only) to a special aliyah called Kol HaNe'arim ("all the children"). In many congregations, a large talit is spread out over the heads of all the children as the blessing over the Torah is pronounced, and for the congregation to bless the children by reciting (in Hebrew) a verse from Jacob's blessing to Ephraim and Manasseh, Genesis 48:16. May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the children, and may my name be declared among them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they teem like fish for multitude within the land. Although the blessing of the children is omitted from the 1985 edition of Conservative Judaism's Siddur Sim Shalom prayer book, it was reinstated in later versions. Most Conservative congregations still perform it. After the portion of Genesis is read, the Maftir, Numbers 29:35–30:1, is read from a third Torah scroll. The passage describes the prescribed offerings performed for the holiday. The haftarah (reading from the prophets) is the first section of the Book of Joshua. History The name Simhat Torah was not used until a relatively late time. In the Talmud (Meg. 31b) it is called Shemini Atzeret. Celebration and Dancing Modern customs of celebration and dancing arose in the early Rishonic period. Isaac ibn Ghiyyat (1030–1089) writes in his Me'ah She'arim that he asked Hayy ben Sherira "about those whose wont is to remove the sefer torah from its ark at the close of the holiday, and [Hayy] responded that this is not our practice . . . but that local customs should not change." Joseph Colon Trabotto adds in his Responsa that in his edition (ours is lacunose) Ghiyyat added that Hayy had also written "Our habit is to dance [on the day after Sh'mini Atzeret] specifically, even many of the elders, when they make eulogies of the torah, and this is permitted because it glorifies the torah", a ruling affirmed by Moses Isserles (Darkhei Moshe). This places the custom of removing the scrolls from the ark and dancing in some locales into the 11th century. Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne (1080 – 1158) writes in haEshkol that ". . . this teaches that we make a feast to complete the torah, therefore we make great feasts and ample delicacies on the day of Simchat Torah, to honor the torah's completion". Abraham ben Nathan (12th century) writes in haManhig that