QUESTION

South Central, USA

Simchat Torah question: We are planning on doing scaled down, outdoor hakafot on Simchat Torah. Is there any reason we would need to be inside around the bimah to begin the hakafot, or can we do the whole thing outside (with one person holding a Torah in the middle)?

ANSWER

It’s fine outside around a person holding a Torah. Here’s what I responded to an earlier similar question:

The point of the bimah is that it is the place of the sefer Torah.