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The festival that binds By RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN Jerusalem Post "On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall do no servile work." (Num. 29:35) Compared to the riches of Pessah, Shavuot, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Succot, Shmini Atzeret is practically a pauper. On the eighth day: "... offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savor to the Lord, one bullock, one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish." No historical commemoration, no outstanding ritual symbol - only a separate name and an individual sacrifice. Yet quiet, inconspicuous Shmini Atzeret has become the star of the festival firmament, Simhat Torah. Why was Shmini Atzeret transformed into this Festival of the Rejoicing of the Torah? Let's consider three approaches. According to Rashi (who quotes B.T. Succa, 55b) the 70 sacrifices brought during the seven days of Succot reflect our concern for the 70 nations of the world. And after a week of hectic universalistic celebrations, God in effect says to the Jewish people that He wants to be alone with us for one day. Therefore it makes sense that if Shmini Atzeret represents the seclusion of God with His people, then the most perfect expression for that intimacy must be the Torah itself. Hence Simhat Torah. A second interpretation emerges from the Septuagint's translation of atzeret as "conclusion," the conclusion of the festival of Succot and perhaps of the entire Holy Day period. As a closure, Shmini Atzeret parallels Shavuot, the end of the Pessah season - especially since we begin counting the omer for seven weeks from the second day of Pessah until Shavuot, which the rabbis of the Mishna call atzeret (closing) [B.T. Haggiga 18a]. Similarly, the period from the beginning of Elul (when Jewish custom dictates that we begin blowing the shofar at the conclusion of morning services) through the High Holy Days and Succot is likewise seven weeks. And since Shavuot is the commemoration of our having received the Torah, it is eminently logical that its parallel, Shmini Atzeret, celebrates our having completed the Pentateuch in the synagogue during the year. I'D LIKE TO suggest a third way of considering the transformation of Shmini Atzeret into Simhat Torah. The Talmud describes a would-be proselyte approaching Hillel with the request to be taught the entire Torah "on one leg." Ignoring the arrogance of the question, Hillel replies with the following principle: "What is hateful unto you don't do unto others," a mirror image of the verse in Leviticus "Love thy neighbor as thyself." (Lev. 19:18) "This is the Torah; as for the rest, go and study it" [B.T. Shabbat 31b]. A hassidic interpretation plays with the phrase translated as "on one leg," which can also mean "one festival," and transforms the nature of the query: "Teach me the entire Torah; [teach me] about the one festival whose significance is not explained biblically..." a reference to Shmini Atzeret. And Hillel responds that this is a festival of brotherly love . A textual source for this interpretation may be no further away than the Targum Onkelos, who translates atzeret to mean gathering, a festival of togetherness. First and foremost, then, Shmini Atzeret celebrates the indelible linkage between all Jews. Nice words, but how can this be accomplished? The fact is that Shmini Atzeret, the Eighth Day Gathering, is the conclusion of Succot during which - at least in a midrashic sense - all of Israel has become united. On Succot we are commanded to lift up the "four species": the etrog, the palm frond, the myrtle, and the hoshana, a weeping willow - and we must hold them together, in an inseparable bond! The Midrash compares the Four Species to four kinds of Jews. The etrog, blessed with both pleasant taste and pleasant fragrance, symbolizes a Jew with both Torah learning and good deeds; the palm branch's fruit, with pleasant taste but no fragrance, represents the Jew who has Torah but no good deeds; the myrtle, fragrant but tasteless, represents the Jew with good deeds but no Torah learning. And the hoshana, the willow, which has neither fragrance nor taste, represents those Jews who have neither learning nor good deeds. Of the four, the willow is the first to spoil. After seven days of performing the mitzvot with all four species tied together, on Hoshana Rabba - the last day of Succot, the day preceding Shmini Atzeret - we put them all down and pick up the least of them, the hoshana, and call the day "the Great Hoshana." The sages are saying that every Jew (and by extension every human being) contains the potential for greatness. Many individuals seem almost empty, but, in the words of the Tzemah Tzedek, the Jews are compared to the "sand on the shore of the sea," because sand may appear to be worthless grains, but conceals rich resources. Simhat Torah immediately follows Hoshana Rabba, loudly proclaiming the intrinsic grandeur of each and every Jew. Every Israelite is called to the Torah. He doesn't have to come up with charity receipts and testimonials. A hoshana rabba! In this sense, Simhat Torah is radically different from Shavuot, when we stay up all night studying Torah. Since every person has a different capacity to study, the joy is dependent upon the individual's ability to penetrate the mysteries of Torah. But on Simhat Torah, the rejoicing in the Torah does not depend on individual understanding. On Simhat Torah every Jew gets a hakafa, a chance to dance with the Torah, every Jew makes a blessing on it; even children are called up. Thus Hillel's answer to the proselyte is for the Jewish people to turn to each other on Shmini Atzeret - Simhat Torah - and to love our fellow Jews just because we congregate together, just because we are one people. We must love each other, respect each other and rejoice in our common destiny - and learn from each other that the Torah is not complete unless every Jew is included. Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameah ------------------ Rabbi Riskin, dean of the Ohr Torah Stone colleges and graduate programs, is chief rabbi of Efrat. (c) 1998 The Jerusalem Post
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