The holiday of Sukkot is
followed by an independent holiday called "Shemini Atzeret." In Israel, this is
a one-day holiday; in the Diaspora it is a two-day holiday, and the second day
is known as "Simchat Torah." This holiday is characterized by utterly unbridled joy, which surpasses even the joy of
Sukkot. The joy reaches its climax on Simchat Torah, when we celebrate the conclusion – and restart
– of the annual Torah-reading cycle.
The special joy of this holiday celebrates the conclusion – and restart
– of the annual Torah-reading cycle
These two days constitute a
major holiday, when most forms of work are prohibited. On the preceding nights,
women and girls light candles, reciting the appropriate blessings, and we enjoy
nightly and daily festive meals, accompanied by the Kiddush. We don't go to
work, drive, write, or switch on or off electric devices. We are permitted to
cook and to carry outdoors (unless it is also Shabbat).
The first day, Shemini
Atzeret, features the prayers for rain, officially commemorating the start of
the Mediterranean (i.e., Israeli) rain season, and the Yizkor (prayer supplicating G‑d to remember the souls of the
departed).
We no longer take the Four Kinds, and we no longer mention
Sukkot in the day's prayers; in the Diaspora, however, we do still eat in the sukkah (but without reciting the blessing on the sukkah).
The
highlight of the second day, Simchat Torah ("The Joy of the Torah"), is the hakafot, held both on the eve and morning of Simchat Torah, in
which we march and dance with Torah scrolls around the reading table in the
synagogue. (In many synagogues, hakafot are also conducted on the eve of Shemini Atzeret.)
On this joyous day when we
conclude the Torah, it is customary for every man to take part in the
celebration by receiving an aliyah. The
children too receive an aliyah!
After the final aliyah of the Torah, we immediately begin a new cycle from
the beginning of Genesis (from a second Torah scroll); this is because as soon
as we conclude studying the Torah, G‑d's infinite wisdom, on one level, we
immediately start again, this time to discover new and loftier interpretations.
(In
the Land of Israel, the celebration and customs of these two days are
compressed into one day.)
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