What is Sh’mini Atzeret?

A Jewish Joke:

Q: On what holiday do we eat mini-muffins for breakfast?

A: Sh’-mini Atzeret

Sh’mini Atzeret “on one foot”:

Sh’mini Atzeret is a Jewish holiday in the fall. It is the eighth day after the seven days of Sukkot. It marks the beginning of the rainy season in the Land of Israel, which was super-important because Israel is unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia because there were no major rivers which regularly overflowed and helped the crops grow. There is no reason given in the Torah for Sh’mini Atzeret, which allows it to be a day where we can just focus on being together.

What is Sh’mini Atzeret?

Sh’mini Atzeret, sometimes called “Shemini Atzeret” or “Shmini Atzeret”, is the eighth day at the end of Sukkot. The name literally means “eighth of gathering” (sometimes translated as “The Eighth Day of Assembly”), and it comes from the idea that the eighth day of Sukkot is one more day of gathering together, with other Jews and/or with G-d. While in Biblical times Sukkot (and Sh’mini Atzeret) was a pilgrimage festival when the Israelites would gather in Jerusalem, today it is a holiday of gathering together in synagogue and with other Jews (and/or non-Jews) for holiday meals. Thus the idea still holds today. The word “Atzeret” comes from the Hebrew root “atzor”, which can either mean “stop” (like “la-atzor” in modern Hebrew), or “stop and gather” (the Biblical Hebrew meaning). The “stop” potentially refers to stopping the special holidays and just focusing on “gathering”.

When is Sh’mini Atzeret?

Sh’mini Atzeret is the eighth day of Sukkot. Sukkot starts on Tishrei 15, so Sh’mini Atzeret is on Tishrei 22. This puts it somewhere in September or October. In Israel and for Reform Jews outside of Israel, Simchat Torah also happens on the same day as Sh’mini Atzeret.

What is the Greeting on Sh’mini Atzeret?

There are two possible options. You can greet somebody with “Chag Sameach”, which is Hebrew for “Happy Holiday”, or you could greet somebody with “Gut yuntif”, which is Yiddish for “A good holiday”. The response is usually to echo back however you were greeted. According to a Jewish joke, the appropriate greeting for the Pope on Sh’mini Atzeret is “Good yuntif, pontiff!”.

Why Do We Have Sh’mini Atzeret?

The short answer is: because it says so in the Torah. Here’s what it says about Sh’mini Atzeret:

This is from the holiday cycle in the Biblical Book of Leviticus. The Biblical calendar started in the month of Nisan, when Passover is, so Tishrei, the month of Sukkot, would be the seventh month. From this text, we learn that the eighth (“Sh’mini”) day is sacred, you should bring a fire offering, it is a gathering (“Atzeret”), and that you shouldn’t do work on this day.

What Kind of Fire Offering?

This is the other thing that the Torah tells us about Sh’mini Atzeret. It comes from the holiday sacrifice section of the Book of Numbers, and is basically the Sacred BBQ menu for Sh’mini Atzeret. Now that we don’t have the Temple anymore to offer these sacrifices, this is part of the Torah reading for Sh’mini Atzeret.

So if Sh’mini Atzeret Involved Sacrifices, and We Can’t Do That Now, What Do We Do on Sh’mini Atzeret?

The Bible actually gives us an example. After the Israelites returned from the Babylonian Captivity (around 537 BCE), they hadn’t rebuilt the Temple yet. When they learned about Sukkot and Sh’mini Atzeret from Ezra and Nehemiah, they set out to observe it anyway.

So for them it was a time of gathering. And today?

On the one hand, Sh’mini Atzeret is like other festivals (the first day(s) of Sukkot, the first and last day(s) of Passover, and Shavuot). It has evening and morning services with the special festival nusach (way of chanting prayers), and it has opportunity to have special meals with family and/or friends.

On the other hand, Sh’mini Atzeret is unlike the other festivals — there are no special foods for Sh’mini Atzeret and there are no special ritual objects used for the holiday. The closest thing to appropriate food would be fall harvest foods because Sukkot is a fall harvest holiday.

How is Sh’mini Atzeret Similar and Different from Sukkot?

