Shemini Atzeres 5781: The Festival of Holding On

 Click here for a printer-friendly version of this article.

Artwork: Secluded Steppe, by Noah Bradley

Shemini Atzeres 5781: The Festival of Holding On

The thematic identity of Shemini Atzeres is obscure for a number of reasons, among them: 

(1) “Shemini” (“eighth”) indicates that this is the eighth day of the seven-day Chag ha’Sukkos, and would therefore share in its themes. This supposition is reinforced by the fact that we refer to both moadim (holidays) as “zman simchaseinu” (“the time of our rejoicing”). Halachically, however, Shemini Atzeres is regarded as a chag bifnei atzmo (its own independent festival), which suggests – or at least leaves open the possibility – that it has its own thematic identity, separate from that of Sukkos. 

(2) The word “Atzeres” is subject to a number of different translations, including “assembly,”[1] “detainment,”[2] “refraining,”[3] “lordship”[4] and more. Unlike “Pesach” and “Sukkos,” it is difficult to deduce the theme of this holiday from its name.

(3) This problem is compounded by the fact that the seventh day of Pesach is also called “Atzeres” in the Torah. What relationship does it have to Shemini Atzeres, if any? [5]

(4) The other Regalim (Pilgrimage Festivals) each have their own mitzvos which reflect their themes. In contrast, Shemini Atzeres has no special mitzvos associated with its observance.

(5) There are few clues provided in the text of the Written Torah to help us figure out what it is that we are celebrating, other than the cryptic, “It shall be an atzeres for you” (Vayikra 23:36).

In his commentary on that phrase, Rashi [6] offers an explanation based on a midrash [7]:

“it is an atzeres” (lit. “a holding-back”) [means] “I have held you back with Me,” like a king who invited his children to a [festive] meal for a certain number of days, and when it was time for them to depart, he said, “My children, please stay with me one more day, for our parting is difficult for me.”

It would appear that Rashi is doing more than just weighing in on the translation of “atzeres” as “a holding-back.” It would seem that the midrash he cites sheds light on the theme of Shemini Atzeres, namely, that it represents an effort on the part of Hashem to “hold back” His children (as it were), because He finds our departure difficult. Obviously, this is intended to be understood allegorically. The question is: What is the meaning of the allegory?

Rav Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg [8] cites Rashi and explains the import of the allegory:

In this manner we can also say that from our perspective the last Yom Tov of Pesach and of Sukkos are called “atzeres,” meaning “being held back,” [referring to] the difficulty of separation on account of all the precious lessons we have acquired in our souls through Hashem’s moadim and the preparation for sanctity that we have attained through them – because it is only for this reason that they are called “Mikraei Kodesh,” as we have explained above. [We ask that these lessons] be “held back” with us, and remain with us even after the conclusion of the festival, and regarding these spiritual lessons which we have internalized over the days of the festival, that we not abandon them when the moed ends. 

According to Rav Mecklenburg, Hashem’s reluctance to part ways with His children is a metaphor for our reluctance to part ways with the moadim, and all the lessons and sanctity we have gained through their observance, for it is these perfections that have brought us “close” to Hashem during these designated times of sanctity.

Strictly speaking, the cycle of moadim should end with Hoshana Rabbah, the last day of chol ha’moed Sukkos. If that were the case, however, we would be at risk of returning to our normal non-Moadim life and losing all of the gains we had made along the way. 

To counteract this eventuality, Hashem established the “extra” moed of Shemini Atzeres – endowed with its own kedushah (sanctity), but without its own mitzvos or independent themes – as an opportunity to reflect on the insights we have gleaned over the course of all the moadim, and to face the fact that unless we take care to “hold on” to what we have gained, we will be in danger of slipping back into the same mindset and habits we had before being enlightened and transformed by the moadim. 

At the end of his comments here Rav Mecklenburg refers the reader to his commentary on Parashas Pinchas [9] where he elaborates on the purpose of the moadim in general and the connection to the role of Shemini Atzeres:

According to all of the explanations [listed above] it is necessary to clarify why the Torah singles out the last day [of Pesach and Sukkos] by the name “atzeres.” [The answer,] it seems, is that the Torah nicknamed it this in order to teach us something of tremendous benefit, namely, that since people’s desires for temporal acquisitions are very powerful, and the labor for them weighs heavily upon them, and the more one increases them the more he diminishes eternal acquisitions, therefore it was the goal of the God-given Torah to free people from this great servitude which has no benefit and to exchange it for the kabbalas malchus shamayim (the acceptance of heavenly kingship). [10]

For this reason [the Torah] established the Moadei Hashem which, according to their straightforward objective, is to provide us with a great motivation not to be excessively involved in transitory possessions, but only to the extent that is necessary, and to only strive to acquire them except insofar as we need, and only in accordance with the avodah commanded in the God-given Torah, in order to give our souls success in the eternal world. 

For this reason they are called “Moadei Hashem,” meaning “designated times for godly matters,” far removed from the various types of striving for temporal possessions. These times designated exclusively for avodas Hashem (divine service) will make a great impression upon our souls, enabling us to acquire a firm disposition to reject excess worldly possessions in order that our striving after them during the days of the week will not be for their own sake, but for the benefit which results from them in attaining the true and eternal purpose. 

