Editing Shemini Atzeret (section)

==Significance==
{{anchor|Shemini}}
===''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 [[Emor#Sixth reading — Leviticus 23:33–44|Leviticus 23:33–43]].<ref><span class="plainlinks">{{bibleref|Leviticus|23:33–43|HE}}</span></ref> Shemini Atzeret is mentioned in only verses 36 and 39.

The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word ''shemini'' means ''eighth''. This refers to the date of Shemini Atzeret relative to Sukkot; it falls on the latter’s eighth day.<ref group=note>In the terminology of the modern [[Hebrew calendar]], Sukkot occurs on 15–21 Tishrei and Shemini Atzeret on 22 Tishrei.</ref> 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).<ref group=note>These are known as the ''[[lulav]]'' (branches of the [[Palm (plant)|palm]], [[Myrtus|myrtle]] and [[willow]] trees) and ''[[etrog]]'' (fruit of the [[citron]]).</ref> However, the Torah specifies using those objects for only seven days, not eight.<ref>{{bibleref|Leviticus|23:40–42|HE}}</ref> The observance of Shemini Atzeret, therefore, differs in substantial ways from that of Sukkot. The [[Talmud]]<ref name=48a>See [[Sukkah (Talmud)|Tractate Sukkah]] 48a</ref> 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 in Jerusalem#Temple service|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.{{sfn|Sacks|2009|pages=306–7 and 1186}} Second, the holiday is referred to distinctively as "Shemini Atzeret" and not as "Sukkot" in the prayer service.{{sfn|Sacks|2009|pages=760–3}}

Immediately following that discussion, however, the Talmud describes Shemini Atzeret as the "end holiday of the festival [of Sukkot]".<ref name=48a /> The context here is that the Sukkot obligations of joy and recitation of [[Hallel]] ([[Psalm]]s 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.{{sfn|Sacks|2009|pages=760–3}}

Shemini Atzeret is, in conclusion, simultaneously "a holiday in its own right" and the "end holiday of [Sukkot]".<ref name=48a />

==={{anchor|name=atzeret}}''Atzeret:'' A day for assembly—or pause===
Spiritually, Shemini Atzeret can also be seen to "guard the seven days of Sukkot".{{sfn|Gurary|Kaplan|2000|p=83-93}} 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.<ref name=JESA>{{Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Shemini 'Azeret|year=1901–1906|publisher=Funk and Wagnalls|location=New York|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13559-shemini-azeret|no-prescript=1|noicon=1}}</ref> [[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.<ref>Rashi on [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]] 23:36.</ref> According to this idea, Sukkot is a [[Jewish views on religious pluralism#classical Jewish views|universal]] holiday, but Shemini Atzeret is for only the [[Jews|Jewish People]]. Moreover, Shemini Atzeret is a modest holiday intended to honor [God's] special relationship with his beloved nation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mayer|first=Sally|title=Why did Shemini Atzeret become Simchat Torah?|date=Autumn 2011|series=YU Torah To-Go|issue=Sukkot To-Go 5772|page=29|url=http://download.yutorah.org/2012/1053/Sukkot_To-Go_-_5772_Mrs_Mayer.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185156/http://download.yutorah.org/2012/1053/Sukkot_To-Go_-_5772_Mrs_Mayer.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-29 |url-status=live|publisher=Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future|location=New York}}</ref>{{refn|Variants are quoted in {{harvtxt|Isaacs|2000|p=88}} and in ''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]''<ref name=JESA />}}

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".<ref>Quoted in {{harvtxt|Isaacs|2000|p=93}}.</ref>

===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 [[Hoshana Rabbah#Rituals and customs|extra prayers and rituals]] and is treated and practised 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 [[Hoshana Rabbah#Seven hoshanot|seven ''hoshanot'']] with their own seven ''[[hakafot]]'' or "seven processions".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=HOSHA'NA RABBAH ("the great Hosha'na")|encyclopedia=The Jewish Encyclopedia|year=1901–1906|publisher=Funk and Wagnalls|location=New York|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7900-hosha-na-rabbah|access-date=November 1, 2013|archive-date=October 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023044409/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7900-hosha-na-rabbah|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.{{refn|group=note|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,<ref>Mainly in [[Hasidic Judaism|Chassidic]] congregations. See {{cite web |title=Simchat Torah Hakafot Procedure |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1288671/jewish/Simchat-Torah-Hakafot-Procedure.htm |website=Chabad.org |access-date=September 28, 2018 |archive-date=September 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928201118/https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1288671/jewish/Simchat-Torah-Hakafot-Procedure.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> 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]].<ref name=JESA/> Commenting on this, the [[Chazal|Rabbis]] in Tractate Pesahim say that:

<blockquote>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.<ref name=JESA/></blockquote>

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 scroll]]s held as the center of attention during the ''hakafot'' in the [[synagogue]].<ref name="oucycle">{{cite web |last1=Shaviv |first1=Rabbi Yehuda |title=Sukkot in the Cycle of Festivals |url=https://www.ou.org/holidays/sukkot/sukkot_in_the_cycle_of_festivals/ |publisher=Orthodox Union |access-date=September 28, 2018 |archive-date=September 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928201114/https://www.ou.org/holidays/sukkot/sukkot_in_the_cycle_of_festivals/ |url-status=live }}</ref>