All About Yom Shemini Atzeret

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"What is Shemini Atzeret," you may ask? Well, its a commanded Biblical holy day for all believers. Here's a short guide to make your understanding of this known festival as easy as A, B, C...

A - All about the festival, a simple overview

B - Biblical references concerning the holy day

C - Celebration information on how to make the day special

A All about the festival

v Is on the 22nd day of the seventh month, immediately follows the seven day festival of Sukkot

v The name “Shemini Atzeret” literally means “eighth day of assembly” or “eighth day of gathering”

v The word “Shemini” means “eighth” in Hebrew. Eight is the number of new life and perfection. The covenant of circumcision is performed on the eighth day to complete the birth.

v The word “Atzeret” literally means to “hold back.”

v In says of Yahshua in Yochannan 7:37, “In the last day, the great day of the feast[of Sukkot]…” which is Hoshana Rabbah. In Yochannan 8:1-2, it is said, “Yahshua went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down and taught them.” This happened on the next day after Hoshana Rabbah – Shemini Atzeret. Yahshua set the example for believers by being in the Temple and keeping the festival of Shemini Atzeret.

v “A midrash provides insight into the rabbis' understanding of the festival. Playing on the word atzeret, a solemn gathering, Yahweh says to the Israelites who have assembled for Sukkot: Let me keep you near me (atzarti etcbem etzli), like a king who invited his children to a feast for a number of days. When it was time for them to leave, he said, "Children, please stay with me another day; it is hard for me to let you go." Israel is so dear to Yah that Yah wants to prolong the festival, a time when the two are especially close. We may feel exhausted after the High Holidays and a week of Sukkot, but Yahweh is eager for a little more of our company,” Deborah Weisburg

v “The eighth day was when the Israelites returned to their own houses again, and remembered how, after they had dwelt in tents in the wilderness, that they finally came to the Promised Land,” author unknown

v This day is considered a Shabbat so work is not permitted on this day

v The scriptures say that a holy assembly should take place on this day, Leviticus 23:36

v If Yahshua was born on the first of Sukkot then it was on this day that Yahshua was circumcised, “On the eighth day, when it was time for his brit-milah, he was given the name Yahshua, which is what the angel called him before his conception,” Luke 2:21

v In modern times this Biblical Holy Day has ben combined with a Jewish holiday called Simchat Torah – the combined name for both these days is “Atzeret HaTorah” or “the Assembly of the Torah”

v Unfortunately Shemini Atzeret seems to be under-appreciated by many believers, yet it is a commanded festival to Yahweh

v On this day the Rabbis have taught that one should recite a prayer called “geshem” or “rain” and ask the Father for a generous outpour for land.

v In the Scriptures rain is symbolic of the Spirit – Yochannan 7:38-39, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

v In Israel both Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret are celebrated on the same day

v The Talmud says that Shemini Atzeret actually lasts two days, encompassing Simchat Torah, Meg. 3:1a

v The eighth day of Sukkot is treated by the rabbis as a separate festival, regel bifenei azmo,” Encyclopedia Judaica

v Shemini Atzeret is not part of Sukkot and the commands of Sukkot like pilgrimage and dwelling in a sukkah do not extend to this day

B Biblical references

v Leviticus 23:39-43, “So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to Yahweh for seven days; the first day is a day of rest, and the eighth day also is a day of rest. On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before Yahweh your Elohim for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to Yahweh for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days: Athat I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am Yahweh your Elohim. So Moses announced ll native-born Israelites are to live in booths so your descendants will know to the Israelites the appointed feasts of Yahweh.”

v Numbers 29:35-40, “‘On the eighth day hold an assembly and do no regular work. Present an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to Yahweh, a burnt offering of one bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With the bull, the ram and the lambs, prepare their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering. In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings, prepare these for Yahweh at your appointed feasts: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings. Moses told the Israelites all that Yahweh commanded him.”

v Leviticus 26:4-5, “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.”

v Deuteronomy 11:13-17, “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your Elohim, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then Yahweh’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh giveth you.”

v 2 Chronicles 6:26,27, “When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.”

v Psalm 72:6-9, “He hall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.”

v Hosea 6:3-4, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know Yahweh: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.”

v Hosea 10:12, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek Yahweh, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

v Joel 2:23-27, “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Yahweh your elohim: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Yahweh your Elohim, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh your Elohim, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.”

v Yochannan 7:38-39, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Yahshua was not yet glorified.)”

v Luke 2:21, “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Yahshua, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.”

v John 7:37-41; 5:1-2, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yahshua stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Yahshua had not yet been glorified. On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah… But Yahshua went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them”

Shemini Atzeret

C Celebration information

v This is probably the least understood and least appreciated of the holy days

v This is a day to ponder the spiritual decisions and actions that have been made and taken place over the past year and during the new year

v This is a day to stop and think about what has taken place over the past few weeks – Yom Teruah, the Ten Days of Repentance, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot

v Observance of this day is centered around the synagogue

v Shemini Atzeret is simply a time to stop and reflect on the holiday season and year that has passed. On this 'eighth day', Israelites are to focus on the special relationship between Yahweh and Israel.

v At the Jewish synagogue a prayer is traditionally recited on this day called the “geshem.” The prayer is said based on the fact that the winter months are the time for rain in the land of Israel. This prayer and its continuation during the daily Amidah is a prayer for Yahweh to bless the land and the people with life sustaining rain.

v There are six parts of the prayer for rain, each of which refers to events involving water in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and the Twelve tribes.

v This is a translation of the prayer from the Hebrew:

“Our Elohim and Elohim of our ancestors: Remember Abraham who flowed to You like water. You blessed him like a tree planted by streams of water. You rescued him from fire and water. He passed Your test by planting good deeds by every source of water. For Abraham's sake, do not keep back water. Remember Isaac, whose birth was foretold when Abraham offered the angels a little water. You asked his father to spill his blood like water. In the desert Isaac dug and found wells of water. For Isaac's sake, do not keep back water. Remember Jacob, who crossed the Jordan's water. He bravely rolled the stone off the mouth of the well of water. He wrestled with an angel made of fire and water, And therefore You promised to be with him through fire and water. For Jacob's sake do not keep back water. Remember Moses, who was drawn in a reed basket out of the Nile's water. Who helped Jethro's daughters: He drew water and gave the sheep water. He struck the rock and out came water. For Moses' sake do not hold back water! Remember Aaron, the High Priest, who, on Yom Kippur, washed himself five times with water, He prayed and was sprinkled with purifying water, He kept apart from a people who were as unstable as water. For Aaron's sake do not hold back water. Remember the Twelve Tribes whom You brought through the divided waters; For whom You sweetened bitter water; Their descendants' blood was spilled like water. Turn to us, Elohim, who are surrounded by troubles like water. For the Jewish people's sake, do not hold back water. You are Yahweh Adonai, our Elohim, our Master, Who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall. For blessing and not for curse. Amen. For life and not for death. Amen. For plenty and not for lack. Amen.”