Lifting Your Feet

On the final festival day of Tishrei, we celebrate Simchat Torah. We complete the annual reading of Torah, and it is one of the most joyous events in the Jewish calendar. The occasion is marked by taking out the holy Torah scrolls from the ark and dancing with them.

This practice is not just a method of celebration, but carries a deep message.

The human body is divided into three parts – the head, body and feet. Each part represents another aspect of human experience. The head represents our intellect and power of cognition. Our body contains the heart, which symbolizes feeling and emotion. The feet stand for action.

Dancing happens when we lift our feet off the ground. When we do that our heads are also lifted higher. Symbolically, this means that when we practice what we learn, our minds are elevated to a higher level. Implementing the values and principles that we study gives the knowledge and academic concepts depth and meaning.

On Simchat Torah, we celebrate the completion of the Torah and express our Jewishness with great intensity and happiness. But we do so by declaring our commitment to bring the values of the Torah down to the world of action. When we lift our feet and dance with the scroll, the Torah itself is elevated. When we lift our feet, committing ourselves to one more good deed, our minds, and the Torah we are holding, are also able to dance.

Not everyone is a scholar and we may not understand everything written in the Torah. But we can all do something. So, on this Simchat Torah, make sure to go to synagogue and lift your feet higher and higher. While you dance, think of one mitzvah you can do this coming year. The Torah will dance with you and shower upon you all its blessings.