The Joy of the Torah

Have you ever thought about the JOY that God’s Word brings? The delight and the pleasure of His teachings? This is a central part of Judaism. In fact, they dedicate an entire day to it. They have this seven day long holiday called Sukkot, or Tabernacles, which is considered the most joyful time of the year, and they build booths outside where they eat and spend time together as a family. But those seven days aren’t enough for the Jewish people. And the Bible mentions that there should be an eighth day in addition to the days of Sukkot. So the Jewish people have come up with something called Simchat Torah: The Joy of the Torah. In their synagogues all around the world, they have a “Read-the-Torah-in-one-year” plan, and they just happen to finish with the last verse of Deuteronomy on Simchat Torah. So they take their “Sefer Torah” (Torah scroll) and the men take turns unrolling the scroll back to Genesis. And then they play cheerful music and dance around the Torah scroll for hours, rejoicing in God’s commandments.
Right before we left for Galilee, we got to experience the Joy of the Torah. Our Jewish Thought and Culture professor managed to get an ancient Torah scroll (keep in mind, these things are worth tens of thousands of dollars!!) and we got to take turns unrolling it. As we unrolled, others read from Psalm 119. I can’t describe what a sober and yet joyful experience it was for me to unroll the scroll, to praise God for His mercy in giving us His Word and preserving it throughout history… and a renewed desire to know God’s Torah and obey every single word in it. We just don’t thank Him enough for this. After we finally reached Genesis, us “Hebrew scholars” (ha!) each got to read a verse from the scroll. It sounds easier than it really was- the ancient script looks completely different from today’s Hebrew script. But it was an incredible experience to be a part of this. And then we all grabbed each other’s hands and swung around and around in a circle, trying to learn the steps and laughing until tears came.
Yes, the Torah is something to be joyful about. But we shouldn’t just dedicate one day a year for rejoicing in God’s Word. We should rejoice every single minute of every day… remembering the 300 million people who do not have the Bible in their own language and praising God for the treasure of His living and active Word.