Hakafot in the Streets After Dark
It is the night of October 3, 2026, and the sidewalks outside Rishon LeTsiyyon's synagogues have turned into open-air dance floors. Somewhere a Torah scroll is being carried under a canopy of arms, a circle forms around it, and the singing starts before the next circle has even closed. This is Simchat Torah in Israel, where Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah fall on a single day — Saturday, October 3, 2026 — and where the hakafot, the seven circuits with the scrolls, spill out of the sanctuary and into the street. Stand at the edge of a circle long enough and someone will pull you in. You do not need a ticket, a membership, or a word of Hebrew to join the dancing.
The holiday begins at sundown on Friday, October 2, 2026, and ends at nightfall on Sunday, October 4. Because Jewish days begin in the evening, the first full day is Saturday, October 3. Candle lighting on the evening of October 2 is calculated from sunset — 20 minutes before in Israel. Hoshana Raba, the final day of Sukkot, falls on Friday, October 2, the day the holiday period opens.
What Actually Happens Inside the Synagogue
If you want to understand what you are watching in the street, spend the morning of October 3 inside. The day carries two distinct celebrations fused into one. Shemini Atzeret brings the Geshem Prayer, the prayer for rain — a fitting ritual in a country that measures its year by whether the winter rains arrive. Simchat Torah marks the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle and its immediate restart.
- Hakafot — seven processions around the synagogue with the Torah scrolls, accompanied by singing and dancing.
- Chatan Torah — the honoree called up to read the final portion of the Torah, completing the year's cycle.
- Chatan Bereshit — the honoree who immediately reads the opening of Genesis, beginning the cycle again.
- Geshem — the prayer for rain, recited on Shemini Atzeret.
In the diaspora these are two separate days, with Simchat Torah on the second. In Israel they are one, which is why the day feels so compressed and so loud.
The Second Round: Hakafot Shniyot
Saturday night, October 3, 2026 — the night following Simchat Torah — brings Hakafot Shniyot, the "second hakafot." Outside Israel this is the celebration held on the night after the festival; in Israel it lands on the night the holiday itself ends. Expect music, dancing, and the same scrolls back out under the open sky, this time with the festival over and the city's streets fully available. This is the night to be out late. The dancing that began in the synagogue courtyard on Friday and Saturday continues into the streets, and Rishon LeTsiyyon's residents treat the evening as a public celebration rather than a private one.
Markets, Food and the Rhythm of the Holiday Week
The holiday sits at the tail end of Sukkot, which means the city has been in festival mode for days. The days before Shemini Atzeret are the ones to shop: markets fill with the last of the season's produce, and the smell of the sukkah — citron, palm fronds, myrtle — is still in the air. Build your meals around what the season gives you: autumn fruit, fresh bread, and the kind of slow-cooked dishes that suit a day when everything is closed and everyone is at the table.
- Shop the day before the holiday begins — Friday, October 2 is Hoshana Raba, and the markets will be busy with people buying for the festival.
- Plan for closures on Saturday, October 3 itself, when the city observes the festival and most commerce stops.
- Saturday night, October 3, is when the streets reopen for Hakafot Shniyot — eat before you go out, or eat late after the dancing.
When to Go, and Why 2026
The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, so these dates shift by up to a month from year to year while staying in the same season. In 2026 the holiday runs from sundown October 2 to nightfall October 4, with the main day on Saturday, October 3. If you are planning around it, note the surrounding years: 2024 fell on October 23–25, 2025 on October 13–15, 2027 on October 22–24, 2028 on October 11–13, 2029 on September 30–October 2, and 2030 on October 18–20. October in Rishon LeTsiyyon means the heat has broken and the evenings are made for standing outside.
Rishon LeTsiyyon sits within easy reach of the rest of the country, which makes it a sensible base if you want to combine the holiday with a wider trip. Spend the festival itself in the city, dancing in the streets, and use the days around it to move further afield.
Book your stay for the nights of October 2 and 3, 2026, and keep the evening of Saturday, October 3 free — that is when the city's synagogues empty into the streets and the second hakafot begin. Arrive before sundown on Friday, find a synagogue near where you are staying, and let the circle close around you.