HAKKAFOTH FOR SIMḤATH TORAH
Responsively
You have learned to know that the Lord is God; there is none else besides him.[1]
To him who alone does great wonders; his mercy endures forever.[2]
There is no god like thee, O Lord; there are no deeds like thine.[3]
May the glory of the Lord be forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works.[4]
Blessed be the name of the Lord henceforth and forever.[5]
May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us nor forsake us.[6]
Pray: Save us, our saving God; gather us, deliver us from the nations, to give thanks to thy holy name, to triumph in thy praise.[7]
The Lord is King; the Lord was King; the Lord will be King forever and ever.
The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.[8]
May our words please the Master of all things.
It came to pass, whenever the ark would start, Moses would say: “Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered; let those who hate thee flee before thee."[9]
Arise, O Lord, to thy resting-place, thou and thy glorious ark.
May thy priests be clothed with righteousness; may thy devoted followers sing for joy.
For the sake of thy servant David, reject not thy anointed prince.[10]
It will be said on that day: "Lo, this is our God, for whom we waited that he might save us; this is the Lord for whom we were waiting—let us rejoice and be happy with his salvation."[11]
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures throughout all generations.[12]
Truly, out of Zion shall come Torah, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem.[13]
שמחת תורה is celebrated in Eretz Yisrael on the eighth day of Sukkoth, on Shemini Atsereth The name Simḥath Torah was not known in talmudic times. It came into use presumably around the ninth century in Babylonia, where the one-year cycle for the reading of the Five Books of Moses prevailed. The seven processions with the Torah-scrolls on Simḥath Torah became customary in the sixteenth century.
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