Jews read their central sacred text, the Torah, on a yearly cycle. Each week, a designated section (called a portion or parsha) of the Torah is read. That yearly cycle of about 50 portions is completed, and restarts, on the holiday of Simchat Torah — literally “joy of the Torah.”
There are no Simchat Torah-specific greetings, but the usual Jewish holiday greetings are appropriate for this day. They are:
- chag sameach (khahg sah-MAY-akh), which literally means ‘happy holiday’
- gut yontiff (goot YUHN-tiff), a yiddishized version of the Hebrew phrase yom tov meaning ‘good day’ and referring to any major holiday on which work is traditionally forbidden
