In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “hebrew term which means "rejoicing with the torah "”. Today it says “jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public torah readings”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “hebrew term which means "rejoicing with the torah "”. Today it says “jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public torah readings”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Simchat Torah (שמחת תורה) is a Hebrew term which means "rejoicing with the Torah ". It is a Jewish holiday that takes place at the conclusion of Sukkot , a Biblical pilgrimage festival, also known as The Feast of Booths ( Tabernacles ). According to Jewish law, the first two days of Sukkot are celebrated as full holidays, and the next five are weekdays that retain some aspects of the festival. The seventh day is called Hoshanah Rabbah and has a special observance of its own. The last day of Sukkot, the eighth, is celebrated as separate holiday, with its own special prayers and customs. In the State of Israel , Sukkot is eight days long, including Shemini Atzeret. Outside Israel (the Diaspora), Sukkot is nine days long. Thus outside Israel the eighth day of Sukkot is Shemini Atzeret, and the ninth day is Simchat Torah. In Israel, the festivities and customs associated with Simchat Torah are celebrated on Shemini Atzeret.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16198287.
The opening as it stood in 2010 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Simchat Torah (also Simchas Torah , Hebrew : שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה, lit., "Rejoicing with/of the Torah,") is a celebration marking 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 ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar ).The main celebration of Simchat Torah takes place in the synagogue during evening and morning services.In many Orthodox and Conservative congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at night.In the morning, the last parashah of Deuteronomy and the first parashah of Genesis are read in the synagogue.On each occasion, when the ark is opened, all the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with all the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that often lasts for several hours and more.The morning service is also uniquely characterized by the calling up of each male member (in non-Orthodox congregations, male and female members) of the congregation for an aliyah , as well as a special aliyah for all the children in attendance.In the 20th century, Simchat Torah became a symbol of Jewish identity for the Jews of the Soviet Union .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 364421239.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah (also Simkhes Toreh , Hebrew : שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה, lit., "Rejoicing of/[with the] 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. Simhat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (occurring in mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar ). The main celebration of Simhat Torah takes place in the synagogue during evening and morning services. In Orthodox as well as many Conservative congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at night . In the morning, the last parashah of Deuteronomy and the first parashah of Genesis are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that can last for several hours.The morning service is also uniquely characterized by the calling up of each male member (in some Orthodox, and in the majority of non-Orthodox congregations, male and female members) of the congregation for an aliyah .There is also a special aliyah for all the children (under 13 or 12 for boys and girls).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 649868191.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Simchat Torah or Simhat Torah ( , lit., "Rejoicing with/of the Torah", Ashkenazi : Simchas 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 ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (occurring in mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar ). The main celebrations of Simchat Torah take place in the synagogue during evening and morning services. In Orthodox as well as many Conservative congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at night . In the morning, the last parashah of Deuteronomy and the first parashah of Genesis are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that can last for several hours. The morning service is also uniquely characterized by the calling up of each member of the congregation for an aliyah . There is also a special aliyah for all the children (under 13 for boys and 12 for girls).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962747980.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Jewish holiday marking the conclusion of public Torah readings Simchat Torah or Simhat Torah ( שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה , lit., "Rejoicing with/of the Torah", Ashkenazi : Simchas 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 ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (occurring in September or October on the Gregorian calendar ). The main celebrations of Simchat Torah take place in the synagogue during evening and morning services. In many Orthodox as well as many Conservative congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at night . In the morning, the last parashah of Deuteronomy and the first parashah of Genesis are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that can last for several hours. The morning service is also uniquely characterized by the calling up of each member of the congregation for an aliyah . There is also a special aliyah for all the children.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177599848.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Jewish holiday marking the conclusion of public Torah readings Simchat Torah ( Hebrew : שִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה ; Ashkenazi : Simchas 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 ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (occurring in September or October on the Gregorian calendar ). Simchat Torah's main celebrations occur in the synagogue during evening and morning services. In many Orthodox as well as many Conservative congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at night . In the morning, the last parashah of Deuteronomy and the first parashah of Genesis are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with the Torah scrolls in a joyous celebration that lasts several hours. The morning service is also uniquely characterized by each member of the congregation being called up for an aliyah . There is also a special aliyah for children.
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Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “hebrew term which means "rejoicing with the torah "”. Today it says “jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public torah readings”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2005 and 2020.
Then
hebrew term which means "rejoicing with the torah "
Now
jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public torah readings
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