Sh’mini Atzeret is definitely not Sukkot. For instance, we wave lulav and etrog on Sukkot (though not on Shabbat), but we don’t use lulav and etrog on Sh’mini Atzeret. The name for the holiday that we use during Festival Kiddush and the Festival Musaf Amidah is also different from that of Sukkot.

On the other hand, Sh’mini Atzeret is right after Sukkot ends. Thus the traditional tune for “Mi Chamocha” in the evening Festival service is the same on both Sukkot and Sh’mini Atzeret. Also, the nickname for both Sukkot and Sh’mini Atzeret is “Z’man Simchateinu”, “the time of our happiness”. The traditional tune for the beginning of Psalm 118 (“Hodu Ladonai Ki Tov”) is the Na-anu-im tune used on Sukkot, even though lulav is not shaken.

This is Cantor Rollin Simmons of Emanu El in Houston, chanting “Mi Chamocha” with the traditional “Na-anu’im” tune used for that prayer during evening Festival services on Sukkot and Sh’mini Atzeret.

Do We Eat in a Sukkah on Sh’mini Atzeret?

There was a controversy over this. The compromise was that you do eat in the sukkah (it’s still up since you can’t take it down on the holiday), but you don’t say the blessing for eating in the sukkah because it’s no longer the holiday of Sukkot and there’s no command to eat in a sukkah on Sh’mini Atzeret.

How is Sh’mini Atzeret Similar and Different from other Last Days of Festivals?

Simchat Torah wasn’t invented until the Middle Ages, and in Israel it is on the same day as Sh’mini Atzeret. Thus, when the rules were getting developed, Sh’mini Atzeret was the last day of Sukkot. Therefore, it has things in common with the last day of Passover, the last day of Shavuot, and at least one thing in common with Yom Kippur (the last day of the High Holidays).

Jewish tradition recognizes that holidays are a time when we might especially be thinking of people in our lives who have died. Therefore, on Sh’mini Atzeret, the last day of Passover, the last day of Shavuot, and Yom Kippur have an extra part of the service added called “Yizkor”, a word from the Hebrew root “to remember”. While some people leave during Yizkor if their parents are alive, many people stay either because they are remember other people who have died or because they want to provide a supportive presence to those who are remembering friends and family. Synagogues that have lightbulbs by yahrtzeit plaques (plaques indicating the anniversary of a death) will turn on all of the lightbulbs for Sh’mini Atzeret along with the other days that Yizkor is recited.

Sh’mini Atzeret is also similar to the last day of Passover and the last day of Shavuot because the Torah reading is (mostly) the same.

What is the Torah Reading for Sh’mini Atzeret?

The Torah reading for all the final Festival days (on Sh’mini Atzeret, Passover, and Shavuot) is Deuteronomy 15:19-16:17. This is the Deuteronomy version of these three festivals. Sh’mini Atzeret also includes Deuteronomy 14:22-15:18 as part of its reading, possibly because of the extra insistence on providing joy during this particular harvest festival (Sephardim do not add these verses when Sh’mini Atzeret falls on a weekday). When Sh’mini Atzeret is on a weekday, Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17 is divided into five aliyot (Torah readings); when the holiday is on Shabbat the same verses are divided into seven aliyot.

The Maftir, or additional Torah reading, for Sh’mini Atzeret is Numbers 29:35-30:1. This describes the sacrifices offered on Sh’mini Atzeret. Once Simchat Torah became a separate holiday on the next day (outside of Israel for Conservative and Orthodox Jews), the Maftir Torah Reading for Sh’mini Atzeret became assigned to Simchat Torah as well.

In Israel and for the Reform Movement, Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are on the same day and so the Simchat Torah reading (the end and beginning of the Torah) is what is read.

What’s the Haftarah for Sh’mini Atzeret?

The Haftarah, or additional reading from the Prophets, for Sh’mini Atzeret is from 1 Kings 8:54-66 (as decided in the Babylonian Talmud — Megillah 31a:15). This Haftarah is about how King Solomon dedicated the First Temple during the holiday of Sukkot. It was chosen because it talks about the eighth day at the end of Sukkot, and Sh’mini Atzeret is the eighth day at the end of Sukkot (verse 66). Note that the fact that we have Biblical accounts of Jews dedicating a Temple in Jerusalem is evidence that we were there 3,000 years ago (Solomon is thought to have lived around 1000 BCE).

