T orah P ortion
The Day We Stop in the Name of Love
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Oct. 9
Oct. 16
6:11 p.m.

6:01 p.m.

prayer for rain (Geshem) is
added to the repetition of Musaf
and thus begins the period
of an additional call for the
appropriate amount of rain in
the year ahead in our prayers,
which lasts until Passover.

The earliest rabbinic refer-
ence to Shemini Atzeret calls
it yom tov acharon shel ha-hag,
the last day of the festival.

The Talmud (Taanit 20b-31a),
however, declares, “The eighth
day is a festival in its own right.”
At the same time, the Talmud
(Taanit 28b) attempts to distin-
guish it from Sukkot, as there
are 70 temple sacrifices given
throughout Sukkot, compared
to only one given on Shemini
Atzeret. The Sefer HaChinuch
adds that by the holiday of
Shemini Atzeret (which is the
eighth day of Sukkot), although
we have no special command-
ment on the day, we do not need
anything to focus our happiness
on the miracle of life itself and
the Source of All.

The Sefer HaChinuch goes
on to say that the sages have
told us that, in reality, Shemini
Atzeret is not the eighth day of
Sukkot, but rather a separate
holiday, which occurs at the end
of the Sukkot holiday. Building
on the midrash (Bamidbar
Rabbah 21:24), “let us now
rejoice together, you and I, with
whatever you can find ...”), the
sages are described as taking us
into the realm of “Divine inner
wrestling.” No big sacrifices,
no ornate rituals, forget the big
meal — let us keep our connec-
tion simple and focused on
our relationship, not outward
practices and symbols.

For our biblical ancestors, I
can only imagine what it meant
to look at each other face to face
in the Jerusalem where they had
gathered from so many locations
to celebrate the final big harvest.

They faced the temporality and
vulnerability of life ahead, the
reliance on rains for survival
and, in those days, a half a year
before Passover could offer the
possibility of regathering at a
time no other Jewish holidays
were on the calendar.

Will the earth be our
sustainer or our grave? Will
we live through all the uncer-
tainty ahead and be able to
gather again to rejoice in liber-
ation, freedom and just rulers
and leaders? There is much to
identify within the poignancy
and intimacy of Shemini
Atzeret that resonates with our
current political, socio-eco-
nomic and ecological upheaval.

What will the world look
like when we are next able to
gather again safely in person?
For the sages and our
people post-Temple times, they
reveal their own inner struggle
with what it means to detach
from each other after such an
intense month of introspec-
tion, soul-baring and then
harvesting our experience.

They interpret God’s longing
and difficulty of saying goodbye
into the eighth day of Sukkot as
telling us “Please, stay with me
one more day, as it is difficult
for me to part with you, so I will
add on one more day, so you
can spend with me and each
other before your departure”
(Rashi on Leviticus 23:36).

The Zohar further suggests
that we may have some leftover
spiritual work from all the
Holy Days, which is to forgive
ourselves for our failings and
also commit to the change we
may have become aware of
needing to enact. “From now
on, for one day, let me and you
rejoice. This is the meaning
of the verse “On the eighth
day you shall have a solemn
assembly; ‘you’ means offering
sacrifices for yourselves”
(Zohar 3, Emor 104:2).

When all the prayers have
been offered for the Yamim
Noraim and Sukkot, all the high
rituals and sermons offered —
our tradition, in ever-evolving
interpretation and expression,
brings us back to each other,
the earth and the breath of all
life in the bonds of love.

