Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

Five people holding an open Torah scroll, smiling at the camera in a wooden room.

Some communities celebrate Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on two separate days; in other communities they are combined. Either way, this grand finale to the fall holiday season comes with a wide array of themes and practices. It culminates with a raucous celebration of Jewish learning and Jewish community, as we dance with the Torah scrolls and read both the end and the beginning of the Torah on the very same day.

Latest Rituals

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A meditation for those who do not read Hebrew but wish to learn Torah

the words of the shema

“Torah’s ink has seeped through my fingers”

A person in a blue shirt reads an open book, focusing intently.

We are part of a hidden community

a person sits alone looking at the sunset

A presence that bursts forth from the emptiness

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What went before cannot remain

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I saw the ocean unfolding. But really it was Torah

Yellow leaf floating on a rain-dappled puddle.

Kiddush: Humanist liturgy

A silver kiddush cup with a blue design beside a folded dark blue cloth on a table.

The Reconstructionist Network

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Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

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The Reconstructionist Network