Immediately following the seven-day festival of Sukkot comes the two-day festival of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.
Shemini Atzeret means "the eighth [day] of retention"; the chassidic masters explain that the primary purpose of the festival is to retain and "conceive" the spiritual revelations and powers that we are granted during the festivals of the month of Tishrei, so that we could subsequently apply them to our lives thoughout the year.
The second day of Shemini Atzeret is called Simchat Torah ("Rejoicing with the Torah") On this day we conclude, and begin anew, the annual Torah reading cycle. The event is marked with great rejoicing, especially during the "Hakofot" procession, in which we march, sing and dance with the Torah scrolls
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Evry year Chabad at Lehigh Host a robust Simchat Torah program with Services, great homemade food, drink and more.