Halakhah zu Bereschit 48:24

There is some prima facie evidence indicating that lack of respiration and the state of death are, by definition, synonymous. The Sages inform us that the soul departs through the nostrils, thereby causing respiration to cease and death to occur. The Yalkut Shim'oni, Lekh Lekha, no. 77, observes that after sneezing one should give thanks for having been privileged to remain alive.¹⁶Cf. R. Baruch ha-Levi Epstein, Torah Temimah, Gen. 7:22. The Yalkut, noting that the first mention of sickness in Scripture occurs in Genesis 48:1, remarks that prior to the time of Jacob sickness was unknown. It is the view of the Sages that illness became part of man's destiny in answer to Jacob's plea for prior indication of impending death in order that he might make a testament before dying. Before the days of Jacob, according to the Yalkut, an individual simply sneezed and expired without any indication whatsoever that death was about to overtake him. The Yalkut can readily be understood on the basis of the verse "… and He blew into his nostrils the soul of life" (Gen. 2:6). In the narrative concerning the creation of Adam, the soul is described as having entered through the nostrils. According to the Yalkut, the soul departs through the same aperture through which it entered; hence terminal sneezing is associated with the soul's departure from the body. Apparently, then, respiration and life both cease with the departure of the soul.

In the daytime, after the Hakafos, three Sifrei Torah are left out, and many people are called up to one Seifer Torah, to read the portion Vezos haberachah up to Me'onah (Deut. 33:27) repeating it many times. At the end, all the young boys are called up. It is proper that a boy who is bar mitzvah should say the berachah and that the others should listen.⁴They will be exempt with his berachah. The verse Hamalach hagoel is read for them⁵According to Levush this verse is recited over them as an oral blessing, but it is not read. (Ibid 669:14) [The angel who delivered me] etc. (Genesis 48:16). After that, the Chasan Torah is called up and he reads from Me'onah to the end [of the Torah]. In the second Seifer Torah, the Chasan Bereishis reads. Then half-kaddish is said. In the third Seifer Torah, Maftir is read. (see chapter 79:1 above) It is the custom in many communities to be mindful to call up an eminent person for Chasan Torah. Even a person who was called up already for the reading of Vezos haberachah, may still be called up as Chasan Torah or as Chasan Bereishis. Where there are only two Sifrei Torah, Vezos haberachah should be read in one, and Bereishis in the other one, and the first seifer is taken again for Maftir.

The Order of Simchat Torah: In places where they do two days of Yom Tov, Kiddush on the ninth night includes Shehecheyanu. The next day, we take out three Torah scrolls. From the first, we read "And this is the blessing" [Deuteronomy 33:1] until the end of the Torah. From the second, we read from "In the beginning" [Genesis 1:1] until "that God made" [2:3]. From the third, the maftir reads the same as the previous day. The haftarah is "After Moses died" [Joshua 1:1]. Rem"a: The last day of Yom Tov is called "Simchat Torah" because we rejoice on it, making a festive meal in honor of the finishing of the Torah. It is customary for the person who finishes the Torah and the one who starts Genesis to make a donation and invite everybody to a party (Tur). It is customary in these countries to take all of the Torahs out of the Ark on Simchat Torah at night and in the morning and to sing songs and praises. Every place should follow its customs. It is also the custom to circle the synagogue's Bimah with the Torah scrolls just like we circle with the lulav. This is all done out of joy. It is also the custom to have many readers from the Torah. We read the same section many times, and this is not forbidden (Minhagim, Rivas"h 84). It is also the custom to call up all of the children to the Torah and to read "the angel who has redeemed me..." [Genesis 48:6]. In the evening, we read the special sections from the Torah that are normally auctioned off, every place according to its custom. It is also the custom that even a child can finish off the Torah, even though there are those who say that specifically a scholar should finish it (Mordechai's small notes). Nowadays when the chazzan does the actual reading, there is no issue (his own opinion). In a place with only two Torah scrolls, we read "And this is the blessing" from the first, "In the beginning" from the second, and then we go back and reuse the first for the section associated with the day. This is done whenever three Torahs are needed but there are only two (found written somewhere).