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Shemini Atzeret (—"Eighth day of Assembly") is a Jewish holidays. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew calendar of Tishrei, usually coinciding with late September or early October. It directly follows the festival of Sukkot, which is celebrated for seven days; thus, Shemini Atzeret is literally the eighth day of. It is a separate—yet connected—holy day devoted to the spiritual aspects of the festival of Sukkot. Part of its duality as a holy day is that it is simultaneously considered to be connected to Sukkot and a separate festival in its own right.
Outside the Land of Israel, this is further complicated by the additional day added to all Biblical holidays except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Talmud, Beitza 4b. Shemini Atzeret is thus sometimes wrongly regarded as the eighth day of Sukkot outside the Land of Israel, leading to sometimes involved analysis as to which practices of each holiday are to apply.
The celebration of Simchat Torah is the most distinctive feature of the holiday, but it is a later rabbinical innovation. In the Land of Israel, the celebrations of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined on a single day, and the names are used interchangeably. In the Jewish diaspora, the celebration of Simchat Torah is deferred to the second day of the holiday. Commonly, only the first day is referred to as Shemini Atzeret, while the second is called Simchat Torah. Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 669
Karaite Judaism and Samaritans also observe Shemini Atzeret, as they do all Biblical holidays. However, due to differences in Hebrew calendar calculations, it may occur on a different day from the conventional Jewish celebration. Karaites and Samaritans do not include the Rabbinic Judaism innovation of Simchat Torah in their observance of the day and do not observe a second day—of any holiday—in the Diaspora.
The Hebrew language word shemini means eighth. This refers to the date of Shemini Atzeret relative to Sukkot; it falls on the latter’s eighth day.In the terminology of the modern Hebrew calendar, Sukkot occurs on 15–21 Tishrei and Shemini Atzeret on 22 Tishrei. 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).These are known as the lulav (branches of the palm, Myrtus and willow trees) and etrog (fruit of the citron). However, the Torah specifies using those objects for only seven days, not eight. The observance of Shemini Atzeret, therefore, differs in substantial ways from that of Sukkot. The TalmudSee Tractate Sukkah 48a 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 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. Second, the holiday is referred to distinctively as "Shemini Atzeret" and not as "Sukkot" in the prayer service.
Immediately following that discussion, however, the Talmud describes Shemini Atzeret as the "end holiday of the festival of". The context here is that the Sukkot obligations of joy and recitation of Hallel ( 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.
Shemini Atzeret is, in conclusion, simultaneously "a holiday in its own right" and the "end holiday of Sukkot".
A different but related interpretation is offered by Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, who translates atzeret as "retain": "During the holiday season, we have experienced a heightened religious fervor and a most devout spirit. This last day is devoted to a recapitulation of the message of these days, with the hope that it will be retained the rest of the year".Quoted in .
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