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 Torah Thoughts
Shemini Atzeret-
Simchat Torah 5767
Shemini Atzeret
The “Eighth day of convocation” is a festival in its own
right, although it is juxtaposed with the holiday of Sukkot.
In Israel,
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah coincide; in the Diaspora we celebrate
Simchat Torah on the day following Shemini Atzeret. On this day the Jewish
People declare, “today we have no Sukkah nor four species nor water ceremony,
nor arava (willow) ceremony (all are symbols of the holiday of Sukkot.) All
we have left is this Torah and with it we shall rejoice.” The Torah is G-d’s
ultimate “dwelling place”. There, the Jewish People have found Him- through
the millennia when the Temple
did not exist; through exile from our Land, through persecution and pogrom,
the Torah is our eternal sanctuary. It is the ultimate symbol of our unique
relationship with G-d.
In Jewish thought, the number 7 represents the natural
order (e.g. there are seven days in a week.) The number 8 represents a leap
beyond the confines of nature- the realm of the supernatural. This number is
linked to the Jewish People. The Brit (circumcision) is performed on the
eighth day of a baby boy’s life. It symbolizes taking a raw material and
transforming it in accordance with G-d’s will- the mission of the Jewish
nation. The Torah is the manifestation of G-d’s will. Therefore Shemini
Atzeret- the “meeting of the eighth” is a celebration of the Torah and the
special relationship between G-d and His people.
Yizkor (memorial prayer for deceased loved ones)
Yizkor is recited on Saturday, Shemini Atzeret (just as
it is on Yom Kippur, Pesach and Shavuot.)
Simchat Torah (Celebration of the Law)
We celebrate the conclusion of our annual cycle of Torah
reading. Moses decreed that the Torah be read every week on Shabbat. Later
sages defined the amount read each week and when the cycle begins and ends.
The prevalent custom among the Jewish People is to complete the Torah reading
once a year. Upon finishing the final Torah portion, we begin immediately
with the first Torah portion, demonstrating that there is no end to Torah
study, and that each time we learn a piece of Torah, we gain new insights
Shabbat Bereishit
The Sabbath immediately following Simchat Torah is
called “Shabbat Bereishit” (Sabbath of “In the Beginning”) since we read the
portion of Bereishit, the story of Creation on this day as we restart our
annual cycle of weekly Torah reading.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
Technical
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