A Word of Torah for Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
October 22, 2024
Rabbi Harry Pell, Associate Head of School
Shemini Atzeret has been accused of being the Seinfeld of chagim (holidays). When I was growing up, I loved to watch Seinfeld, even though it was often billed as “a show about nothing,” and Shemini Atzeret is often accused similarly. Pesach is about Yetziat Mitzrayim, the exodus from Egypt. Shavuot is about receiving the Torah on Har Sinai. Sukkot is about our journey through the wilderness and the sukkot that sheltered us at that time. But Shemini Atzeret? What is Shemini Atzeret about?
To make matters worse, Shemini Atzeret doesn’t get to stand alone as a holiday or lead off a series of chagim. It always comes, as the Torah designates, at the end of Sukkot, which comes after Yom Kippur, which comes after Rosh HaShanah. Especially in a year like this of “three-day Yom Tovs,” Shemini Atzeret is always destined to be the last. We are supposed to be looking forward to another Yom Tov of meals and shul and time away from the stress of our daily lives… yet I am sure that many of us are also looking forward to the normalcy of acharei hachagim (after the holidays) that will set in next week when we return to those same daily lives! But maybe we shouldn’t be rushing through Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah quite so quickly.
I have a favorite midrashic parable about Shemini Atzeret. Rashi cites it in his comment on Vayikra 23:36, where the Torah sets out the observance of Shemini Atzeret as a holiday in its own right, on what would otherwise be the eighth day of Sukkot. What is Shemini Atzeret about? According to Rashi:
כְּמֶלֶךְ שֶׁזִּמֵּן אֶת בָּנָיו לִסְעוּדָה לְכָךְ וְכָךְ יָמִים, כֵּיוָן שֶׁהִגִּיעַ זְמַנָּן לִפָּטֵר, אָמַר, בָּנַי בְּבַקָּשָׁה מִכֶּם עַכְּבוּ עִמִּי עוֹד יוֹם אֶחָד, קָשָׁה עָלַי פְּרֵדַתְכֶם:
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!”
Rashi is actually paraphrasing an earlier midrash from the Talmud, but I think Rashi’s version is even better, and I think he is spot on. Yes, we have a lot of chagim in Tishrei, and yes, we have had Yom Tov essentially every weekend for four weeks in a row, and yes, Yom Tov, which lifts us up, can also be exhausting in its own way. And you know what else? It is also terrific that Yom Tov forces us to slow down, take a breather, and spend time with our families, and we won’t have another opportunity quite like this for six months. So like the king who craves just one more day with his children before they head off in all different directions, it behooves us to take advantage of this last bit of chag and enjoy the way it forces us to pause our lives before we return to the grind of more normal weeks.
And… of course, the message of Shemini Atzeret then becomes bigger than that. We have so many blessings in our lives that, in the moment, may feel like too much, or which we may take for granted. Parents can get on kids’ nerves and vice versa, even when they love each other. The school year and years of school can sometimes feel like they are dragging on, no matter how beneficial the teaching and learning. Our jobs and pursuits can provide us with fulfillment, but who doesn’t experience frustrations as well, at least some of the time? Shemini Atzeret comes to teach us that all of this is true, and even so, we still need to cherish all of these good things in our lives because nothing is forever – just like the chagim of Tishrei, which we now seek to hold onto for just one more day. Or this year, for one more three-day Yom Tov!
Chag Sameach!