Editing Shemini Atzeret (section)

===''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 />