| Shemini Atzeret (שְׁמִ×™× ִ×™ ×¢ֲצֶרֶת—"Eighth [day] of Assembly") is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, usually coinciding with late September or early October. It directly follows the festival of Sukkot, which is celebrated for seven days; thus, Shemini Atzeret is literally the eighth day [of assembly]. It is a separate—yet connected—holy day devoted to the spiritual aspects of the festival of Sukkot. Part of its duality as a holy day is that it is simultaneously considered to be connected to Sukkot and a separate festival in its own right. Outside the Land of Israel, this is further complicated by the additional day added to all Biblical holidays except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Shemini Atzeret is thus sometimes wrongly regarded as the eighth day of Sukkot outside the Land of Israel, leading to sometimes involved analysis as to which practices of each holiday are to apply. The celebration of Simchat Torah is the most distinctive feature of the holiday, but it is a later rabbinical innovation. In the Land of Israel, the celebrations of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined on a single day, and the names are used interchangeably. In the Diaspora, the celebration of Simchat Torah is deferred to the second day of the holiday. Commonly, only the first day is referred to as Shemini Atzeret, while the second is called Simchat Torah. Biblical origins According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, Atzeret (Biblical Hebrew: עצרת, romanized: Ê¿aá¹£ereṯ, lit. 'assembly') is the name given to this day in four different locations in the Hebrew Bible. Significance Shemini: "Eighth Day" of Sukkot When Shemini Atzeret is mentioned in the Torah (known in Greek as the Pentateuch), it is always mentioned in the context of the seven-day festival of Sukkot: the holiday Shemini Atzeret immediately follows. For example, Sukkot is described in detail in Leviticus 23:33–43. Shemini Atzeret is mentioned in only verses 36 and 39. The Hebrew word Shemini means eighth. This refers to the date of Shemini Atzeret relative to Sukkot; it falls on the latter's eighth day. It is often assumed that Shemini Atzeret is simply the eighth day of Sukkot. That characterization, however, is only partly accurate. The celebration of Sukkot is characterized by the use of the sukkah (booth or tabernacle) and the Four Species (tree branches and fruit used in the celebration). However, the Torah specifies using those objects for only seven days, not eight. The observance of Shemini Atzeret, therefore, differs in substantial ways from that of Sukkot. The Talmud describes Shemini Atzeret with the words "a holiday in its own right" (regel bifnei atzmo). The Talmud describes six ways in which Shemini Atzeret differs from Sukkot. Four of these relate principally to the Temple service, but two others remain relevant to the modern celebration of the holiday. First, the blessing known as Shehecheyanu is recited on the night of Shemini Atzeret just as it is on the first night of all other major Jewish holidays. Second, the holiday is referred to distinctively as "Shemini Atzeret" and not as "Sukkot" in the prayer service. Immediately following that discussion, however, the Talmud describes Shemini Atzeret as the "end holiday of the festival [of Sukkot]". The context here is that the Sukkot obligations of joy and recitation of Hallel (Psalms 113–118) last eight days. This is also why one of Sukkot's liturgical aliases, "Time of Our Happiness" (zman simḥatenu), continues to be used to describe Shemini Atzeret—and, by extension, Simchat Torah—in the liturgy. Shemini Atzeret is, in conclusion, simultaneously "a holiday in its own right" and the "end holiday of [Sukkot]". Atzeret: A day for assembly—or pause Spiritually, Shemini Atzeret can also be seen to "guard the seven days of Sukkot". The Hebrew word atzeret is generally translated as "assembly", but shares a linguistic root with the word atzor, meaning "stop" or "tarry". Shemini Atzeret is characterized as a day when the Jewish People "tarries" to spend an additional day with God at the end of Sukkot. Rashi cites the parable of a king who invites his sons to dine with him for a number of days, but when the time comes for them to leave, he asks them to stay for another day, since it is difficult for him to part from them. According to this idea, Sukkot is a universal holiday, but Shemini Atzeret is for only the Jewish People. Moreover, Shemini Atzeret is a modest holiday intended to honor [God's] special relationship with his beloved nation. A different but related interpretation is offered by Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, who translates atzeret as "retain": "During the holiday season, we have experienced a heightened religious fervor and a most devout spirit. This last day is devoted to a recapitulation of the message of these days, with the hope that it will be retained the rest of the year". Connections to the prior Jewish holy days The day before Shemini Atzeret is the last day of Sukkot. It is called Hoshana Rabbah and is unique and different from the other days of Sukkot. While it is part of the "intermediate" days of Sukkot known as Chol HaMoed, Hoshana Rabbah has extra prayers and rituals and is treated and practiced much more seriously and festively than are the previous days of Chol HaMoed. In particular, during the morning prayer service of Hoshana Rabbah, there are seven hoshanot with their own seven hakafot or "seven processions". That sets the stage for the ritual, mood, tenor, and heightened sense of festivity for the days that follow it—namely, of Shemini Atzeret when seven hakafot are again performed. |The hakafot of Shemini Atzeret are the same as those used in the Simchat Torah celebration, which is observed in Israel in tandem with Shemini Atzeret. Outside the Land of Israel, the hakafot are performed by some congregations on the evening preceding Shemini Atzeret, and then by all on both the night and during the day of Simchat Torah. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that during the time of the Second Temple, the festival of Shavuot received the specific name of "'Atzarta" as cited by Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews (iii. 10, § 6) and in the Talmud's tractate Pesahim (42b, 68b), signifying "the closing feast" of Passover. Commenting on this, the Rabbis in Tractate Pesahim say that: The closing feast of Sukkot (i.e., Shemini Atzeret) ought rightly to have been, like that of Passover (i.e., Shavuot) on the fiftieth day, but, in order not to force the people to make another journey to Jerusalem in the rainy season, God fixed it as early as the eighth day. Shemini Atzeret thus concludes the process of judgment, repentance, and atonement begun on Rosh Hashanah: the Jewish New Year. Four days after the conclusion of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Sukkot begins and is regarded as the celebration of the anticipated Divine "good judgment" that was, religious Jews hope, granted while observing the High Holy Days. (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the week between them are known as the Ten Days of Repentance.) Hoshana Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah then culminate the process with open celebration and festivity with joyous prayers, festive meals, and dancing, with the Torah scrolls held as the center of attention during the hakafot in the synagogue.
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