In Israel and for the Reform Movement, Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are on the same day and so the Simchat Torah Haftarah (the beginning of the Book of Joshua) is what is read.

Are There Special Prayers on Sh’mini Atzeret?

Yes. Sh’mini Atzeret marks the beginning of the rainy season in the Land of Israel, so we start adding the line מַשִּׁיב הָרֽוּחַ וּמוֹרִיד הַגֶּֽשֶׁם (mashiv haru’ach umorid hagashem) “Causer of the wind to blow and the rain to fall” to the second paragraph, the G’vurot Blessing, of every Amidah until the first day of Passover.

This doesn’t start until Musaf of Sh’mini Atzeret, though. At that point, the cantor or other person leading the prayers does a special prayer called “Geshem”, meaning “Rain”. This prayer calls for G-d to remember our Biblical ancestors and their experiences with water, and thus for their sake send rain to us. Several variations of this text can be found in Appendix B. Often the cantor will wear a kittel (white robe for this), heartening back to the High Holiday nusach (chanting) used for the introduction to this prayer. Because the Land of Israel was so dependent on rainfall in order for crops to grow and people to be able to eat, prayers for rain were literally a matter of life and death. By the cantor wearing the kittel, we are reminded how much we are in awe of G-d’s ability to control our lives.

Additionally, in the Festival Evening Kiddush and the Musaf Amidah, Sh’mini Atzeret is referred to as “hash’mini chag ha-atzeret hazeh” (“The Eighth Day, the Festival of Gathering”), and the Festival Musaf Amidah refers to the sacrifices brought on that holiday in the Temple (since Musaf replaces the extra holiday sacrifices).

Some people also add Psalm 65 on Sh’mini Atzeret when they do the Psalms of the Day. This is most likely because of the reference to rain and harvests in verses 10-14: “give the earth drink”, “God’s streams fill with water, producing grain, for this is the way You ordered them”, “fill the canals”, etc.

This is Cantor Neil Schwartz reciting the “Geshem” prayer.

Susan Tarcov wrote a 2016 book, Maya Prays for Rain, about a girl who doesn’t want to start praying for rain because everybody in her neighborhood has plans that would be ruined by rain. When she asks the rabbi to cancel the prayer, he explains that the rain they are praying for will fall in Israel.

Avraham Infeld was the International President of Hillel from 2003-2006. Here he tells a similar story about when he was a boy in South Africa, and how he was confused because “nobody in South Africa wants rain in October”. This is part of his longer talk about “the five-legged stool” of Jewish identity.

Because one of the Big Ideas of Sh’mini Atzeret is water access in Israel, it is appropriate to note that the Jewish National Fund (JNF) is continuing to work on this issue today, 3,200 years after the Jews entered the Land of Israel under Joshua (dating based on when the pottery changed and the pig-bones disappeared from the archeological record there). You can read about their work with reservoirs, water drilling, river rehabilitation, research and development, and water recycling here: https://www.jnf.org/our-work/water-solutions. Israel in general has focused on making the best of the water resources they have, developing and sharing with other countries technology like drip irrigation (monitoring how much water each individual plant needs rather than spraying the same amount everywhere), desalination (turning salt water into drinkable water), and water recycling (Israel now recycles a world-leading 85% of its water).

PJ Library has a rain-focused Sh’mini Atzeret mini-episode of their podcast “Have I Got a Story For You”. You can listen to it above.

Are There Any Other Big Ideas of Sh’mini Atzeret?

There is another big idea of Sh’mini Atzeret besides rain. Rashi, the 11th century French commentator on the Bible and Talmud, was confused why there was the need for an extra day to the holiday of Sukkot, and why it had this particular name. He quotes the Babylonian Talmud (Sukkah 55b:9-10), which aligns with the midrashic texts Pesikta d’Rav Kahana (28:9) and Bamidbar Rabba (21:24), as follows:

This is also based on noticing that in Numbers 29, there are 70 bulls offered in total on Sukkot, and there are considered to be 70 nations in the world (at least in the time of the Talmud). Meanwhile, the Sh’mini Atzeret sacrifice is only 1 bull and the Jewish people are only 1 people.

