Times for Simchat Torah
Halachic times for Valencia, Spain · 3 October 2026 – 4 October 2026
Calculated for Valencia (39.47° N, 0.38° W). Candle lighting: 18 minutes before sunset · Havdalah: 40 minutes after sunset (custom in Spain). Outside Israel, Yom Tov is kept for 2 days.
Simchat Torah (שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה) is the day of rejoicing with the Torah. It marks the completion of the annual cycle of Torah readings and the immediate start of a new one.
The celebration centres on the hakafot: seven rounds of dancing with the Torah scrolls around the bimah (the central platform of the synagogue). It is an explosion of joy, music and dancing that can last for hours.
On Simchat Torah everyone is equal before the Torah. Scholars and beginners dance together, because on this festival we celebrate our essential bond with the Torah — a bond that goes beyond intellectual knowledge.
The Rebbe made the Simchat Torah hakafot a hallmark of Chabad. The hakafot at 770 Eastern Parkway, Chabad world headquarters, drew thousands of people from around the world and were broadcast by satellite. The Rebbe taught: “The Torah rejoices when Jews dance with it, and Jews rejoice when they embrace the Torah.”