Trutharchivist

Holiday Supplemental no. 8 (actually more likely to be the last one): Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
Warning: due to the events that occurred on this day last year, I might slip into recent events in this SU.

Anyway, I believe I mentioned regarding Sukkot that it lasts for a week. Even if you missed that, the SU right before this one is about the 7th day of Sukkot, so you may have noticed the fact Shemini Atzeret is immediately after, with no space in between. It occurs on the 8th day, as its name indicates - Shemini Atzeret means something along the lines of “a pause at the 8th”, or alternatively “8th day assembly”. If so, then why is it a separate holiday? Why is it not considered a part of the holiday it’s the 8th day of?

Well… I’m not completely sure. Probably because the special commandments of Sukkot don’t hold anymore (though diaspora Jews might still be sitting in the Sukkah for one day). Perhaps the way the commandment for it was phrased is considered as separating it. Certainly, its additional sacrifices don’t follow the template set by the days of Sukkot.

This day is a Yom Tov, meaning it’s forbidden to do most types of work on it outside of making food. And, just in case you wondered, it doesn’t mean restaurants work on Yom Tov. It just means you can cook at home, as long as you obey certain rules.

Either way, outside of that, this day doesn’t seem to carry much meaning if we go by the phrases of the Torah (the Pentateuch) alone. However, we can always trust the sages to have our backs, right? Surely, they’ll tell us of some historical event that occurred during this day.

Well, no. The only historically significant event I can think of occurred last year. However, the Sages do give added importance to Shemini Atzeret - as the beginning of the rainy season.

That is not a completely accurate description, but to sum it up: there are two occasions in the daily prayer where we mention the rain. One is praising G-d for pouring rain, the other is asking Him to give us rain. Generally, we do not say either of those during the time of year the rain would damage the crops in the land of Israel - the spring and summer, the time between Pesach and now. Sukkot itself is considered the time of year G-d decides how much rain we’ll have this year - its own type of a judgement day (or week). But we don’t start directly asking for rain during Sukkot, because it’s considered a bad omen. It’s likened to a servant bringing their master a cup of water only for the latter to pour it back at them. You might realise how staying in a leaf-roofed hut while it’s raining is inconvenient. I mean, this does serve as something of an exit clause - we don’t have to stay in the Sukkah while it’s raining - but it still means we’re not doing the commandment and is considered an indication of punishment.

Either way, that’s why we only start praising G-d for his ability to bring us rain during Shemini Atzeret. We don’t start asking for rain right away due to a remnant of Temple-era practices. Since Sukkot is a pilgrimage festival and it takes time for the pilgrims to get back home, we don’t start asking for rain until after the time it shouldn’t be inconvenient for them anymore. It would likely matter slightly less in the modern world, due to how fast transport is, but for now this is how it stays. And that would be it… for Shemini Atzeret.

All right. So. A slight thing you might need to know: every time I said some holiday was a Yom Tov? It’s practised for two days in the diaspora. In Israel most of the Yamim Tovim last for one day, outside of Rosh Hashanah (for some reason). Usually it doesn’t really matter much. This year it matters slightly more, because if you know a Yom Tov-keeping Jew who lives in the diaspora they’re going to be unresponsive for three day due to Shabbat coming right after the two days of the holiday. It’s important for this holiday in particular, however, because the second day is Simchat Torah. (In the Land of Israel the two days are merged.)

So, what is Simchat Torah? The literal translation of it is the Joy of the Torah. In case previous references had not made it clear yet, Torah is the Hebrew name for the Pentateuch, though it’s also used as a general term for the entirety of Jewish religious literature. Now, in order to explain how this day got this name, I would like to start by talking about an old Jewish practice - reading a portion of the Torah each Shabbat.

This practice originated back when the Land of Israel was still controlled by the Persians, under the leadership of Ezra and Neḥemiah. The basic idea is to go over the entirety of the Torah in regular intervals. The reading is done in public, with one person reading aloud from a scroll and the rest listening. During the times of the Hellenist and Roman rule in Israel there were periods during which such readings were prohibited, which led to people reading parts of the Prophets (meaning, the books of the Hebrew bible that are collectively called Nevi’im, prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve small prophets. No Daniel, Ezra or Ruth) that were related to the portion that should’ve been read at this Shabbat - the origins of the Haftarah, reading those at the ending of the Torah reading. 

