Starting Beresheet again: how to begin the new Torah cycle and keep it going

There is a moment on Simchat Torah when the last words of Deuteronomy are read, the congregation calls out chazak, chazak, venitchazek, and then, without a pause, someone begins again: Bereshit bara Elokim. In the beginning, God created.

It is the closest thing the Jewish year has to a fresh start you can feel. Everyone is on the first page together. If you have wanted to read the Torah regularly and never quite managed it, or managed it until about Vayikra, this is the week to begin.

What happens on Simchat Torah

This year Simchat Torah falls on October 4 outside Israel and October 3 in Israel, where it is celebrated together with Shemini Atzeret. Every Torah scroll is taken out of the ark and carried around the bimah in seven circuits, the hakafot, with singing and dancing. In many communities everyone is called up for an aliyah, and the children are called up together under a tallit.

Then come the two honors that give the day its shape. The Chatan Torah is called up for the last verses of the Torah, the death of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy. From a second scroll, the Chatan Bereshit is called up for the story of creation, Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, 34 verses. The Torah ends on the word Yisrael and begins with Bereshit. It is often pointed out that the last letter of the one and the first letter of the other, lamed and bet, spell lev, heart.

The following Shabbat, October 10, the full parasha of Beresheet is read: 146 verses, from creation to the generation before the flood.

Genesis at the synagogue’s pace

Genesis is 50 chapters and 1,533 verses, read over 12 weeks, from Beresheet on October 10 to Vayechi on December 26. To read along on your own, that is about 18 verses a day.

18 a day is a real commitment, ten minutes or more. If it is too much, read less and do not worry about falling behind the synagogue. Genesis is a story, and it reads well at any speed. What matters is that you are reading it every day.

How to make it last

Most fresh starts fade around the third week, when the holidays are over and normal life is back. A few things help a new cycle survive that.

• Start smaller than you want to. Five verses a day that you actually read beat twenty that you plan to. The arithmetic in what five minutes a day adds up to shows how far a small pace goes.
• Tie it to a time you already have. Morning coffee, the commute, the minutes before sleep. The same time every day matters more than the length.
• Never catch up. If you miss a day, read today’s verses and keep going. A plan that demands catching up turns one missed day into a reason to stop.
• Choose your method once. Read straight through, follow the weekly portion, or do shnayim mikra. The Torah in a year guide compares the options. Then stop deciding and just read.

If last year fell apart

Do not go back to where you stopped. Start at Genesis 1:1 with everyone else. The point of a cycle that restarts every year is that nobody is ever too far behind to rejoin. The part of Leviticus you missed will come around again.

Starting Beresheet with Torah Feed

Torah Feed has two challenges built for this week. The Seven Days is the creation story, Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, the Chatan Bereshit’s reading, in a week. The Book of Genesis is every pasuk from creation to Joseph in 90 days, about 18 verses a day, which keeps you just about level with the synagogue all the way to Vayechi. When you finish, it closes the way the book closes in shul, with chazak, chazak, venitchazek.

Either way, the app opens on the next pasuk every time, so there is never a moment of finding your place. The minutes you already spend on your phone in a day are enough.

Common questions