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We Jews are famous for our long good-byes. An eternity elapses at a Shabbat dinner or a seder between the time everyone says good-bye and the time they actually depart. An old saying declares that the Irish leave and never say good-bye, while the Jews say good-bye and never leave.
Sometimes, we actually want our guests to stay a little longer, and welcome them not being so eager to depart. And that’s how our sages understand Shemini Atzeret, a strange “eighth” day of Sukkot. Is it a holiday, or merely an extension of Sukkot? Well, it’s complicated.
On the one hand, a number of rituals mark it as a unique festival. It has its own formula in the liturgy. We say the blessing for rain, Geshem, on Shemini Atzeret, rather than Sukkot. There’s no lulav and etrog. We no longer recite the blessing for sitting in the sukkah. We also recite “Shehecheyanu” when we make Kiddush or light the candles.
On the other hand, many people do eat in the sukkah, and even those who don’t usually make Kiddush there (my personal preference). The Torah reading directly follows the one for Sukkot. Yizkor, the prayer memorializing the deceased, is recited on the concluding day of each festival, which might imply that today is part of Sukkot in a sense.
This problem led the sages to use an analogy to describe the relationship between Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret (Midrash Tanchuma Buber, 10th century, Pinchas 15:1):
- The situation is comparable to a king who made a seven-day banquet and invited all the people of the province for the seven days of the feast. When the seven days of the feast had passed, he said to his friend: We have already fulfilled our obligation to the people of the province. Let us, you and me, make do with whatever you find: a pound of meat, fish, or greens. Similarly did the Holy One say to Israel: All the sacrifices which you offered during the seven days of the feast you sacrificed for the nations of the world. However, (according to Numb. 29:35): ON THE EIGHTH DAY YOU SHALL HAVE A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY. Make do with whatever you find.
In other words, Shemini Atzeret is equivalent to G-d not wanting us to “rush” our good-bye. We’ve been in G-d’s presence throughout Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and now a week of Sukkot. Yet apparently aware that there are no other holidays for two months, when Chanukkah arrives, G-d as it were invites us to extend our visit for just one more day.
After all, when you really like your guests, you’re actually pleased that they spend a little extra time with you.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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