(Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12; Joshua 1:1–18; Luke 24:25–32)

Simchat Torah, the “Rejoicing of the Law,” is the radiant afterword to the great cycle of the year—a festival of joy fulfilled. On this day, the people of Israel gather to complete the reading of the Torah, only to begin it again from the opening words of Genesis. The scroll, having been read from the beginning to the end, is never closed in finality. Instead, the ending becomes the beginning, for the Word of Mar-Yah knows no conclusion. As creation itself moves in cycles—seedtime and harvest, evening and morning—so too the divine revelation turns endlessly, proclaiming that Alaha speaks ever anew to His people.

At its heart, Simchat Torah is not only a celebration of text but of relationship. The Torah is a living covenant. The rejoicing, the dancing, and the songs that fill the assemblies on this day are not directed to parchment and ink, but to the Living Word who reveals Himself through it. In this mystery, the faithful discover that their joy in the Torah is truly joy in the Lawgiver. “The statutes of Mar-Yah are right, rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:8). The Torah is the embrace of the Divine Mind, the pattern of righteousness that reflects the very character of Alaha.

When the disciples walked with the risen Yeshua along the road to Emmaus, He opened to them the Scriptures—the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms—and revealed that all these spoke concerning Him (Luke 24:27). Their hearts burned within them as He unfolded the meaning hidden from the beginning. In that moment, the eternal circle of Simchat Torah was complete. The Word made flesh became the interpreter of the Word written. The joy of the Torah reached its divine fulfilment in the presence of the Living Torah—Yeshua the Messiah—who embodies in Himself the wisdom, mercy, and truth of the Eternal Mar-Yah.

Therefore, to rejoice in the Torah is, for the disciple of Yeshua, to rejoice in Him. The covenant given at Mt. Sinai finds its consummation in the covenant sealed in His blood. Yet the reverence remains unchanged—the Law is not abolished but illuminated, its inner life brought to fullness by the Spirit. The dance around the scroll mirrors the dance of the redeemed around the throne of Alaha, where the Word is no longer written on stone but upon our hearts.

The conclusion of Deuteronomy and the beginning of Genesis read side by side proclaim an everlasting truth—the servant of God may die, but the Word of God endures. Moses, the great lawgiver, beheld the Promised Land from afar and was gathered to his fathers; yet the divine purpose continued. Joshua rose to lead, and the narrative of redemption moved forward. Likewise, in Yeshua’s death and resurrection, we see that what seems an ending is in truth a beginning—a passage from letter to life, from covenantal promise to covenantal fulfilment.

Simchat Torah thus becomes a festival of renewal and spiritual continuity. It invites us to find in the sacred cycle not weariness, but ever-deepening wonder. For as we begin again with “In the beginning, Alaha created,” we are reminded that creation itself is reborn each time the Word is received anew in faith. The same Holy Spirit who hovered over the waters now hovers over the hearts of those who love the Word, bringing forth light out of darkness.

Prayer
Eternal Father, who gavest Thy Torah to guide Thy people in righteousness,
and who hast revealed its perfect light in Yeshua the Messiah,
grant that we may rejoice always in Thy Word.

May its truth dwell richly within us,
that our hearts may be as living scrolls written by Thy Spirit.

As we complete the cycle of reading,
renew in us the joy of beginning again,
that we may ever walk in Thy commandments
and rejoice in Thy salvation.

Amen.

(Matt.)