Simchat Torah is a day of tremendous happiness. Completing the reading of the Torah and beginning it again is an occasion marked by dancing, singing, feasting and many beautiful customs. Both in the evening and during the day, all the Torah scrolls are taken out of the Ark and the community dances with them around the bimah, while reciting prayers and singing songs that thank God for the presious gift of the Torah. This ceremony is known as Hakafot, literally, circuits. In the morning the Hakafot are repeated, and the last section of the Torah is read. Every man in the synagogue is called up to the Torah (given an "aliya"), and also the children as a group.
