Simchas Torah Reflections

Dancing With Torah Where We Are

🌟 Opening Reflection
On Simchas Torah, we don’t begin with the scroll open.
We begin with it wrapped. Pressed to our chest. Carried in circles of joy.

We dance first. Then we read.
Joy comes before words.
Naaseh before Nishma.

Each dance around the bimah is called a hakafa — literally, a circle. Seven in all. Seven times we lift the Torah and carry it around together, singing, clapping, swaying, and celebrating.

But a hakafa is more than walking in a circle. It is a chance to bring our whole selves — the part we show in public, how we appear in the circle with others, and the part we carry quietly inside.
Both belong here. Both have a place in the dance.

👣 The Seven Hakafos
Each hakafa carries two voices:

Public Rhythm: how I show up in public with others.
Inner Niggun: what I hold quietly inside.

If you choose to reflect with family or friends, the rhythm questions may feel easier to share out loud. The niggun ones may be best kept between you and Hashem.

Hakafa 1 — Stepping In

Public Rhythm: How do I step into the circle — what do people see in me when I join?
Inner Niggun: What truth do I carry inside that no one else sees?

Hakafa 2 — Clapping Together

Public Rhythm: What gives me strength when I move with others in rhythm?
Inner Niggun: Where do I feel weak when the music fades and I’m on my own?

Hakafa 3 — Lifting Higher

Public Rhythm: What joy lifts me when I sing, clap, and raise my arms in the circle?
Inner Niggun: Where do I need Hashem’s help to lift me when I can’t stand tall?

Hakafa 4 — Turning Around

Public Rhythm: What part of me can turn outward in open celebration?
Inner Niggun: What part of me needs to turn inward for honest reflection?

Hakafa 5 — Opening Wide

Public Rhythm: Who else can I notice and celebrate in the circle tonight?
Inner Niggun: Who in my life do I still need to forgive — or ask forgiveness from?

Hakafa 6 — Holding Close

Public Rhythm: What value or truth do I want to dance with and carry openly?
Inner Niggun: How can I hold it close tomorrow, when the circle has ended?

Hakafa 7 — Carrying Forward

Public Rhythm: What joy can I share out loud, just to lift the people around me?
Inner Niggun: What quiet truth of mine might help someone else if I share it?

🌀 Closing Round
Every year we finish the Torah, and every year we begin it again.
But before the words come, we dance.
We remember that the Torah is not only learned with the mind, it is carried with the heart, the body, the circle.

Tonight, ask yourself:

What joy do I want to carry forward when the music quiets?
What blessing from these circles will I bring into the new beginning?

Because the Torah is not only read.
It is lived.
It is danced.
It is carried.

✨ Closing Blessing
May this Simchas Torah be filled with presence and joy.
May our circles lift us higher than words, and may the words we return to land deeper because of the joy that came first.
May we carry the Torah, and may it carry us.

Gut Yom Tov!
Berke Chein (lechemchein.com)

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