So what does this all mean? It means that Sukkot is a special time for being with G-d and also for hosting lots of people in our sukkah. It’s at the end of a long period of holidays, of special days that are different from our ordinary lives. Sh’mini Atzeret gives us one more day to not worry about any rituals, just to have time together, with each other and with G-d (this line of thinking developed before Simchat Torah became a thing in the Medieval period).

Are There Special Dances for Sh’mini Atzeret?

No. However, Isaiah 12:3 is a verse about drawing water:

The line ushavtem mayim b’sason mima-y’nei ha-y’shua is part of the Havdalah ceremony at the end of Shabbat. It’s also an Israeli dance, choreographed by Elza Dublon to a tune by Imanuel Amiran:

For a variation on this dance, see here: https://youtu.be/YYEk0qalvsU?si=g_C8e0bxooIqyTMi

Appendix A: Sh’mini Atzeret in The Observant Life

Edited by Martin Cohen

The final two days of Sukkot are, at least formally, a totally separate holiday. The Torah itself makes this clear and unclear at the same time, defining Sh’mini Atzeret as the eighth day of Sukkot at the same time that it grants it independent existence in the festival calendar: “Seven days you shall bring gifts to God,” the Torah states, “and then, on the eighth day, you shall observe a sacred festival and bring a gift to God; it is to be a solemn gathering” (Hebrew: atzeret; Leviticus 23:36).

Unfortunately, the Torah does not offer any additional details regarding the nature of this eighth day of assembly. Some suggest that since the pilgrims of ancient times had traveled long distances to be in Jerusalem for Sukkot, it was merely a kindness for Scripture to add one additional day of enforced leisure and worship to the festival. Others imagined that it was, so to speak, God whom the Torah was treating kindly, almost as though God could be imagined to wish for one final day to enjoy the pilgrims’ presence in the Holy City (Rashi on Leviticus 23:36). Still others suggest that it demonstrates a reluctance on the pilgrims’ own part to leave God’s holy presence. But whatever the real reason for Sh’mini Atzeret, the holiday season finally concludes at the end of Sukkot. After celebrating all these demanding yet endlessly satisfying holy days, it is now time to return to a more normal routine.

If it’s not clear exactly what Scripture means Sh’mini Atzeret to be, it is clear what it is not. It is not, for example, Sukkot. As a result, we do not continue the observances that are most notably connected to that holiday: the lulav and etrog are not used during the service, and dwelling in the sukkah is not required. There are actually a variety of customs with respect to eating in the sukkah on Sh’mini Atzeret. Some people do not use the sukkah at all, but others continue to eat in it and even to say Kiddush in it. No one, however, recites the blessing over “dwelling” in the sukkah on Sh’mini Atzeret, however, because doing so is not, formally speaking, the fulfillment of a commandment.

The laws for lighting candles on Sh’mini Atzeret are the same as on Shabbat (except that the custom of the waving of one’s hands over the flames and covering the eyes while the blessing is recited is not don as on Shabbat, because a flame can be transferred on Sh’mini Atzeret as on the other festivals and there is no need to have lit the candles before reciting the blessing). The blessing is barukh atta adonai, eloheinu, melekh ha-Olam, asher kidd’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivvanu l’hadlik ner shel yom tov (“Praised are You, Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the universe, who, sanctifying us with divine commandments, has commanded us to kindle the festival lamp”). This is followed by the She-hecheyyanu blessing [or perhaps that comes at the end of the Festival Kiddush -DS], which as mentioned above is recited on Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. In addition a special Yizkor candle is lit just prior to the formal Sh’mini Atzeret candles by those who will be reciting the Yizkor Service on Sh’mini Atzeret. There is no blessing recited on the kindling of this candle, although many prayerbooks include appropriate devotional material to recite just before lighting the memorial candle.

The liturgy of Sh’mini Atzeret is very much like the liturgy of other festival days. Where the worshipper is called upon the name the festival, however, the phrase yom ha-sh’mini chag ha-atzeret hazeh (“this eighth day of festival observance”) is inserted into the text of the prayers. The Torah reading for Sh’mini Atzeret is Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17, which describes the festival calendar of ancient Israel. The reading is divided into five aliyot when the festival falls on a weekday, and into seven aliyot when it falls on Shabbat. The maftir portion read from the second Torah is Numbers 29:36-30:1. The haftarah is 1 Kings 8:54-66, an appropriate selection because it cites the blessing that begins with the words ba-yom ha-sh’mini (on the eighth day) declaimed by King Solomon on the eighth day of the celebration dedicating the Temple in Jerusalem.

