Kol a-Niarim, the custom of blessing boys under a tallit on Simchat Torah

The angel who redeemed me from all evil bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Genesis 48:16

During the reading of this passage of the Pentateuch on the festival of Simchat Torah, that is, the day on which the annual cycle of Torah readings is completed and a new cycle begins (this year on 17-18 October), all the underage boys who have come to the synagogue are invited to gather together beneath a large tallit, the prayer shawl. At that moment the words of Israel's blessing upon Ephraim and Manasseh are read. The custom is called “Kol ha-Ne'arim”, that is, “all the boys”, and goes back to the Jewish communities of fourteenth-century Germany. It remains very popular among Jews the world over to this day, as one of the brightest traditions of this joyous festival

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Kol a-Niarim, the custom of blessing boys under a tallit on Simchat Torah

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

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