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Eileen Cohen works on sukkah decorations at JARC's Gilbert Home in
Farmington Hills.
Hoshanah Rabbah And
Shemini Atzeret: The seventh
day of Sukkot is Hoshanah
Rabbah, both a festival and a day
of judgment. According to tradi-
tion, on Rosh Hashanah God
made his decision regarding
our futures. He sealed it on
Yom Kippur. Yet we have
until Hoshanah
Rabbah to mend
help,
our ways before
God makes His
judgment final.
Synagogue services on
Hoshanah Rabbah include wor-
shippers holding an etrog and
lulav and making seven circuits
around the sanctuary, during
which time special prayers, or
Hashanas, are said.
The last day of the holiday sea-
son is Shemini Atzeret. Known as
"the festival of conclusion',' it is
mentioned in the Tanach as "a
holy convocation." Shemini
Atzeret has the distinction of
being both part of Sukkot and a
separate holiday. Observant fami-
lies do not drive, work or write
on Shemini Atzeret (and follow
all other rules associated with
any major Jewish observance).
But there are no real rituals for
the holiday. The one exception
comes during davening, when
congregations recite Hallel and
Yizkor, and say a prayer for rain
called Tefillat Geshem. (This is
rainfall season in Israel, and we
wish for farmers all that they will
need.)
Reciting Tefillat Geshem is a
practice that began in talmudic
times. Then, a priest would fill a
golden pitcher with water. When
he returned from this task, a
crowd watched as he poured the
water and wine into a container
on the Temple altar.
We now make custom glass.
Simchat Torah: Simchat Torah
(literally, "rejoicing with the
Torah") is observed at the end of
Sukkot, on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
Here are a few compelling tidbits
about the holiday you may not
have known:
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• Simchat Torah is completely
rabbinic in origin. It is not even
mentioned in the Tanach.
• It is the only time during the
year when we read from
the Torah at night
(and then again
ish the next morn-
w ing.)
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• It's one of the rare times
we see all the congrega-
tion's Torah scrolls. During
davening, each scroll is removed
from the ark, then held by some-
one (preferably a person with a
few muscles; those scrolls can be
heavy) who dances with the sefer
Torah around the synagogue or
temple. It's traditional to dance
seven times (called hakefot)
about the sanctuary, with every
completed round followed by a
lot of singing, dancing and mer-
riment.
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• Simchat Torah is a time when
everyone, regardless of age, can
receive an aliyah to the Torah.
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• In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and
Simchat Torah coincide. Outside
of Israel, where we add an extra
day to Sukkot, Simchat Torah is a
day unto itself. Li
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where came to Jerusalem. Long
ago, Sukkot also included
Simchat Beit ha-Shoevah, the
Water-Drawing Festival, which
featured musical and dance pre-
sentations, often with torches.
Lasting until dawn, these events
were said to be amazing; tradi-
tion recalls that whoever did not
experience one had never really
seen a festival.
Today, once the sukkah has
been built the major activity that
takes places within is eating. All
meals, and even snacks, should
be eaten in the sukkah, except
when it's raining.
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October 13 2005
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