Two notable liturgical additions for Sh’mini Atzeret are the recitation of the Yizkor Service of memorial and the prayer for rain that is added into the second blessing of the Amidah during the Musaf Service when the cantor or prayer leader repeats the prayer aloud. (The text of the prayer may be found in any traditional prayerbook.). It is customary for the cantor or prayer leader to don a white robe, colloquially called a kittel by Ashkenazic Jews, for the recitation of this prayer and to use a special melody, reminiscent of certain tunes sung during the High Holidays, in chanting the prayer. The prayer concludes with a declaration that it is God who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall. From this moment forward, these words — the Hebrew is mashiv ha-ru’ach u-morid ha-gashem — are interpolated into the second blessing of the Amidah and remain in place until the prayer for dew is recited on the first day of Passover. It is the custom in some synagogues for worshipers to include these words in the Amidah when it is recited silently, even before the cantor or prayer leader has changed them aloud in the repetition of the Amidah (comment of the Rema to SA Orach Chayyim 114:2). Other congregations wait until after the cantor or prayer leader chants the prayer before instructing worshipers to include it in their personal prayers. In such synagogues, therefore, the first time worshipers include the words mashiv ha-ru’ach u-morid ha-gashem in the silent Amidah would be during the Afternoon Service on Sh’mini Atzeret.

We begin including this prayer for rain at the end of Sukkot and stop reciting it just before Passover because pilgrims to Jerusalem in ancient times did not wish for rain during either pilgrimage holiday.

The prayer for rain recited on Sh’mini Atzeret and its companion prayer for dew recited on the first day of Passover are intimately connected with the cycle of seasons in the Land of Israel. The ancients needed little reminder of the importance of regular rainfall (or of life-sustaining dew during the dry season), but it sometimes takes a hurricane or an earthquake to remind moderns to what extent we remain at the mercy of natural forces far beyond human control. This is one of the reasons we retain these prayers, even outside the Land of Israel where they are the most relevant in terms of the actual climate. Reciting them is also a dramatic affirmation of the connection Jewish worshippers the world over maintain to the Land of Israel.

P. 182-184

Appendix B: The Text of “Geshem”

From Siddur Lev Shalem

The Ashkenazic “male-centric” traditional version:

An Ashkenazic egalitarian version:

A traditional non-gendered Sephardic version:

Appendix C: “October Rain” Lyrics

The October 7th attack on Israel in 2023 happened on Sh’mini Atzeret. Eden Golan wrote a song that was Israel’s entry to the 2024 Eurovision Contest, referencing the prayer for rain on Sh’mini Atzeret:

[Verse 1]
Writers of the history
Stand with me
Look into my eyes and see
People go away but never say goodbye

[Verse 2]
Someone stole the moon tonight
Took my light
Everything is black and white
Who's the fool who told you boys don't cry?

[Pre-Chorus]
Hours and hours and flowers
Life is no game for the cowards
Why does time go wild
Every day I'm losing my mind
Holding on in this mysterious ride

[Chorus]
Dancing in the storm
We got nothing to hide
Take me home
And leave the world behind
And I promise you that never again
I'm still wet from this October rain
October rain

[Verse 3]
Living in a fantasy
Ecstasy
Everything's meant to be
We shall pass but love will never die

[Pre-Chorus]
Hours and hours and flowers
Life is no game for the cowards
Why does time go wild
Every day I'm losing my mind
Holding on in this mysterious ride

[Chorus]
Dancing in the storm
We got nothing to hide
Take me home
And leave the world behind
And I promise you that never again
I'm still wet from this October rain
October rain
October rain

[Outro]
לא נשאר אוויר לנשום
אין מקום
אין אותי מיום ליום
כולם ילדים טובים אחד אחד

https://genius.com/Eden-golan-october-rain-lyrics

Israel was asked to redo its entry to Eurovision in 2024 because its song was “too political”. This was the version that was accepted. Israel placed first in its semi-final out of 16 countries and came in fifth in the final out of 25 countries.