Therefore these moadim are also called by the name “Mikraei Kodesh” (lit. “Holy Convocations”) the intent of which – as we explained in Emor – is [to convey] “preparation and readying for sanctity,” in reference to the precious lessons that are alluded to [in the Moadim] in order to motivate us to separate ourselves from the excesses of this world and from striving after temporal possessions; our preparedness for sanctity in the moadei Hashem will serve as a great [precautionary] fence and a universal remedy for the time period which follows after the moed, when we return to matters of material involvement, so that we don’t deviate through them from the path that is proper for an elevated person, and that we direct all of our activities and movements exclusively towards a sublime purpose, to the extent that our necessary involvement in This World for our material bodies is only in order to draw its existence towards the true perfection of serving its Creator, or to that which is instrumental in His service. 

In order [to ensure] that this desirable purpose remains after the festival is over, clinging to holy thoughts that we have acquired during the days of the moed, without distancing them from our souls upon the completion of the moed, but they should be “held back” with us with all the powers of our souls for the upcoming time period – it is for this reason the last day of Pesach and Sukkos is called by the name “atzeres” (the “Festival of Holding On” [11]), that is to say, a day on which we strengthen ourselves with all of our might to seize with our souls the precious lessons we have internalized for all the days of the festival, and to not abandon them with the conclusion of the festival, but to retain them with us and to bring the preparedness for sanctity of the days of the festival from potentiality to actuality in the days of work that will follow after the festival.

According to Rav Mecklenberg, the general purpose of the Moadim – aside from the specific themes of each moed – is to properly frame our involvement in material acquisitions, recognizing that these possessions are only temporary, and that the more we strive after them, the more we forfeit our true success, which is eternal. The six-month period of time after the cycle of moadim, from the end of Tishrei until the middle of Nisan, poses a unique threat. During this time we are exclusively occupied with the day-to-day labor of acquiring our material needs. There is a real danger that the impact of the Moadim will wear off. To counteract this we were given the final chag of Shemini Atzeres to ready ourselves for the metaphysical winter that will soon follow. [12]

I think it’s safe to say for most (if not all) of us, the cycle of moadim this year – the year of COVID-19 – has resulted in a unique set of transformational insights. Our Pesach, our Shavuos, and our Sukkos this year have been different from all other years. [13] At each point along the way, we have experienced highs and lows. We have learned things about each other and about ourselves, as individuals, as a nation, and as a species. The insights generated by the plague have intermingled with the insights embedded in the moadim and their mitzvos, resulting in new perspectives that might otherwise never have been brought to mind. And the winter we will soon face may be one of the darkest in our lifetimes. 

On this Shemini Atzeres, the “Festival of Holding On,” we will have the opportunity to contemplate the personal growth we have undergone in these past seven months and to ready ourselves for the months to follow. This will be a Yom Tov, a time to have simchah (joy) in our material and metaphysical portion. But as Shlomo ha’Melech said, “let him rejoice in all of them, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many” (Koheles 11:8). We must not content ourselves with the illusion that the clarity we have gained from the moadim of the year of COVID-19 will remain with us. If we wish to retain what our souls have acquired, then it is in our best interest to use this final chag to reflect, to mobilize, and to strategize ways to hold on to this year’s life lessons. Because if not now, then when? When we are in the throes of this coming year, with all its uncertainties? “Give portions to seven, and also to eight, for you never know what calamity will strike the land” (Koheles 11:2). Do not content yourself with having made progress through these past seven months. Secure what you have gained by using Atzeres of the Eighth for its intended purpose, for you never know what this year may bring. 

I wish us all a chag sameach – one through which we may hold on to what we have gained this year.

End Notes

[1] cited but rejected by Rabbeinu Avraham ibn Ezra, Commentary on Sefer Vayikra 23:36 

[2] Rav Ovadiah Sforno, Commentary on Sefer Vayikra 23:36 

[3] Rabbeinu Shmuel ben Meir (Rashbam), Commentary on Sefer Vayikra 23:36 

[4] Don Yitzchak Abravanel, Commentary on Sefer Vayikra 23:36 

[5] Shavuos is also called “Atzeres,” but only by the Rabbis – not in the Torah itself. 

[6]  Rabbeinu Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Rashi), Commentary on Sefer Vayikra 23:36 

[7] This midrash is supposedly from Vayikra Rabbah, but I couldn’t seem to track it down. 

[8]  Rav Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, Ha’Kesav ve’ha’Kabbalah on Sefer Vayikra 23:36 

[9]  ibid. Sefer Bamidbar 29:35, with my own paragraph breaks for clarity 

[10] I cannot help but associate to one of my favorite of Thoreau’s quips in Walden: “As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” 

[11] This was our best guess at Rav Mecklenburg’s Hebrew-transliterated-into-German phrase אנהאלטספעסט"." 

[12] According to this explanation, why is the seventh day of Pesach also called “Atzeres” when it will not be followed by such a long period of non-kedushah? Perhaps because Pesach is the beginning of the harvest season – a time when we will be preoccupied with material success in a different way. There is a danger that all of the spiritual growth we underwent as a result of the Chag ha’Matzos will be overridden by the stresses and exertions of the harvest season. Although not as great of a threat as the long winter, it is enough that the Torah had to establish an Atzeres specific to the Chag ha’Matzos. 

[13] Rabbinically speaking, the themes of Pesach begin a month earlier, at Purim – and we certainly remember how Purim this year was the real turning point in our lives.