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Today concludes the Biblical Fall Festivals of the Lord after the Eight days of Sukkot we celebrate with Simchat Torah which also means "Joy of the Torah!" This day we complete or end the reading cycle with Deuteronomy 34 and then immediately start or begins again with Genesis 1. This reminds us that our study of the Torah ( the Bible ) never ends. As the thought says “ As soon as we conclude, we begin again.”
Psalm 119:97-98, 105 reflects our devotion to the Torah when it says “ Oh, how I love your Torah; it is my meditation all day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies ... Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path .״
Simchat Torah expresses our joy and love of the Word of God, His Torah.
Torah is often translated in the English versions of the Bible as “Law” however this is a poor rendering of the Hebrew word. Torah really means “ Instructions or teachings” studying from its root word ‘yarah’ which means to “shoot, aim, or point’ and from the same word as ‘Morah’ -teacher came from. Torah is God’s instructions to His people. It teaches us how to live and it points us to Messiah.
Another word for Torah is the acronym TaNaKh ( T-N-K) which is an abbreviation of Torah - T(refers to the first five Books of Moses ), Neviim -N ( refers to the books of the Prophets) and Ketuvim -K ( refers to the Writings ...Psalms, Proverbs and also the Apostolic Writings).
The Torah or the Word of God is likened as a Tree of Life for us; and if we would take hold of it, we would see that all its paths are pleasant and will lead us to peace ( or Shalom ). The Bible contains all the wisdom and instruction we need to live a healthy, happy, successful and prosperous life as is written in Joshua 1:7-8 when it said “ Study this book of the Law ( the Torah ) continually . Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
This Year is a special year for our Fellowship because of the love and sacrifices of families and friends of our congregation we were able to acquire a Torah Scroll direct from Israel that would be used in our prayers and services.
We will be dedicating it and celebrating it this coming Shabbat ( Oct 2). We have invited R’Cal Goldberg of Beth Shechinah to lead us in it’s dedication together with the leaders of the L’chaim Fellowship present.
Also we will begin reading from it the weekly Aliyah portions starting from Bereishit ( Genesis) in Hebrew this coming Shabbath.
Please join us in our Simcha of the Torah! B”H