Shemini Atzerwhat?

Dear Family and Friends, 

What is Shemini Atzeret, anyway? The forgotten holiday, the chag whose meaning and purpose lacks clarity. It seems that we all just give up and define Shemini Atzeret as the day after Sukkot and the day before Simchat Torah. 

 

But what if I told you that this day is arguably the culmination of the entirety of Chagei Tishrei, the high holy days of the Jewish calendar? To prove this to you, I’ll start with a story. 

 

This story is about two people. Each of them committed a horrible crime. They spent the majority of their adult lives in penitentiaries and correctional facilities. Over the course of many years, each of these people did deep internal work to recognize their mistakes and felt a true sense of remorse. Each of them were up for parole, and a judge reviewed their cases. The judge saw their remorse, and their sincere efforts to reflect and change, but she held them back. She told them- you’ve done all the necessary work to reflect, repent, and plan to change, but I’d like for you to pause for just one more day before I let you out on parole. 

 

And so one person spent the day planning. They planned the first meal they would have, the first friends they would see. 

 

And the other also spent the day planning. They planned the first act of chesed (loving kindness) they would do to begin to make up for the harm they had caused in the world. 

 

The first mention of Shemini Atzeret in our Torah is in Sefer Bamidbar (29:35). 

בַּיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י עֲצֶ֖רֶת תִּהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם כָּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃ 

The eight day will be an atzeret for you; you shall not do creative acts

Don’t worry if you don’t know what “atzeret” means- you are in good company! The rabbinic sages agree- it is a totally ambiguous word.

 

The verb form of the ayin-tzadi-resh (עצר) root means to restrain or retain, at first glance implying that we should stop from doing creative acts on this day, like on other holidays. We can’t possibly translate atzeret as simply a day for ceasing creative acts, though, as this is stated explicitly later in the verse. Rather, atzeret has to describe something else that we are supposed to do, think, or feel on this eight day, the day after the holiday of Sukkot. 

 

The commentator Rashi attempts to define atzeret, and settles on extracting the meaning of the phrase using a midrash, an interpretive story, about a king who holds a feast for his children and “holds them back”- from the root עצר- begging them to retain their intimacy and closeness to him for just one more day. For Rashi, Shemini Atzeret is an opportunity to remain close to God for one day more following the marathon of high holidays that we have just completed. 

 

We read the second reference to Shemini Atzeret, found in the book of Vayikra, on the Shabbat of Sukkot. 

 

The Netziv (Haemek Hadavar) in his commentary on atzeret in this verse explains that the purpose of this day of atzeret was so that people could learn wisdom and discipline. For our ancient ancestors, this day was an opportunity to spend additional time in Jerusalem after a week of bringing sacrificial offerings to the Temple for Sukkot. 

 

“In the festival’s first days, all of Israel was busy with the sacrificial offerings”, the Netziv explains, and they didn’t get a chance to digest, reflect on, and pause after all of the intense inner work and teshuva (repentance) they did throughout the months of Elul and Tishrei. 

 

Just as our ancestors returned to their homes after spending Chag Sukkot at the temple in Jerusalem, we, too, are coming out of our physical Sukkot and are officially leaving the spiritual cocoon of Chagei Tishrei. 

 

But the Netziv tells us that before everyone returned home to the long winter months ahead, people spent the day of Shemini Atzeret reflecting on what they had learned while in Jerusalem, and considering which parts of their ideal “Jerusalem” they wanted to bring home with them. 

 

The Netziv’s comment brings me to this week’s Torah reading. On Shemini Atzeret, we open the Torah scroll for chanting just like any other chag, but oddly enough we don’t read the passages that site this holiday by name. 

 

The Torah reading for Shemini Atzeret actually makes no mention of the holiday Shemini Atzeret at all. Instead we read about a moral code of behaviour. 

 

Amid the laws for tithing and donating what we produce as well as how to treat those who work among and for us, we are told 3 times to “open our hands” and “give readily” to the needy and the poor. 

 

During the month of Elul, Rosh Hashana, and Yom Kippur we sowed. We beat our chests and stood at attention and heard the call of the Shofar which awakened us to our mistakes. We apologized and re-set our course. On Sukkot- Chag Ha’assif, the holiday of gathering- we gather and reap the rewards not just historically of our agricultural efforts, but of our spiritual efforts too. And on Shemini Atzeret we ask ourselves: what will we bring back with us into our regular, mundane lives? What will carry us through this long, dark, and cold winter until we see the light of redemption that is Pesach and the first flowers of Chag Aviv? 

 

As the sun sets on Friday evening, we will be just like the people in our story- having done the work of repentance and growth, having stood in judgment and been told to pause before we go forth. 

 

Will we use this extra day wisely? Will we bring with us into our year only what we gathered for ourselves, or will we allow ourselves to stop- עצור - and consider: how might we open our hands and give readily of ourselves this year? 

Wishing you all a joyful, meaningful, and reflective chag!

Lara

This post was given as a Dvar Torah for one of my courses at JTS.