Anyway, by Talmudic times, there were two readership cycles: one in the Land of Israel, that finished the Torah once each three and a half years, and one in Babylon, which finished the Torah once a year. It took some time, but eventually the Babylonian practice took over. By now, there is no Jewish congregation that practises the old Israeli tradition. The Babylonian cycle divides the Torah into 53 portions, called Parashot. That is due to the fact that in the longest Hebrew Calendar year has 385 days, which are 55 weeks. During holidays, though, the reading of the Torah changes to something related to the holiday, and there are always at least two Shabbatdays that occur during holidays - thus 53. For the shorter years (which can get as short as 353 days), some Parshas are merged. There is also some slight organising - certain Parshas are required to occur before specific days. Either way, we always finish the Torah on the same Hebrew Calendar day, whether it occurs on Shabbat or not: Simchat Torah.

So yes. Tomorrow (or in two days, outside of Israel), we’re reading the last Parsha in the Torah - Moshe’s blessings to the Israelites before his death. And then we start again from Bereshit, Genesis! For the Haftarah, we read the direct continuation of the Torah in the Book of Joshua. Now, as you might remember, back in my first holiday supplemental I mentioned that we make a feast whenever we finish a religious book. I also mentioned how Simchat Torah is essentially that, so I don’t really have to repeat myself! (I did though. Repeat myself, that is.)

So yeah, we have a feast, sort of. We have lots of celebrations, we dance with the Torah scrolls around the Synagogue and we give out free candy to children for some reason (no, it’s not trick or treat, since it’s handed out at a synagogue and during the day. And no, the fact that some children go on a synagogue round to get as much candy as possible doesn’t change this, what are you talking about?). It’s not for naught that this day is called the Joy of the Torah.

It was during the dances when I heard the first alarm.

You see, missile attacks are something of a familiar occurrence to me. Sure, it doesn’t happen as regularly where I live as it does in cities around the Gaza strip, but it still happens sometimes. So, we get alarms, go to the bomb shelter and hope the missile will be intercepted. It took us two alarms to realise something very serious was going on, and our congregation’s rabbi declared we’ll continue in the basement. The upside was that the synagogue’s basement is actually a pretty nice hall, the downside is that this basement wasn’t the bomb shelter. The bomb shelter was sadly too small for the entire congregation, so only the women and children stayed there. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that in case you weren’t aware, the Gregorian date was Oct. 7th.

I could continue on, describing how the beginning of this war was for me. I could tell you about how my uncle was already drafted before I got home (he stayed with us for the holiday). I could talk about how both my brothers went away too. In theory, I could talk about my own experience from the first day, but I don’t remember much. I do remember talking to KoI over Discord to distract myself from what was going on. I remember reading Psalms and praying. The next day, I was drafted myself, went to carry the bodies of the fallen for identification purposes. Thankfully, the corpses were covered in bags by the time I got there.

A lot has happened since then. For one, I got more active on the Internet, which wasn’t very positive. Lately I started a tumblr account, and I find it impossible to avoid things about the war. I don’t think I’ve found one Jewish account there that wasn’t full of content about antisemitism and Israel/Palestine. And here I am, derailing another post with that! It is relevant, though. Because now, this holiday is also the anniversary to one of the worst pogroms committed against the Jewish people, the worst since the Holocaust.

I could start writing apologetics here, explaining my stance regarding the Middle East and the State of Israel and Palestine. I’m pretty sure this isn’t illegal here to talk about politics in status updates. But I don’t know of what use will it be. So far, no one here spoke even one ill word to me, and I am grateful for that. I might assume that the people who were rude to me on the Internet might benefit from hearing my opinions, but it’s unlikely to cause much other than strife. The same is possibly true for sharing my opinions here.

I don’t actually know where I’m going with this. I guess… this day will forever be stained by this massacre. Many people are asking how we will ever feel joy again on this day. I don’t think I heard any answer that might suffice. But we have to endure, I suppose.

So… That’s it for now. Thank you for reading.