5784/2023
After spending 10 days doing Teshuvah, hours davening
and saying selichos, we have the joyous holiday of Sukkot.
There are seven days of eating, drinking, and saying
Hallel to Hashem. But for whatever reason, attached to
these celebratory days is an 8th day of Shemini
Atzeret—which seemingly has no connection to the
Chagim that precede it. While the Torah usually gives a
reason why each Chag is special, we are given no
apparent reason why this eighth day is unique. Why is
Shemini Atzeret celebrated? What is so special about it?
There are two beautiful answers given that I
believe are intertwined. Firstly, Ha’Emek Davar points out
that on all other Chagim, Bnei Yisrael are occupied with
the Korbanot and Mitzvot of the day. Only on Shemini
Atzeret, where there is only one Korban and no Mitzvot of
the day, are we able to learn Torah.
Rashi answers our question with a beautiful
Mashal: A king, who doesn’t see his kids so often, invites
them all to a banquet for several days. When the days
reach an end, the King says to his kids “Wait! Stay another
day with me. It will be so long until I see you again”.
Rashi explains that Shemini Atzeret is our extra day at the
banquet. We have spent so much time with Hashem over
the past month celebrating and davening, but we won’t
have a similar jubilant experience until Chanukah, or
maybe even Pesach! Hashem wants to give us another
day of Simcha to connect with him, so we don’t feel
something lacking over the next few months.
We should model our actions after our ancestors
who took this day as an Atzeret, a break, to rejuvenate
their love for Hashem and learn Torah after ten
awe-inspiring days, which helped them reestablish the
vital component of Ahavat Hashem, after weeks centered
around Yirat Hashem.
Wishing everyone a Chag Sameach!