I would add to the centuries
of thought, “If you remember
nothing else — remember our
connection, remember the
love that exists by virtue of
creation itself, and our ability
to be together as all people and
creatures these last days, and
seal that love and connection
in your own hearts for time-re-
lease over the year ahead. We
will leave our intense days of
communal return, reflection
and celebration to meet the
future head on and be active
players in it for the sake of
peace, justice, liberty and a
fairly represented voice for
all. Remember in the quiet
of Shemini Atzeret that love
remains when all the external
trappings fade.”
As we gather to celebrate
Shemini Atzeret, we remind
ourselves that this content does
not depend on a particular
commandment, place or situa-
tion. Stop — in the name of love! l
criticism from more secular
Israelis about why the entire
Continued from Page 13
country is under lockdown. But
even without those cases, the
to murder earlier this month. country would have an infec-
And the Shas Council of Torah tion rate that exceeds what
Sages on Sept. 29 called for public health experts say is safe.

prayer services to be held outside
only and according to current “Don’t call me a freier”
coronavirus regulations.

The word “ freier” in Hebrew
Right now, haredi Israelis roughly translates to “sucker”
make up 40% of new cases, — someone who gets taken
despite amounting to just 12% advantage of. Avoiding being a
of the population. That propor- freier is a top priority in Israeli
tion has continued to generate culture these days — a concept
that is a far cry from the socialist
kibbutz culture that reigned in
the country’s early days.

In the context of the
pandemic and social distancing,
the anti-freier line of thinking
goes: Why should I adhere to
the coronavirus restrictions
when I see my neighbors and
friends flouting the rules? Why
should they enjoy the opened
economy and life without a
mask, and not me?
That culture may be hurting
Israel’s ability to contain the
virus. In Haaretz, Anshel Pfeffer
wrote that Israelis have been “too
busy looking at other sectors
and demanding ‘equal’ rights to
be infected.” In The Jerusalem
Post, Liat Collins wrote, “Now
is the time to fear the spread of
corona, not the Israeli fear of
being considered a ‘ freier.’”
There’s also the psycholog-
ical downside of that successful
reputation for rising to meet a
crisis. More Israelis have died
of COVID-19 than from terror
attacks, but with sickness and
death hidden away inside
hospitals, the pandemic is not
eliciting the same reaction.

“Israelis can sometimes be a
little bit too resilient,” said Alison
Kaplan Sommer, a journalist at
Haaretz, said during a recent
panel discussion. “Our fear
threshold is very high. We lived
through all of these traumas
and all of these wars and that’s
damaged us in our ability to
take this virus seriously. ... The
national psychology is a big part
of the story.” l
BY RABBI SHAWN ZEVIT
Shemini Atzeret
“ON THE EIGHTH DAY (of
Sukkot), you will have a holy
day ... it is a day of cessation,
of quiet and solemn gathering
(“Atzeret”) (Leviticus 23:36).

This Shabbat and weekend
— depending on whether you
celebrate seven or eight days of
Sukkot and, depending on this,
whether you combine or add
on to the eighth day the later
celebratory day of Simchat Torah,
completing the yearly cycle
of Torah reading — comes the
rather obscure Shemini Atzeret.

A part of Sukkot? A separate
festival in its own right? The
Torah leaves it open for us to
interpret. Although the observances
of Shemini Atzeret generally
share the characteristics of the
rest of Sukkot, there are four
significant differences.

The first is that there is no
more shaking of the lulav and
etrog. Second is that although
we have our meals and recite
Kiddush in the sukkah (though
customs vary), we no longer
say the blessing to sanctify us
through the commandment
to dwell in it, as we did the
previous seven days. The third
is that in the synagogue, after
the Torah reading, we recite
the memorial prayer (Yizkor).

And finally, the special
Israel 28
OCTOBER 8, 2020
JEWISH EXPONENT
Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit is the
rabbi at Mishkan Shalom in
Philadelphia, co-founder/director
of the Davennen Leader’s Training
Institute, associate director of the
ALEPH Hashpa’ah program and co-
chair of the clergy caucus of POWER
Interfaith PA. The Board of Rabbis
of Greater Philadelphia is proud to
provide diverse perspectives on
Torah commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. The opinions expressed
in this column are the author’s own
and do not reflect the view of the
Board of Rabbis.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM