PRECIOUS HOURS
The Frierdiker Rebbe related, in the name of his father, the Rebbe Rashab: "The 48 hours of Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah must be held very precious, for at every moment one can draw pails full and barrels full of treasures, both b'gashmius and b'ruchnius. This is accomplished through dancing."
(ספר המאמרים תשי"א ע' 79)
A certain chossid, distraught, once made a long trek to visit one of our Rebbeim. (When the Frierdiker Rebbe narrated this incident, he added: "And I'm not going to tell you who was the chossid and who was the Rebbe.") That chossid had come to report that his mentor had come to him in a dream with fearful news: It had been decreed in Heaven that one of his children would pass away. The Rebbe heard his words, sighed, and did not answer.
Since it was before Succos, the chossid remained near his Rebbe until after Yom-Tov, and before returning home, he asked him for a beracha. The Rebbe said, "It will be good; the child will live."
The chossid asked the Rebbe for a promise that this would be so. The Rebbe promised, and then asked him, "What did you do on Simchas Torah?"
The chossid replied, "When everyone was dancing at hakafos I stood by the oven and cried. But then I reminded myself that it was Simchas Torah, so I washed my face and went to dance with the Torah."
The Rebbe replied, "You should know that by doing so, you reversed your situation."
(ספר המאמרים תרפ"ז ע' 241)
Once, while dancing during hakafos, the Frierdiker Rebbe (before he was Rebbe) told a certain chossid: "Granted that we are not up to the avoda of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. But the avoda of Simchas Torah – dancing – that we can do. So dance! Raise yourself up!"
(מפי השמועה, וכעי"ז בסה"ש תש"ג ע' 8)
PASSIONATE DANCING
During hakafos, the Mitteler Rebbe was in such a state of dveikus that he was unable to hold the sefer Torah alone. He would take a few steps and then someone would have to go behind him and hold onto it.
(סה"ש תרצ"ז ע' 163)
One Simchas Torah, the Tzemach Tzedek danced energetically at hakafos without tiring. Robust young men could not keep up with him. A few even collapsed from exhaustion. While dancing, he encouraged them, "Dance, Yidden! Dance! Rejoice on Simchas Torah and be blessed with children, life, and an abundant livelihood!"
The wife of the Tzemach Tzedek complained to her father, the Mitteler Rebbe, that her husband was wearing out the chassidim with his dancing. The Rebbe replied, "A revelation of the light of Simchas Torah is now shining for him as it shone in the Beis HaMikdosh. Through his rejoicing he is meriting a revelation of the essence of the neshama, as it is in the world of Atzilus, and even higher."
(ספר השיחות תש"ג ע' 11)
REJOICING WITH THE TORAH
Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev once observed a simple person dancing with gusto on Simchas Torah. Recognizing that he was utterly unlearned, the tzaddik asked him what he was rejoicing about. The Yid answered, "When my brother marries off his daughter, should I not participate in his rejoicing...?"
The Rebbe explains that in fact Simchas Torah is not "a brother's chassunah," the celebration of some other Yid, but rather every individual's personal rejoicing. The joy on Simchas Torah is about the essence of the Torah, which is accessible to every Yid, for when he studies even the smallest segment of Torah, through it he is connected to the entire Torah.
(תו"מ חל"ב ע' 92, שיחו"ק תשל"א ח"א ע' 86)
The Frierdiker Rebbe once expressed himself: "It is not enough that on Simchas Torah we rejoice with the Torah; the Torah must also be happy with us."
(ספר השיחות תש"ב ע' 3)
One year after davening on Simchas Torah morning, the Tzemach Tzedek sat down to farbreng. During that time he drank a large quantity of mashke, taught a lot of Chassidus, and spoke a great deal about his grandfather, the Alter Rebbe. Whenever he mentioned his zeide's holy name his face was aflame, and his eyes filled with tears that streamed down his cheeks like two springs of water. The farbrengen extended throughout the day and continued until the early hours of the morning.
After everyone left and the Tzemach Tzedek returned to his room, some chassidim peeked through the cracks to see what he was doing. They saw him sitting with a Gemara, learning with delight and enthusiasm.
(סיפורי חסידים מועדים זוין ע' 239)
Early in the morning, after a night of hakafos on Simchas Torah, the Rebbe would return to his study. One year, a young boy was curious to know what the Rebbe was doing at such an hour, so he climbed up, peeked through the window, and saw the Rebbe sitting and learning from a big Gemara or Shulchan Aruch.
(מפי בעל המעשה)
CONSIDER
What is the joy of Simchas Torah about? How does it apply to everyone?
