Rabbi Heller's Blog

I’m a last-minute kind of person, which is why I appreciate the holidays of Hoshana Raba (Friday) Shemini Atzeret (Saturday) and Simchat Torah (Sunday). Each of them has a distinct flavor, with opportunities for repentance, spiritual growth, and joy, but all of them represent a different aspect of the closing of a season.

Hoshana Raba is the last day of Sukkot, the last opportunity to shake lulav or sit in a sukkah as a mitzvah, but it’s much more than that. It’s the end of the whole High Holiday season, and it is really the last “closing of the books” on the Jewish year that ended. If on Rosh Hashanah God writes in the book of life, and Yom Kippur the book is sealed, there is still time to make changes until Hoshana Raba. Hoshana Raba has the most unusual liturgy of the year, using melodies from Sukkot, from the weekday service, and even from the high holidays! We end the service with the remarkable ritual of beating willow branches against the ground to turn evil decrees into good.

A lot of people think of Shemini Atzeret as the end of Sukkot, but it’s really a holiday unto itself. Shemini Atzeret doesn’t commemorate anything. So why observe it? By now we should be “holidayed out.” But even so, God says “just stick around a little longer!” It’s kind of like when you are leaving an event, and it can be difficult to depart expeditiously. You delay and savor every last moment. You have to say goodbye to the host, to this guest, to that guest. You linger in the lobby, you schmooze in the parking lot.

The final holiday of this triad is Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah is the antidote to postponed departures. Though 5783 has been over for three weeks, it is only now that we end our reading of the Torah for the year. We are reluctant to take leave of this holy book, but we are comforted by an immediate return, as we promptly begin again with Genesis.

Shakespeare’s Juliet says “parting is such sweet sorrow.” On Simchat Torah the sorrow of parting is made sweeter in knowing that there will be a swift and joyful return, and that we will be celebrating with singing, dancing, food and drink!