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The photograph shows a group of men inside a synagogue. Some of them go around the bimah, holding Torah scrolls in their hands in ornate mantles. To the left of the frame, two men can be seen holding open books in their hands. They are praying. All men are wearing headgear (yarmulkehs or kashkets). The shoulders of most of them are covered with tallits. To the right of the frame, deep inside the synagogue, a praying woman wearing a blue headscarf can be seen. Four burning candles can be seen at the bottom of the frame. The candles are blurred, the focus is on the men. | The photograph was taken at the Tempel Synagogue in Kraków during the Simchat Torah (Hebrew: Joy of the Torah; Yiddish: Symches Tojre) celebrations, when the Pentateuch, Five Books of Moses scrolls are carried around the bimah. This custom is linked to the ceremonial end of the annual Torah reading cycle and the simultaneous start of a new one. During the celebration of Simchat Torah, all Torah scrolls are taken out of the aron ha-kodesh (sacred box in which Torah scrolls are kept), leaving a lit candle inside – a symbol of Torah light. The men then carry the scrolls around, going around the synagogue seven times. | Simchat Torah is part of the Shemini Atzeret celebrations; according to biblical tradition, it is the eighth day of the Solemn Assembly – the eighth day of Sukkot (סוכות, Polish: Święto Szałasów, Święto Namiotów, Święto Kuczek, Kuczki), in autumn, after the harvest of the crops from fields, orchards and vineyards. |Marta Frączkiewicz