah. We dance around with it
and it gets very excited. Sometimes you can see in the city square. And that of
course at the end of the Sukkot holiday especially for those who came from
abroad we have a second night in which music can be played here in Israel, live
music which can’t be done on the holiday. We sing until we’re hoarse almost in
that sense. So it is for those who have experienced it either standing on the
side or some congregations taking part in the festivities it’s not only
exciting it’s uplifting.
JD: Winkie Medad explaining the love that Jews have for the
Bible as is displayed on Simcat Torah.
We report this information because it is setting the stage
for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
As the Jews complete their year long reading of the Bible on
a daily bases they celebrate that love for God’s word on Simcat Torah. The
world should pay close attention to this example of daily reading of the Bible.
God’s word explains the past, the present and what will happen in the future.
