Every year, the High Holiday season comes, and we are facing the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Among big holidays like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah the holiday of Shemini Atzeret often seems lost and asks to question yet again “What is it about?” Don’t feel bad if you don’t recall anything about it except for something connected to prayers for rain, as the story of the Eights Day of Sukkot is not that easy to comprehend.
Shemini Atzeret is a holiday between Sukkot and Simchat Torah that serves a humble and important bridge between the two.

In this resource you will find the origin story of the holiday along with resources inspired by the uncertain nature of Shemini Atzeret – the beauty of “in between” energy.

ORIGINS:
Even though it is mentioned in Tanakh, the function of this holiday is not specified there:

ו – ו״ל
ןוֹ֖שׁאִרָה םוֹ֥יַּבּ ( הל ) ַ֥עְבִשׁ תוֹ֛כֻּסַּה גַ֧ח הֶ֔זַּה ֙יִעיִבְשַּׁה שֶׁדֹ֤חַל םוֹ֗י ר֜ ָשָׂע ה֨ ָשִּׁמֲחַבּ רֹ֑מאֵל לֵ֖אָרְשִׂי יֵ֥נְבּ־לֶא רֵ֛בַּדּ ׃הָֽוֹהיַל םיִ֖מָי ת ( דל )
םֶ֜כָל הֶ֨יְהִי ֩שֶׁדֹק־אָרְקִמ יִ֡ניִמְשַּׁה םוֹ֣יַּבּ הָ֑והיַל הֶ֖שִּׁא וּביִ֥רְקַתּ םיִ֔מָי תַ֣עְבִשׁ ( ול ) ִמ ְקָרא־ֹ֑קֶדשׁ ָכּל־ ְמֶ֥לא ֶכת ֲע ֹבָ֖דה ֥לֹא ַת ֲע ֽשׂוּ׃
ְו ִה ְקַר ְבֶ֨תּם ִא ֶ֤שּׁה ַֽליהָו ֙ה ֲעֶ֣צֶרת ִ֔הוא ָכּל־ ְמֶ֥לא ֶכת ֲע ֹבָ֖דה ֥לֹא ַת ֲע ֽשׂוּ׃

Leviticus 23:34-36
(34) Say to the Israelite people: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast of Booths to Adonai, [to last] seven days. (35) The first day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations; (36) seven days you shall bring offerings by fire to Adonai. On the eighth day you
shall observe a sacred occasion and bring an offering by fire to Adonai; it is a solemn gathering: you shall not work at your occupations

“Shemini Atzeret is mentioned in the Bible, but its exact function is unclear. In Second Temple times, it appears to have been a day devoted to the ritual cleansing of the altar in the Temple. With the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, this function of the day became obsolete. Although it marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel and, therefore includes the year’s first prayer for rain, its lack of clear definition may have provided the impetus to celebrate it in conjunction with Simchat Torah, a celebration of the conclusion of one and the beginning of another annual cycle of readings from the Torah. This latter holiday probably originated during the medieval period.” – My Jewish Learning “Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah 101″

׳א:ו״ל:ג״כ ארקיו לע י”שר
ִל ןָנַּמְז ַעיִגִּהֶשׁ ןָויֵכּ ,םיִמָי cָכְו cָכְל הָדוּעְסִל ויָנָבּ תֶא ןֵמִּזֶּשׁ cֶלֶמְכּ ;יִלְצֶא םֶכְתֶא יִתְּרַצָע יַנָבּ ,רַמָא ,רֵטָפּ . אוה תרצע (א)

Rashi on Leviticus 23:36:1
(1) תרצע אוה — The word is derived from the root רצע” to hold back” and suggests: I keep you back with Me one day more. It is similar to the case of a king who invited his children to a banquet for a certain number of days. When the time arrived for them to take their departure he said, “Children, I beg of you,
stay one day more with me; it is so hard for me to part with you!” (cf. Rashi on Numbers 29:36 and Sukkah 55b).

Questions:

• Did you ever experienced the feeling of wanting to stop the time? Why was that, what kind of
  energy was present at that moment?
• If you could spend an extra day in that special state, what would you want to do? How would
  you make it special?
• What can we learn from the fact that Jewish calendar provides us with a special opportunity “to
  hold back”, not rush, and just stay for one more day?

The Holiday Between Holidays

“The beginning of wisdom is the power to differentiate one thing from another. It is precisely the ability to distinguish between one item and another that gives value to the items under consideration. The Talmud says this is why the prayer for the Havdalah, which is the Hebrew word for “distinguish” and is
used to differentiate between Shabbat and the mundane, is inserted in the Standing Silent prayer in the blessing for wisdom. Because until a person can tell the difference between one thing and another there is no wisdom.” – People’s Talmud on Megillah 17b

“Places in the middle are not places to rush through. They are places to be sanctified. At the Red Sea, our ancestors sang songs of praise to God for that miracle of passage. Thus our people were named ivrim, ‘Hebrews’, from the root avar – ‘to cross’. At our essence, Jews are a people who cross over borders that previously seemed impossible. And when these boundary-crossers came out from the sea, they did not emerge right into their promised destination. They came forth into many years of wandering, in a vast desert between one place and the next place. This wilderness is where the majority of our Torah takes place. It is where we received our laws and our ethical teachings, where God came down in fire and in the great blast of the shofar. In between one place and another, our ancestors became the people that we now know.” – The Holiness of Twilight by Reuben Zellman, 2006

Questions:

• According to these two texts, what is the role of moments “in between”?
• In your opinion, what can be the benefit of embracing the mundane moments in life?

Want more inspiration?
Watch this video to learn about the beauty of ordinary life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvgfucVF5cU&ab_channel=TheSchoolofLife
We hope you will get inspired by the beautiful uncertainty of Shemini Atzeret! Chag Sameah!