Shabbat Service – Simchat Torah

*On Simchat Torah we celebrate the end of one Torah-reading cycle and initiate the beginning of the next. Most communities read Torah on an annual cycle; that is, they take one year to move through the reading of the entire Torah. Every week, one or two portions are read, so as to finish the whole scroll by the next Simchat Torah. On Simchat Torah then, we celebrate not only the completion of the Torah, but also its new beginning. We read the last verses of Deuteronomy (the fifth and final book of Torah), followed immediately by the very first verses of Genesis (the first book of Torah).  One of the most beautiful ways to ritualize Simchat Torah is by unrolling the Torah around a room, for all present to witness.

*Source:  ReformJudaism.org  Simchat Torah