Simchat Torah
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Simchat Torah, also spelled Simhat Torah, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei.
The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in Livorno by Solomon Hart, 1850. Jewish Museum, New York
Throwing cakes to children on Simḥat Torah, by Johann Leusden in Philologus Hebræo-Mixtus, Utrecht, 1657
Paper flag for Simchat Torah, 1900, in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland.
Simchat Torah celebrated in the Israeli army with Shlomo Goren, 1969
Sukkot
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Sukkot is a Torah-commanded holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Originally a harvest festival celebrating the autumn harvest, Sukkot’s modern observance is characterized by festive meals in a sukkah, a temporary wood-covered hut, celebrating the Exodus from Egypt.
A sukkah (plural: sukkot) in the West Bank
Sukkot's 4 Holy Species from left to right: Hadass (myrtle), Lulav (palm frond), Aravah (willow branch), Etrog (citron) carrier, Etrog (citron) outside its carrier
External aerial view of sukkah booths where Jewish families eat their meals and sleep throughout the Sukkot holiday
A 19th-century painted sukkah from Austria or South Germany, Painted pine, 220 × 285.5 cm, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme